During the second half of Let's Talk Caribbean, many of the young delegates addressed issues of sexuality in their questions.

One student asked a question regarding young women who are pregnant outside of marriage, specifically when a pastor or other church official is accused of molestation or rape and the victim is too afraid to come forward.

Paulsen answered adamantly: "Look, if you've committed a crime, you go to jail. The church will not provide shelter to people who are abusing their role or engaged in criminal activities condemned by society."

He added that the church should "provide a safe haven and healing for those who carry wounds and scars."

The conversation then turned to AIDS, and whether the church's message of abstinence was enough to combat the disease's rampant growth. "Should we be preaching something else?" one delegate asked.

"Look, let's be perfectly frank," Paulsen said. "Sex belongs in marriage. Promiscuity is never condoned in the Bible as a lifestyle. Let's not look for ways to accommodate it or make it safer. Save the good things for the right time."

Following the broadcast, Paulsen said he was pleased by the young delegates' pointed questions.

Methods of ministry

Other questions addressed the church's methods of ministry. When one student asked whether Paulsen thought so-called 'tent' evangelism was 'outmoded', he said traditional evangelism still works "amazingly well" in most parts of the world. But church leaders, he said, should not depend on the initial effects of an outreach effort to produce "enduring, in-depth decisions" for Christ, something he said long-term small groups are better at.

"For a person to stay in the church, you've got to have friends in the church." He said large-scale events might be better if they focused on celebration rather than conversion.

The church may spend too much time on outreach at the expense of 'inreach', one delegate said. For a new Christian still struggling with drug addictions, the counsel to 'trust Jesus' may not be enough, he said, suggesting that the church oversee more addiction and skills training programmes. Paulsen agreed more inreach should be done, so long as funds aren't diverted from outreach.

Let's Talk tapered off with a lighter question: whether or not Adventist young people should play competitive sports. Paulsen said if sports consume players and fans to the point of ousting God and religion as their priorities, they were certainly not healthy. But generally, he said, sports encourage strong relationships.