PODCASTS

Tag: #evangelization

Back to Church Weekend – Casey Jones – 9/12/24

Back to Church Weekend – Casey Jones – 9/12/24

“Back to School” season is now followed by Back to Church Sunday.

 

Today’s podcast offers you a preview of what several congregations in our listening area are doing this weekend.

Casey Jones is the executive director of Allegany Hope, a Belmont-based network of Christian congregations in Allegany County. They are not only participating in localizing this weekend’s Back to Church Sunday annual emphasis; they also cooperate with a number of prayer, social and mission-oriented projects together.

One of those areas of emphasis is the community of Friendship, New York. Churches there have planned free community lunches there, both Saturday and Sunday. (Sept. 14-15, 2024)

 

Back to Church Sunday happens on the third Sunday of September, after people are back to school and back from Labor Day Weekend. This is the 15th year of the national emphasis. There are paid and free resources available to churches each year, to help with their efforts to re-motivate their members and to invite neighbors in. They also have options available to promote a Back to Church Weekend for congregation which offer worship and events on Saturdays.

 

 

 

 

 

A Missionary to Our Politicians – The Word on the Hill – 9/10/24

A Missionary to Our Politicians – The Word on the Hill – 9/10/24

A Missionary to Our Politicians

A special Family Life Interview

Steve Amerson and his wife traveled to Washington D.C. as weekly worship services returned to the halls of Congress. Since 2014, he has gone to Capitol Hill twice a month to meet with Senators, Representatives and Congressional staffers. Each time, he brings 200 handwritten notes with Scriptural encouragement and words of hope — that adds up to 37,000 handwritten notes across ten years.

His “The Word on the Hill” Ministries offers signs of spiritual renewal among all who work on Capitol Hill. Democrats, Republicans and Independents all get visits, prayers, and caring attention for the realities of their lives — amid the loneliness and stress of their government work, and the everyday crises and problems of their personal lives. While the ministry to elected Members of Congress has great value, this interview also includes the story of a young woman who works in a Capitol Hill

Bob Price asked Amerson to talk about his evangelistic and pastoral work, and the spiritual state of our Seat of Government. Tap the podcast player button to hear our interview.

You can discover more about Steve Amerson and the mission successes of The Word on the Hill Ministries from their website and in this video.

 

 

  “Of all the voices in government, God’s voice should be the loudest”

 

 

 

Missions Pulse – Let’s go to Paris – 9/04/24

Missions Pulse – Let’s go to Paris – 9/04/24

987 medals awarded at the Paris Olympics

Another 1,647 medals this week at the Paralympic games

10.500 athletes last month, and another 4,400 this week from 169 nations

700,000 New Testaments and Scripture books distributed!

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Yes, all of these statistics as the sports world has been focusing on Paris. Yes, 700,000 Bible books have been given out, in connection with the Paris Games over the past weeks.

Once every 4 years, the 2 versions of the Summer Games bring about a gathering of athletes, officials, families, dignitaries and fans from nearly every nation on the planet.

A network of evangelical Christian groups has been working for the past 18 months to coordinate a massive outreach to share Jesus with the people in the region which hosts the Games, and with all those people who come from all over to attend. Some of these people have never had an encounter with Christianity, even though they are citizens of some nations that the friendly to this faith. Some of the volunteer evangelists are sharing Good News with people from places and cultures where, back home, Christianity is banned.

Tom Hawkins is with Greater Europe Mission who is among the coordinating team for Ensemble 2024, a massive faith-sharing effort by a combined group of European and global Christians from a wide and diverse swath of the theological spectrum.It ranges from local congregations to large denominations to members of little house churches.

This Family Life exclusive takes you to Paris. Hawkins talks about some of the life-changing stories from these efforts and connections. As otherwise-disabled athletes are thriving in their athletic events this week, they see many Paralympic competitors (and fans with handicaps) who have dealt with physical setbacks are ripe to hear the Gospel.

He also provides hopeful insight about a potential transformation in Europe, where across the past 30 years, cultures have diminished their faith practices. He says though, that he sees signs that a continent which has increasing become defined as “post-Christian”, the culture appears to be, in any places, entering a “pre-Rivival” mode.

