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{Heart4Teens.com}  *She Called Out to God*

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Good morning Heart4Teens.com readers!

I wanted to share an article with all of you that appeared in our local paper.  I was so impressed with this teen's faith and her trust that God was in control of her life...

From my family to yours,
Michael


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She Called Out to God

By Danielle Letenyei


As the man known as "The Mall Rapist" dragged 13-year-old Cassie Chivers down a fire escape, she was able to briefly pull his hand away from her mouth.

In the one breath she had, she didn't scream. She called out to God.

"Jesus, I love you. Jesus, Jesus," Cassie said.

Her words burned into James Perry's memory as much as the gun he held burned into her temple.

Her faith in God helped Cassie escape from Perry's grip before he could do to her what he had done to dozens of girls and women before, she said.

Cassie, now 14, shared the story of her abduction and escape at the Sunday morning service at Saunders Creek Community Church in Edgerton, Wisconsin. Her parents, Charlie and Debbie, are longtime friends of Saunders Creek's pastor, the Rev. Tom Zillman.

Cassie's story can't be told without reference to God and her beliefs. Her faith is what got her through the ordeal, helped her recover and allowed her to forgive the man who abducted her, she said.

Charlie and Debbie Chivers founded the Special Touch Ministry in Waupaca in 1982. The organization ministers to people with disabilities. Cassie and her sisters, Stephany, 17, and Carley, 7, grew up helping their parents help others.

It was on a Special Touch retreat on Feb. 6, 2004, at a Comfort Inn in Madison that Perry tried to abduct Cassie. Cassie had left to run an errand. She said she didn't think anything unusual about the man, Perry, who got on the elevator with her.

"He wasn't walking around with a sign on him that said, 'I'm bad,'" she said.

Perry made small talk with Cassie during the elevator ride. She said she never looked up at him and focused on the snow on his boots. When the elevator door opened, Perry offered for Cassie to go first in what appeared to her as a gentlemanly gesture. But as she stepped out the door, Perry walked up behind her and put his hand over her mouth and a gun to her temple.

"He said, 'If you scream, I'll blow your brains out,'" Cassie said.

Earlier that day, the Chivers family was upset to hear that the body of an abducted Florida girl, Carlie Bruscia, had been found. The news prompted Cassie to ask her father for advice on what to do if she was in a similar situation, not knowing that she would be abducted just hours later.

"My dad said, 'Fight, scream and get away,'" Cassie said.

As Perry dragged her off, Cassie said she thought about what happened to Bruscia. Cassie knew Perry was going to rape her, she said.

"He told me to shut up, but I just kept praying," Cassie said.

At the bottom of the fire escape, Cassie could hear her family and friends talking and laughing through the wall.

"I didn't know if I would see them again," she said.

That is when God told her in her heart that she had to trust Him, that He had it under control, she said.

"I made the decision then and there that I wasn't going to go," Cassie said. "He could shoot me, but that was OK because I would go to heaven."

Perry took Cassie to an alley where, police believe, he was looking for a place to rape her, she said. Down the alley, about 100 feet away, Cassie saw friends who had just arrived at the hotel for the retreat.

Cassie said she doesn't remember what happened next. She remembers every detail of the ordeal except the moment when she broke free from Perry and ran screaming toward her friends.

"I really believe the Holy Spirit pushed me," she said.

She remembers looking back at Perry once as she ran. All she saw was the back of his head.

"At that point, I knew I had won," Cassie said.

The peace of mind that Cassie maintained during the incident helped police identify her abductor. On the surveillance camera, they saw him enter the hotel and then knock snow off his boots. They were the same snowy boots that Cassie had stared at during the ride in the elevator.

The Chivers stayed at the hotel for the rest of the week for their retreat. Right away, they made the decision not to let the incident affect them in a negative way, Cassie said.

"What's the point of worrying about something in your past that you can't control?" Cassie said.

Cassie was Perry's last victim. He was arrested, and in November 2004, he was sentenced to 470 years in prison for child pornography, rape, child sexual assault and kidnapping.

At Perry's sentencing, Cassie, her father and Perry's other victims got a chance to confront him. When Charlie was talking to Perry, he referred to when Perry was taking Cassie down the fire escape and she was able to remove his hand from her mouth for a moment.

Charlie said, "She didn't use that breath to scream," and Perry finished the sentence.

