PODCASTS

Tag: #hometownheroes
Rural Cancer Screening – Hometown Heroes – 3/12/24

Rural Cancer Screening – Hometown Heroes – 3/12/24

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“Hometown Heroes” from Family Life

Hannah Farley does outreach to encourage people who are 45 and older to get checked for early signs of cancer.

In this Family Life News interview, she says some residents of rural areas have a bias which prevents them from wanting to get cancer screening.  Farley finds though that it is productive to reinterpret the question as a “stewardship of your body” and to encourage you to ponder how the people around you rely on your presence — “you are a gift to your family”.

In this week’s edition of “Hometown Heroes”, you will hear about success stories through this program across its three decades. The CSP team can help individuals get screened, even if they don’t have current health insurance or feel there are other barriers.

Farley is the Community Outreach Manager for the Cancer Screening Program in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

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

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

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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.

Hometown Heroes – Bill Matteson – 2/27/24

Hometown Heroes – Bill Matteson – 2/27/24

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Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes” Feature

COPE is “Children of Opioid Parents and Empowerment”.

The program in Chautauqua County, New York, offers of full year of services to children and teens who lost a parent to an opioid overdose.

Bill Matteson is the executive director of the COPE Foundation 19. He knows this tragedy personally. One of his sons died at age 29 due to heroin laced with fentanyl, leaving three children without their father. Matteson offers his family’s story as an encouragement — and a caution — to other families.

In this conversation, he also tells us about how the COPE program became a positive step his pastor promised could come from the disaster, as well as the ways COPE reaches out to guide other children who have faced something similar. It is open as well to children who This effort also includes counseling sessions with a Christian agency.

 

 

 

“Hometown Heroes” is hosted by Family Life’s Mark Webster. He talks with individuals throughout Pennsylvania and New York who are transforming lives and answering real human needs in their local communities.

This feature airs during the Family Life Noon Report on Tuesdays, and is available on our News Podcasts website and through most podcast sources. You are invited to subscribe to this feature — and to share this interview with anyone who may find it helpful for their circumstance, or for a congregation looking to create a similar outreach.
Hometown Heroes – “Night to Shine” – 2/20/24

Hometown Heroes – “Night to Shine” – 2/20/24

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It’s Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes”

Celebrate the congregations and volunteers in our listening area who created a magical, memorable evening for hundreds of special guests

 

The Night to Shine has become a global movement across the past decade, and numerous local churches are plugged in — many of them since the early days when the Tim Tebow Foundation launched a prom-styled festival for special-needs individuals.

In this edition of “Hometown Heroes”, we hear about the local area’s Night to Shine events held February 9, 2024. Representatives of three of these congregations tell us what happens, who is served, the significant responses of the families and the local community, and how this one night spurs churches to be attentive to special needs ministries throughout the year.

Our radio news feature offers highlights and stories. For each of these three congregations, we also will be posting expanded interviews with web-only bonus content.  

  • “Hometown Heroes” feature — highlights from all three congregations, as aired on the Family Life Noon Report  [click the podcast player above to listen]
    • Bethel Life Church, Greenville PA:  bonus content with Pastor Kent Bell [web]
    • Auburn Alliance Church, Auburn NY:  bonus content with Event Coordinator Chad Mitchell  [web]
    • Sunbury Bible Church, Northumberland PA:  bonus content with Pastor Preston Atkinson [web]

Other congregations whose leaders and volunteers also deserve “Hero” status are other churches in the Family Life listening area. These also sponsored a Night to Shine this month:

    • Our Lady Of Peace, Erie PA [web]
    • New Life Baptist, New Wilmington PA [web]
    • LCBC, Dickson City PA Campus [web]
    • Epic Church-Buffalo: Williamsville NY [web]
    • Cross Creek Church, Elmyra NY [web]
    • Catalyst Church, Altoona PA [web]
    • Calvary Church, Boalsburg PA [web]

The Night to Shine movement began ten years ago (2014) as an outreach of the Tim Tebow Foundation. The Heisman trophy winner for the Florida Gators, former NFL quarterback and sports broadcaster started his foundation to fight for what they call the “MVP” — the Most Vulnerable People.

Tebow (himself growing up as a missionary kid) has been at the forefront of multiple forms of international Christian ministry.

Find out about the Foundation and watch the national/international Night to Shine video.