 

 

Bonus factoid:  The group of groups chose the name “Ensemble” to show how they are united across cultural and historical and theological distinctives — and because the same spelling of the same word has the same meaning, across multiple languages.

 

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Tom Hawkins spoke to Family Life News Producer Greg Gillispie this week, via Zoom, from Paris. The Paralympics Games continue there through Sunday, September 8.

 

     For further information:

The Ensemble 2024 website

The Ensemble 2024 blog

Tom Hawkins works with Greater Europe Mission (GEM), which carries out extensive envangelization outreaches, during and beyond the Olympics.

Tom and his wife Bev met at Nyack College in New York. They have been mission workers in France since 1994.

 

 

Missions Pulse – Door International’s ministry to deaf communities around the globe – 07/08/24

Missions Pulse – Door International’s ministry to deaf communities around the globe – 07/08/24

Door International’s ministry to deaf communities around the globe

Family Life’s “Missions Pulse” feature

The people who are served by the ministry organization Door International cannot hear this Family Life news feature.

Which is all the more reason why you should listen to this.

Rob Myers and Door’s other workers and volunteers are active in an evangelism effort to reach out to a people group in which only 1 of every 50 people are followers of Jesus. The outreach is to deaf individuals and communities. Myers “opens the door” for our listeners to understand why it is so hard to share Good News and provide Scriptures to deaf people.

Door says the most fruitful evangelists to deaf people — in whatever nation it is — are Christ’s believers who also cannot hear.  As is true in many other faith-sharing efforts, people with direct connections to the indiginous population have an authority and a commeraderie that outsiders need to take long times to develop.  Church planters and evangelists who share the same un-hearing circumstances as other deaf people often are best able to bring those people to a relationship with Jesus.

The ministry also is active in translating 110 Biblical narratives into sign languages. This is a massive task — if you are thinking only about ASL (American Sign Language), you are forgetting about the other 375 sign languages around the world.

 

For more information:

 

Taking Christian ministry to Ukraine – Hometown Heroes – 4/23/24

Taking Christian ministry to Ukraine – Hometown Heroes – 4/23/24

Bringing Jesus to Europe’s war zone:  Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes”

A Pennsylvania-based Christian evangelist is back in Ukraine, sharing food and hope in and near that war zone.

Family Life’s Mark Webster reconnected with Jeff Seigworth on his way to a return trip with the A-1-8 mission organization.

He talks about the relative dangers for the Ukrainian citizens and global visitors like himself, the human needs in this third year of the Russian war, and the spiritual opportunities which are open amid the widespread misery.

This new conversation about front-line evangelization is available from the podcast player above.

You also can hear, download or share our previous interviews with Seigworth from September 19 and September 26. These podcasts also have links to the A18 mission work.

 

Hometown Heroes – Samuel Girod (2) – Family Life – 4/02/24

Hometown Heroes – Samuel Girod (2) – Family Life – 4/02/24

A group called MAP — Mission to Amish People — seeks to provide encouragement and discipleship resources to anyone who leaves an Amish lifestyle and seeks to live out their faith differently than they were raised. Many of those who turn away from the faith of their early lives find that they need practical assistance too — education, housing, lifeskills training and more — and MAP provides those as well.

This “Hometown Heroes” podcast is the second of our two conversations with Samuel Girod, a missionary with MAP. He previews an upcoming workshop in Friendship, New York, on April 19-20 (2024). Mission to Amish People hope to train potential new missionaries that conference at Bible Baptist Church.

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This webpage [ www.mapministry.org] tells the first-person story of Samuel and his wife Polly. From that site, you can further explore MAP’s efforts, upcoming conferences, and recording of previous presentations by numerous speakers.

An Interactive Good Friday Experience – Hometown Heroes – 3/19/24

An Interactive Good Friday Experience – Hometown Heroes – 3/19/24

A Tonawanda Church invites the surrounding communities to experience first-hand what Jesus experienced on the original Good Friday.

