BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Read Through the Bible MAY 2017 Old Testament/New Testament Mon 1 1 Sam. 15-16 / 1 Cor. 6 Tue 2 1 Sam. 17-18 / 1 Cor. 7 Wed 3 1 Sam. 19-20 / 1 Cor. 8 Thu 4 1 Sam. 21-22 / 1 Cor. 9 Fri 5 1 Sam. 23-24 / 1 Cor. 10 Sat 6 1 Sam. 25-26 / 1 Cor. 11 Sun 7 1 Sam. 27-29 / 1 Cor. 12-13 Mon 8 1 Sam. 30-31 / 1 Cor. 14 Tue 9 2 Sam. 1-2 / 1 Cor. 15 Wed 10 2 Sam. 3-4 / 1 Cor. 16 Thu 11 2 Sam. 5-6 / 2 Cor. 1 Fri 12 2 Sam. 7-8 / 2 Cor. 2 Sat 13 2 Sam. 9-10 / 2 Cor. 3 Sun 14 2 Sam. 11-13 / 2 Cor. 4-5 Mon 15 2 Sam. 14-15 / 2 Cor. 6 Tue 16 2 Sam. 16-17 / 2 Cor. 7 Wed 17 2 Sam. 18-19 / 2 Cor. 8 Thu 18 2 Sam. 20-21 / 2 Cor. 9 Fri 19 2 Sam. 22-23 / 2 Cor. 10 Sat 20 2 Sam. 24; 1 Kgs. 1 / 2 Cor. 11 Sun 21 1 Kgs. 2-4 / 2 Cor. 12-13 Mon 22 1 Kgs. 5-6 / Gal. 1 Tue 23 1 Kgs. 7-8 / Gal. 2 Wed 24 1 Kgs. 9-10 / Gal. 3 Thu 25 1 Kgs. 11-12 / Gal. 4 Fri 26 1 Kgs. 13-14 / Gal. 5 Sat 27 1 Kgs. 15-16 / Gal. 6 Sun 28 1 Kgs. 17-19 / Eph. 1-2 Mon 29 1 Kgs. 20-21 / Eph. 3 Tue 30 1 Kgs. 22; 2 Kgs. 1 / Eph. 4 Wed 31 2 Kgs. 2-3 / Eph. 5 “Read Through the Bible in a Year Plan” written by Marilyn Hickey, and used by permission. ************************************************************************************ ***** article from p. 19 continues ***** “Now get dressed for church!” her mother ordered. Janet liked the quiet beauty of the church. She drank in the peace that filled the place. It was one of the only places she felt safe. She’d never been safe at home. But here, watched over by God and His angels, she sighed with blessed relief. After the service, Janet headed to the restroom in the basement, not realizing she was being followed. Before she knew what was happening, she was yanked into the boiler room and assaulted. Not again! Her older sister’s father had already molested her—she was determined not to let it happen again. But it did happen. She was raped. Crying and gasping for air, Janet watched as the altar boy straightened his clothes and walked out. Shattered, as though a bomb had exploded in her soul, one thing was clear: There was no place on earth where she was safe from the men who stalked the young, weak and helpless. Not even in God’s house. Anger Fueled by Pain “After that, the rage inside me erupted even more,” Janet recalls. “I beat up kids all the time. It wasn’t until later that I realized I never attacked girls, only boys. I was one of seven children—the product of four different fathers, and our family was violent and dysfunctional. Men in my life hadn’t been trustworthy. Many I encountered were violent abusers and sexual predators. “The one good thing that happened to me was meeting my eighth-grade English teacher. She took me under her wing and tried to help me. She picked me up on weekends and took me to do things. She was kind to me, but she got a lot of grief about it. All the rest of my teachers and the administration thought I was a lost cause and a waste of her time. “That didn’t stop her from helping me, even after I left her class. She was consistent over the years, staying in touch and spending time with me. I talked to her about my life, but I never told her about being raped. By the time I was in high school, she was working with me to prepare for college. When she and her husband moved to Minnesota, I was devastated. “I had so much emotional pain that in high school I started using drugs. Even so, I excelled in basketball and was accepted into college. My drug use, however, took a toll on my ability to study and to play basketball.” A New Start Realizing she needed help, Janet contacted her former English teacher and explained her situation. Once again, the teacher and her husband offered a helping hand. Dropping out of college, Janet moved to Minneapolis and stayed with the couple for a while before starting college there. One of Janet’s classmates invited her to church, where she prayed the prayer of salvation and gave her heart to Jesus. That Christmas, she returned to Pennsylvania to spend the holiday with her family, urging them all to pray the sinner’s prayer. Back in Minneapolis, Janet attended a Christian college and took Bible classes. There was a discipleship program called Parkhouse that had a stellar reputation but accepted very few participants. It offered a house for both men and women, a block apart, and each one had live-in houseparents. Janet applied to the program, and was accepted. Dropping out of college, she moved to Parkhouse. In addition to church activities, she attended Bible study once a week, helped to produce church plays and performed discipleship work in the community. The program lasted a year and Janet loved the experience. She met a wonderful Christian man and they fell in love. He proposed and she accepted. They started marriage counseling with their pastor as they planned their wedding. Life was wonderful. The only thing Janet wished could be different was that her fiancé raced bikes, which required long trips. He was also a drummer, so he was gone a great deal of the time. In his absence, Janet developed a close friendship with a woman from work. 20 : BVOV

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