PURELY REBECCA

No-one could possibly attempt to argue with the fact that Rebecca St James has had a huge impact on the Christian music industry.
She came on to the scene at a young age and over the years she has brought out many, many albums and scooped many, many awards to go with - including a Grammy award, Certified Gold albums and multiple dove awards.
Along with her impressive musical repertoire she has also proven to be an impressive authoress and has penned a couple of highly successful books. And if that wasn't enough, she has also been keeping herself even more busy by doing some acting.
Most of all, above all her numerous achievements, she has always been an extremely positive role-model to young girls and has always been a strong promoter of purity and
abstinence.We had the opportunity to have a chat with Rebecca and hear what she had to say about herself, the pure lifestyle that she tries to lead and promotes, her
music and her latest book "Pure"

Q: Maybe, we could start the interview with you going back to the start of your music career - how did you get into the industry and start recording your albums at such a young age?
Rebecca: It was just something that God orchestrated ... music wasn't an interest of mine when I was a kid. I actually wanted to work with kids; like orphans - to run an orphanage and I wanted to act; that was my other dream.
I became a Christian when I was 8, in Australia and then, when I was 12, I just gave my gifts and talents to God and I just said "God, I want you to use my life to make a
difference." At that point, He really started opening up doors at my Christian school in Australia. I moved to America with my family when I was 14 and then I started singing praise and worship songs in different youth groups and churches and some guys from a record company called "Forefront Records" came and saw me sing at a church back in Tennessee and I got signed at 15 and I've been singing since 16.

Q: And you have always been a strong promoter of purity and abstinence until marriage...how and when did you come to the realisation that it was something important for you to do?
Rebecca: I forget, it was something that just kind of happened pretty organically. When I started to sing at age 16, there was a group in America called the "True Love Waits" movement, which encouraged young people to save sex for marriage. I got asked a lot to sing at these events and the promoters or whoever was running it would often say, you know, "Could you just say a couple of words about purity?" And so I would do that and so many young people would come up to me afterwards and say "Thank you for talking about purity; I really needed to hear that message; now I know that I'm not alone and that I'm standing for God in this area" and it just got an incredibly huge response and I saw that there was a need for young people to talk to other young people about purity and I've been talking about it ever since. Now it's actually become a song, a couple of books, a music video and it's become a huge part of my ministry. I'm the oldest of 7 kids, my sister is 16 and I really just see that there is an incredible need for encouragement in this area for young people

Q: Obviously, your song "Wait for me" came out of that... what sort of response did you get to it when it came out?
Rebecca: A really huge response to that song! I'm probably known for that song more than any other song that I've done in these 14; 15 years. I think girls really feel encouraged by the fact that somebody else out there is living it and that they can sing along to the song and wait for their future husband and really trust God. For guys, when they hear the song they are like "Wow! there are girls out there actually wanting to wait" and so, it helps them to visualise that there's girl out there who could possibly be singing a thing like that to him. So yeah, it's been something that's really seemed to encourage a lot of people. The song also talks a lot about forgiveness so, for those that have made mistakes, it's a song of hope as well.

Q: Do you find it challenging to stand strongly for purity when today's society is so different from that?
Rebecca: I think sometimes I feel a little bit alone in speaking up about it... I know that there are a lot of people that are waiting; I meet them all the time. At concerts, they come up to me afterwards and say that's it's so cool that I'm promoting purity and parents come up to me and say thanks for talking to their kids about purity. So, I do get a lot of support; incredible amount of support; even from mainstream media in the US.
I think that, deep down, people know that it's the best way to go; to wait for your husband or wife and you don't have to worry about STDs or AIDS or pregnancy outside of marriage. But, a lot of people think it's impossible and here I am saying "No! It's not impossible." I'm proof that it can be done, you know, I'm a virgin and I'm waiting. Sometimes, it is a little hard because not many people are talking about it, but I do know that there are people all around the world that I meet who are waiting

