BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“My name’s Tammy,” the woman said, handing her a brochure. “We’ll be gone for two weeks, but would love for you to visit our church when we return.” It was a brochure from Maple Grove Assemblies of God. “Two weeks later, I met Tammy at church,” Janet remembers. “She introduced me to everyone and they loved me and accepted me despite how I looked. For 14 years, I’d bought all my clothes in the men’s department at Macy’s. They took me under their collective wings and never judged me. I rededicated my life to the Lord. “There was a Bible study for 10 women and they had one opening. They invited me to join them and when I arrived, I never felt so out of place in my life. I was dressed in sweats with a scarf on my head because I was going to go clean houses after the meeting. They wore feminine clothes and had their hair and nails done. I looked around the room, took a deep breath and said, ‘My name is Janet and I live a homosexual life. If you’ll help me, I’ll serve the Lord for the rest of my life.’ They accepted the challenge and loved me.” Back to the Basics “Eight months later, one of the women in leadership said that she and her husband felt impressed that the Lord wanted them to invite me to live with them and their three children. I was 40 years old and owned my own home and business, but I knew this was the Lord. I was still living with my girlfriend, although we had stopped being intimate when I rededicated my life. I sold my house and moved in with the family from church. “Living with that family was my first glimpse of what a real family was like. It was all new to me. There were no drunken brawls. No screaming. No beatings. From the family gathering at breakfast in the morning, to how children acted, to how the husband and wife treated one another—it was all new. “They gave me the foundation for a family that I’d never experienced. The mother began the process of teaching me how to dress and fix my hair and be a woman. It was an amazing experience. I didn’t lie to them about still talking on the phone with my ex-girlfriend. After a few months, they sat me down and explained that if I didn’t break all contact with her, I needed to move out. “As hard as it was, I knew they were right. Like most women, for me the lifestyle wasn’t about sex. It was about finding a deep emotional attachment. So long as I clung to that attachment with my girlfriend, I wasn’t free. “For me, it was easier to kick cocaine than to cut off those emotional ties and leave that lifestyle. To get free, I ended up giving up my home, my girlfriend, all my friends, my clothes, and most importantly, my identity. With lots of love and support from my church family and supernatural help from God, I did it. After 14 years of living as a lesbian, I walked free.” One year, Janet traveled home for Christmas and her brother, Robert, pulled her aside. “I’ve got the virus,” he said. Janet felt her mouth go dry. “Does that mean you have AIDS?” “No, but it means I have the virus that causes it. Don’t tell anyone.” Janet looked at her brother with pain in her eyes and realized that sin will take you further than you want to go, and keep you longer than you want to stay. No Watered-Down Gospel Eight months after Janet joined Maple Grove Assemblies of God, and was living with the Christian family, her mother found Robert in a hospital. He died of full-blown AIDS. Janet understood that when Satan had come calling with temptation, she hadn’t been rooted and grounded enough in the Word of God. This time, she vowed to eat, breathe and totally immerse herself in the Word. Her church family helped by giving her the love and sense of belonging that she had gotten in the lesbian community, without any condemnation. 22 : BVOV

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