PODCASTS

Tag: #evangelization

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

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

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:49 — 8.0MB)

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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

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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

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:52 — 8.1MB)

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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

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:04 — 8.3MB)

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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

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:37 — 7.7MB)

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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

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:49 — 8.0MB)

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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:

141 Baptisms – 1 Church – 1 Day – A Family Life Interview 12/27/23

141 Baptisms – 1 Church – 1 Day – A Family Life Interview 12/27/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:57 — 15.0MB)

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“I truly believe the culture is hungry for truth.”  — Pastor Wayne Bray

First Baptist Church of Simpsonville SC marked the Christian Baptisms of 141 people on a single weekend. Many of those were not scheduled to make that faith commitment and receive that Sacrament, but the lead pastor there says the Holy Spirit was moving.

This is not the only major, massive faith event of 2023. Family Life’s Sarah Harnisch asked the Rev. Wayne Bray about the event at the congregation he leads — and about faith trends of the year just past. He also talks about the church’s calling to be ready to respond to Spirit-led opportunities on the way in 2024.

First Baptist Simpsonville is the founding location of the multi-site Upstate Church. News coverage of the “overwhelming” response to the invitations for December Baptisms can be found here and here.

Inside Out – Responding to Criticism – 11/29/23

Inside Out – Responding to Criticism – 11/29/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:09 — 22.2MB)

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“Inside Out” on Family Life

How do you respond when coworkers tell you they’ve been hurt by Christians, or say that Christianity is offensive? Kaitlin Miller Febles talks about how believers led by the Holy Spirit can live out the most powerful response.    

“I think when we first respond with just defensiveness, we can come across as callous toward what this person’s experienced by someone maybe even in the name of Christ,” says Kaitlin Miller Febles. “And if they don’t feel heard and understood, I think they’re far less likely to hear us, or even want to understand us back. But humility has a way of disarming people.”  

Febles counsels us to listen well and mourn behavior in the name of Christ that is not at all Christlike. “Just even as we denounce un-Christlikeness, we don’t denounce Christ. Christians may act shamefully, we need to acknowledge that, but we’re not ashamed of Christ.” 

 We have an opportunity to speak the actual message of Christ with words, and also with our lives, when the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit shape the way we live. “For each hateful or selfish or greedy or manipulative Christian example that an unbeliever has experienced, we can be a counter example, as a Christian that they also now have to explain,” Febles says.  

Kaitlin Miller Febles writes on this topic and other issues for The Gospel Coalition.

Hometown Heroes – Buffalo Dream Center starts the Curbside Church – 11/07/23

Hometown Heroes – Buffalo Dream Center starts the Curbside Church – 11/07/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:56 — 8.1MB)

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Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes“

A quarter-century ago, Pastor Eric Johns experienced what he is convinced was a God Moment.

That year, and in each of the 25 since, the pastor of the Buffalo Dream Center has lived as a homeless person for a week, taking a backpack and a sleeping bag with him. In part he wanted the first-hand experience of “living outside”. In part he sensed a calling to connect with people who also were living on the streets.

In this Family Life Interview, Pastor Johns tells the genesis of the mission and evangelistic outreach which became the “Curbside Church“, the church’s efforts to provide gifts for children at Christmastime, and the unique man he met who was the only person who was opposed to Eric Johns spending a homeless week.

Find out more about their “Boxes of Love” here. Pastor Johns also produces a podcast entitled “Building Your Life”.

“Hometown Heroes” happens during the Family Life Noon report most Tuesdays, online and on the air.

Inside Out – The “Nones” and the “Dones” – 10/18/23

Inside Out – The “Nones” and the “Dones” – 10/18/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:53 — 28.7MB)

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“Inside Out” on Family Life : What can the Church do to reach the “Nones” and the “Dones”?

Some churchgoers are walking away. Others you might expect to come aren’t entering. Author and speaker Michelle Van Loon talks about the “Dones” and the “Nones,” and how to we can “spur one another on to good deeds” even outside a church worship service.    

“We are definitely in a time of great change and shift,” says author and speaker Michelle Van Loon. “When we talk about people that are ‘Dones’ we’re talking about people that once were active in church and they hit the exit door and never came back. When we talk about ‘Nones’ we may be including people that are done with church. We may also be including in that category people that have never been closely affiliated with the church, regular attenders, or members.”

While labels like these help us understand trends, Van Loon counsels us not to use them as reasons to give up on people.  

“It’s tempting to be able to use a category name to kind of assign meaning. But we know, and we know from the example of Jesus, that that is always a terrible idea,” she says. “He could see a naked madman running around the tombs, and He could say, ‘This person needs deliverance.’ Not, ‘This person needs exclusion.’ Or He could see a woman grabbing the hem of His garment who’d been excluded from the faith community because of her illness, and He responded differently.”  

The difference between what the Church can be and will be, and how people within it sometimes behave, is a reason some “Dones” give for leaving. It’s not usually the Jesus that we meet in the pages of Scripture or in prayer that has burned a person out or burned a person, in general,” she says. “It’s often His people behaving badly.”  

This gives those who embrace the Church even more reason to live as ambassadors, meeting people wherever they are.    

“No church can go to places where people are not wanting to attend a church service. But all of us are scattered into the world to be the Church,” she says. 

Michelle Van Loon is the author of seven books and has been writing about changes in the culture and the Church. Martha Manikas-Foster hosts “Inside Out”, one of our Wednesday news features which explores how living our faith from the inside out engages the world. Archives are available on FamilyLife.org/newspodcasts.

 

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