Wow dude, first up I just wanna say that I think she has caught a great guy! I totally respect you for doing some research on a way to look after her. Especialy when its about this particular topic.
I notice you specificaly asked about intimacy not sex.
I think relationships are all about intimacy. The point of not sleeping together before marriage is to provide the strongest possible foundation of trust, SO THAT the most possible amount of intimacy can be obtained through sex. if you have learnt about 1st base in one relationship, 2nd base in another, 3rd base in the next, all the way in another, and so on, by the time you marry someone, you;ve shared intimate times with lots of people leaving less for you and you partner to discover together.
Sex is there to help a couple bond together in the LONG RUN! Long relationships have some really hard times in them. And sex can be the glue that keeps things good even when the relationship is going through a tough patch.
I am speaking from experience. I have only been a Christian for 6 years and I was sexually active before that. Recently I was in a serious relationship and we both committed to saving sex till marriage. However we ended up on about 10 occasions going much further than just kissing. And every time we were doing this, we learnt more about our own bodies and eachothers. And now we've broken up. I used to think yeah ok i'm not a virgin but I have never 'made love', only had sex for lust.
I had learnt that sex was realy about making love, and seeing as I had never really done that, I considered myself in a way still a virgin. Like a virgin at heart. But in doing the things close to sex but not sex with this girl, I know now that I don't have the same opporunity for intimacy with my next partner (hopefully wife) because I'm so much more sexually aware. I think most of the intimacy comes in the discovering.
Anyway, my point is that I thought I was gonna marry this girl. Was convinced. But we've split up.
We Christians treasure sexuality so much higher than a lot of people who have other beliefs and wordlviews (of course not as a blanket statement of course others out there who value sex massively)
But If you really want to look after this girl, ( i know i don't know her but) SUPPORT her in sticking with her faith in this. She will may well thank you in the long run. support her when she has overwhelmed moments of passion.
honestly I think girls are pretty happy just kissing unless you start touching them, anywhere. anywhere. Their back their face their arms, it really turns girls on. So if you don't do that stuff, they are less likely to lose themselves in passion and won't go further. I think we are turned on by doing the touching, and they are turned on by being touched. So it works both ways if you don't do that.
I have no idea how old you are, no idea if marriage is on the table but . . .
One last thing, some people say christians are stupid for not sleeping around. They say you won't know if you have a sexual compatability or not. They say you won't experience things with just one girl that you could with lots of girls. I think that is so wrong. From my experience, There is SO much you can learn about eachothers bodies, its so not just 1st 2nd 3rd bases and home run, I believe there is enough potential for a life time of sexual fulfillment in just one partner, because our bodies are created so amazingly. I also think you can tell if you have a sexual chemistry or not just by a simple kiss.
So yeah, work out boundaries with her that both of you can both stick to, (not the middle gound but the common ground) boundaries in touching and stuff, and boundaries in how much time you spend together alone at one time or per week. It helps.
hope this isn't annoying and just missing the mark of what you were looking for.
Peace, your a top bloke ( big australian compliment )
bob.
There's no harm in asking her "I respect your faith and I don't want to do anything to make you uncomfortable, what are our boundaries?"