Their interactive Good Friday experience takes place on Good Friday, March 29. Guests can drop in for as long or as little as they like, anytime between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. First Trinity Lutheran Church is at 1570 Niagara Falls Boulevard in the northern Buffalo suburb.

Carolyn Doster is one of the coordinators. She tells our “Hometown Heroes” interviewer Mark Webster about what families and individuals will discover as they “Journey Through Good Friday”. The Biblical story comes alive with an all-five-senses self-paced visit. It is family friendly, plus has advice for parents of very young children about two of the 16 scenes which may be too stark or need parental context. The First Trinity website offers a preview (plus information for people who are unable to attend in person).

https://printerval.com/au/good-friday-wish-classic-t-shirt-p77564

Strong Christian Movies – Angel Studios – “Cabrini” – 3/07/24

Strong Christian Movies – Angel Studios – “Cabrini” – 3/07/24

Angel Studios is bringing Christian entertainment to the mainstream.

Their latest production is even gathering some Oscar Buzz from film critics, even before the March 8 world premiere. Cabrini is the life story of an Italian immigrant in New York a century ago. Francesca Cabrini fought against poverty, gender and ethnic biases, and the “powers that be” of New York City to serve underprivileged children, starting an “empire of hope”.

Jared Geesey is Chief Distribution Officer for Angel Studios. In this special interview with Family Life’s Greg Gillispie, Geesey talks about the Angel Studios process of selecting only the best stories to tell, how traditional Hollywood is missing out on a huge audience by ignoring faith-centered films, and offers a preview of the Cabrini movie.

Angel Studios has run up a string of critically-acclaimed, multi-million-dollar blockbusters like The Chosen, Sound of Freedom, and Cabrini. They also produce clean stand-up comedy with Dry Bar Comedy, children’s programming like Tuttle Twins, and Bible-based dramas such as Testament and David.

Cabrini was filmed in Buffalo, New York (and Rome, Italy) starting in 2021, and in this expanded interview, Geesey also makes mention of the local scenery which was (with the magic of moviemaking) transformed into early 20th-Century New York.  Cristiana Dell’Anna and John Lithgow are among the stars.

 

Hometown Heroes – Dan Sorber in Cuba – 3/05/24

Hometown Heroes – Dan Sorber in Cuba – 3/05/24

Syracuse-based missionary Dan Sorber just left for Cuba.

Before his departure, he talked with Family Life News about faith, Christian freedom, and today’s realities in a Communist nation.

Sorber sees the changes that have opened up across his 15 previous visits to Cuba. When government officials and the general population face desperation and economic disaster, those hardships actually open up more evangelistic opportunities. He tells us that real revival is underway there, in ways he has not seen in any other place.

Sorber and his team see one of their most urgent priorities for each of their mission visits is to support and encourage the local Cuban pastors.

Click the podcast player to discover more about what Christians in Cuba face every day, and about how Americans can pray for and support the Cuban people who do and who don’t consider themselves people of faith.

For more about Dan Sorber’s involvement in Christian evangelization in Cuba, go to the Mission Landing Cuba website or watch this video from his church, The Gathering Place in Syracuse.

Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes” interviews intriguing people from throughout Pennsylvania and New York who carry out inspirational, life-changing work. Tap the Hometown Heroes icon for more of these features.

Missions Pulse – Door – Ministry to Deaf Individuals – 01/08/24

Missions Pulse – Door – Ministry to Deaf Individuals – 01/08/24

The people who are served by the ministry agency Door International cannot hear this Family Life news feature.

Which is all the more reason why you should listen to this.

Rob Myers and Door’s other workers and volunteers are active in an evangelism effort to reach out to a people group in which only 1 of every 50 people are followers of Jesus. The outreach is to deaf individuals and communities. In this conversation on our “Missions Pulse” program, Myers explains why it is so hard to share Good News and provide Scriptures to deaf people. Door seeks out non-hearing believers who become church planters and evangelists who share the same circumstances as other deaf people. The ministry also is active in translating 110 Biblical narratives into sign languages. This is a massive task — if you are thinking only about ASL (American Sign Language), you are forgetting about the other 375 sign languages around the world.

For more information:

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