"James Perry said, 'She used that breath to cry out to God,'" Cassie recalled.

In her statement, Cassie told Perry that she forgave him.

"Even though you hurt my family, I forgive you," she told him.

Cassie has used the experience to talk to others about safety and faith in God. She has appeared on the "Montel Williams Show," and she was on the ABC news program "20/20" on Friday. She also has been asked to speak to high school students in her hometown of Waupaca, Wisconsin.


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Let's Go Surfing Dude!

How are you at handling peer pressure?  Check out this
link to find out how you can deel with peer pressure in your life!


http://heart4teens.com/peer_pressure


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Thought For The Day:

"It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time." --Sir Winston Churchill


Verse for the Day:

"You do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." --James 4:14


Teen's Thought For The Day:

"Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet."


Parent's Thought For The Day

"Children behave best when their stomachs are full and their bladders are empty." --Vicki Lansky


Coach's Thought For The Day

"Please leave your egos in the locker room."


Deep Thought For The Day:

To me multitasking means screwing up several things at once.



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Author MICHAEL T. POWERS
www.Heart4Teens.com

Contributing Author to Chicken Soup for the Teen's Soul on Love and Friendship and 21 other inspirational books.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

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ALL-STAR Ministry

--The Youth Church of Faith Community Church in Janesville, WI

If you are in 6-12th grade and live in the southern Wisconsin/northern Illinois area and would like to check us out, we meet every Sunday night from 6:30-8:00 PM at Faith Community Church which is located at 2931 Lucerne Dr. in Janesville, WI. (About 3 blocks south-east of The Skating Place.)

Currently we have students from Fort Atkinson, Milton, Janesville Craig, Janesville Parker, Marshall, Orfordville, Clinton, Beloit Memorial, Beloit Turner, South Beloit, and Hononegah. E-mail me back if you have any questions about our weekly meetings or would like to come to any of our events that are listed below... We have way too much fun and then, most importantly, talk about issues that are relevant to you as a teenager.


New Series!  "The Seven Checkpoints"
 
THIS WEEK:  Sunday March 13 - Wise Choices Part 2

Sunday March 20 -- Journey to the Cross (Multi-Sensory Experience!)
Sunday March 27 -- No Youth Group (Easter Sunday)
 
Sunday April 3 -- Worship Night with special guest band "The Least of These"  (check out their website at:  http://www.theleastofthese.us

Sunday April 10 -- Others First
Sunday April 17 -- Others First Part 2



UPCOMING EVENTS


Friday March 25: Spring Break Lock-In!   7:30 pm - Saturday 8:00 am.

Saturday May 15:  Annual Fireside Theater Trip! (Juniors and Seniors Only)

April 29-31:  Xtreme Teens Camping Trip!

June 26:  Senior Sunday!

July 6:  Great America Trip!

July 22-23:  30-Hour Famine (high school only)

September 16-18:  Annual Fall Retreat!

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Teen Community Groups
6:30 - 8:00 PM Wednesday nights
 
Wednesday night community groups for teens. The groups are limited to no more than ten teens and are split into Jr. High and High School ages. This night is for those teens who want to dig deeper than what we do in All-Stars, but may not be ready to be a part of the Extreme Teens. These cell groups will also be doing special activities with each other as the year goes on to build community.

Join us as we do a Bible Study called "Life Together!"
 
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The Extreme Teens

6:30 - 8:00 PM Wednesday nights  is on Wednesday nights from 6:30 - 8:00 PM

"Extreme Teens" meet Wednesday nights from 6:30 - 8:00 PM (September -May). This group is very extensive with weekly homework, memorization, service projects, etc. Students interested in this group will have to fill out an application, provide references as to why others think they should be involved with this, and sign an agreement as to what is expected of them.

Join us as we study the book "A Life God Rewards For Teens"

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Reading Books, Changing Lives!


For those of you who love to read or love to give out books as gifts...

You can now order a number of different autographed best-selling inspirational books for the same price you would get them in the store, the shipping to you is paid for, and you are helping change the lives of teenagers and those they come in contact with! 

If you love to read inspirational stories, these books are most likely those you will eventually buy anyway. And how cool would it be to be able to buy books like those in the Chicken Soup series for your friends and family with a personalized autographed message by one of the contributing authors! How's that for a unique gift! Check out this link to find out more!

http://www.HeartTouchers.com/books