Q: So, you have leant to be content with being single and waiting for the right person. What's your advice to single Christians?
Rebecca: I wouldn't say that I'm content absolutely every day! The majority of the time, but I definitely have my days of wondering why my prince Charming is not here? Why am I still waiting? Why has he not come into my life? So, there are discouraging days, but I think what helps me be more content is that I am very committed to being true to the calling that God has on my life; living out His vision and being involved in the things that He wants me to be involved in. So, I lead a pretty active life so, I am not just sitting around; twiddling my thumbs and waiting for someone...if people are bored; they are more likely to be lonely. So, I'm not really ever bored. The other thing is that I just have a lot of guy and girl friends and I have a social life and invest in friendships. I have a lot of girl friends; a couple of best friends and some guy friends and I am also very close to my family and so, I just feel like I am loved. So, there is not this huge; overwhelming need to have to have my husband in my life right now. I wish he was here right now, but, for the most part, my life is pretty fulfilled.

Q: You have already written several very successful books. How did you get into writing books?
Rebecca: Actually, it happened pretty early on. One of the guys that I did an interview with worked for a publishing company and he asked if I would possibly like to do a devotional book. We had already been praying for an opportunity like that because I am the oldest of 7 kids and we grew up and there wasn't very many teen devotional books... at the time there was almost nothing. So, we felt that there was a need for a devotional book that could really relate to teenagers and there was a niche there. So, it was something a wanted to do for a couple of years; a devotional book; and then this man from the publishing company said that he wanted to do a devotional book with me. So, God just opened the door and made the way and it happened with the other books too.

Q: Your latest book is "Pure", could you give us a brief overview of it and what it's all about?
Rebecca: Yeah, well devotional books are really important to me because you read God-inspired thoughts and scriptures that are often attached to a story that somebody's written about and they have really changed my walk with God. So, I am passionate about them and then, of course, purity, I am hugely passionate about. So, this book has been my passion, the subtitle includes the fact that it's about purity of the mind, body and spirit. I think that it's not just the outward decisions that we make; it's also about asking God to give us the strength to live in purity in today's high-pressure society and purity comes from inside and you need to be committed to God and living His way; fostering that relationship with God is key to living out purity.

Q: Do you have any other books that we'll be seeing in the near future?
Rebecca: Actually yes, there's a book that's being done right now called "Loved" and it's around a song that I wrote called "You are Loved" and that will be coming out next year. It's a compilation of stories of people who've experienced the love and grace of God through hard times in their lives and come through by the love of God. So, I didn't write the whole thing, just a little part of it... it's stories from a lot of different people who have experienced the love of God.

Q: Ok and on the music side, are you working on any new projects?
Rebecca: Probably first half of next year, I'll be working on a new one.

Q: So, how do you keep on finding inspiration musically after so many years in the business?
Rebecca: I really have to take time out to rest and grow as a person. I think if people just keep on getting on the roads and churning everything out actually die spiritually and emotionally and then nothing fresh. You have actually gotta live life to write real songs and songs about learning things. So, I take sabbaticals from time to time so, that I can just grow and learn and engage with people and to be able to write from that kind of place.

Q: So, what are your hopes and plans for the future?
Rebecca: Well, the main thing is that I just wanna be in God's will and where He wants me and to know that I'm where He wants me. I still wanna get married and have a family and there's a guy that I'm pretty excited about now, so, we'll see! Whether he's the one; I'm not sure yet...
Then, I'm actually looking at some film opportunities like making some family films and I'm having a lot of meetings in LA, Hollywood about that. So, that's something I'm really passionate about...being in family films and helping to create films and act in films that have a quality message; it's a big passion of mine

Q: Is there any chance of you ever coming for a visit to South Africa?
Rebecca: You know, we've talked about it for years because I have had a lot of people tell me that my music has a pretty big following there; I think my "God" album was pretty big. So, it just hasn't worked out with our schedule to come, but we'd love to and I've heard that the crowds are really great.

Q:And do you have any final messages?
Rebecca: I just wanna encourage people to continue to live for God whole-heartedly. A verse in the Bible that really encouraged me was Ephesians 3: 20 which says that with God's power in us; God can do much for us; more than we can even begin to imagine and I think that's encouraging- that He allows us to really live and bring change in the world.

Ok, well that's all the questions I have. Thanks for your time
Thank you ; keep up and the greet work. Maybe I'll see you at a show one day.