Kentucky is starting the “Year of the Bible” off right with a statewide Bible-reading Marathon on Jan. 1.
So far roughly 30,000 people are expected to join in the 120 United Bible Reading Marathon, 120 being a reference to the number of counties in the state.
During the challenge individuals and families will be tasked with reading the New and Old Testament between Jan. 1-4th.
The event was organized by Kentucky Prayer Focus, a group of Christian pastors whose mission is to encourage one another in prayer and fellowship, according to their website.
Pastor Mark Harrell, who presides over Victory Christian Fellowship and is the founder of Kentucky Prayer Focus, told the Christian Post “For 2016, I started working on it six months in advance. I was initially not going to try to have it back-to-back and repeat it for 2017, but our governor and his family all participated and he desired it again.”
“I only started working on it at the end of October for this coming year, giving me only one-third the time frame to accomplish this. There should be roughly 70 counties participating.”
The idea behind the 2016 challenge came purely out of prayer and the hope that it can stir hearts in the right direction.
Gov. Matt Bevin is serving as the 62nd Governor of the state and he has named 2017 the “Year of the Bible.” This is the second year Bevin has signed a proclamation calling on the state to follow the Bible.
Kentucky Governor Declares 2017 ‘Year of the Bible,’ Supports Statewide Bible Reading Marathon https://t.co/1Qd1JAy6If #kentucky pic.twitter.com/rQLPkyBTEt
— FaithfulNews (@faithfulnews) December 28, 2016
The decree for 2017 was signed on Dec. 21 of 2016, according to local Kentucky news.
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