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“Choices matter,” Roshad Thomas said emphatically to Aucilla Christian Academy’s secondary students attending chapel recently. “God healed me. He is who you see in me now, but I didn’t start out this way. There’s nothing special about me. God has shaped me, and he can shape you too. Give God your brokenness, and let the Lord do something with it.” Thomas is an encourager. That message was one of many that were delivered during his week-long stay at ACA where he taught “Pick and Wait” abstinence classes to ACA’s seventh and eighth grade boys and similar sessions with the eleventh and twelfth grade students for the past six years. “Today, we’re going to do the benefits of marriage activity,” Thomas told the middle school boys. “People are getting away from the desire to get married for various reasons. People don’t see the benefit of it. Marriage has great benefits all around.” He then pulled poster-size sheets of white paper out and wrote the following words on each page: Man, Child, Community, Our Nation. Then, he proceeded to divide the boys into groups so they could list the benefits of marriage under each title. Meanwhile, in another classroom, ACA’s seventh and eighth grade girls were with ACA teacher Debby Demott, who was teaching a different lesson about abstinence, which she has done alongside Thomas for many years. “One of the benefits of assisting Thomas with this program is students can come to me on-campus anytime they have a question or need help during the school year,” said Demott, who restated Thomas’s message to the girls, reminding them that the choices they make now affect their goals and dreams. ACA’s main mission is reaching students for Christ and helping them to see God’s plan early in their lives. “We want to do everything possible to help our students make wise choices in life,” said Principal Richard Finlayson. “Having Mr. Thomas on our campus over the past few years has really made an impact. And, having staff members like Mrs. Demott on our campus to assist students when they need guidance has been invaluable.” For more information on ACA, call (850) 997-3597 or visit aucilla.org. For more information on LivetheLife.org, Thomas’s organization, call (850) 668-3700 or email Thomas at roshad@livethelife.org.