 

“Hometown Heroes” is one of our Tuesday news features on our Noon Report and 5 O’Clock Report.

 

A fun P.S….  Tim Tebow (who became famous for waiting for a uniquely Christian marriage partner, despite his famous “eligible bachelor” status) met his future wife at his 2018 NTS, where Demi-Lynn was attending with her special-needs sister.)
Hometown Heroes – “Night to Shine” – Auburn Alliance – 2/20/24

Hometown Heroes – “Night to Shine” – Auburn Alliance – 2/20/24

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Chad Mitchell is a member of the Auburn Alliance Church in Auburn, New York.

Hear more about the Night to Shine events in Pennsylvania and New York on the Family Life “Hometown Heroes” news feature.
Hometown Heroes – House of Hope – Pastor Angelique – 2/13/24

Hometown Heroes – House of Hope – Pastor Angelique – 2/13/24

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“We want them to know from the second they walk in that this is a place where they will receive healing and acceptance and value.”

It’s “Hometown Heroes” on Family Life

The House of Hope in Williamsport PA exists to help women overcome dependency, barriers, and challenges — so they will move from a state of homelessness to thriving in the community through the transforming power of Jesus Christ. The six-month residential program is an outreach of the Sojourner Truth Ministries there.

Pastor Angelique Labadie-Cihanowyz is the executive director, and she tells us about some of the paths which led these women to desperate or challenging life circumstances, and how the love of Jesus Christ is demonstrated to those who find shelter and solace at the House of Hope.

 

Sojourner Truth Ministries is named for the former slave who became an outspoken advocate for women’s rights, temperance and abolition of slavery. STM in Williamsport operates the House of Hope, prepares hot lunches six days a week, and have provided an after-school program for children. Find out more from their website, where you can watch their “House Tour” and “Cardboard Stories” videos.

Hometown Heroes – Tara Freeman – Women of Hope – 1/30/24

Hometown Heroes – Tara Freeman – Women of Hope – 1/30/24

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After attending a great women’s conference, the founders of “Women of Hope” asked themselves why there wasn’t a local expression of such an outpouring of outreach and encouragement.

So, they created one.

Women of Hope, in northern Pennsylvania, sponsors events to meet the needs of many women in their community.

Tara Freeman says, unfortunately, many women miss out on the hope and love of the Bible’s story, and they instead can become “beat up by the Bible and burdened by the church, and I want them to feel there is hope and that Jesus is there to love them,” regardless of where they feel their life is at the moment. For women who have struggled with something in their past — or feel trapped or unsettled now — Women of Hope seeks to create a group where each person can feel comfortable, safe and accepted. Freeman says some participants have found healing from situations as wide-ranging as abusive relationship, childhood traumas and other challenges.

Women of Hope specifically does not hold its events at church buildings, in order to remove one potential perceived hurdle from some of those who are open to finding assurances of hope.

 

Tara Freeman (pictured at right at a “5 Under 40” ceremony) is president of Women of Hope, which began in June 2021 and held its recent conference in Troy, Pennsylvania. She was interviewed by Mark Webster of Family Life News.  “Hometown Heroes” brings you the stories of — and the inspiration from — people of faith who have created ways to be positive influences on the communities of Pennsylvania and New York. (Archives of this feature throughout the past 4 1/2 years are available here.)

 

 

Hometown Heroes – Allegany Hope WNY – Casey Jones – 1/23/24

Hometown Heroes – Allegany Hope WNY – Casey Jones – 1/23/24

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It’s “Hometown Heroes” on Family Life

Today’s guest on “Hometown Heroes” is Casey Jones of Allegany Hope, a Christian organization focused on building healthy communities through healthy families.

Allegany Hope has, for 15 years now, brought together local congregations and other Christian organizations to streamline and multiply their efforts to change lives. As you will hear in this podcast, Jones says the goal is to bring about holistic health to their neighbors — physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Jones has seen positive results in bringing church leaders together to move beyond discussion of community issues and needs into actions which bring these benefits to life.

One of the visible, ongoing projects is a Facebook page which publicizes what God is doing among the people of their town. They also have become a hub for posting community news, church events, a workshop on emergency preparedness for households (February 8), and other activities to connect with the local region. The Allegany Hope Community Calendar publicizes events such as Bible studies, Autism workshops and more.

Allegany Hope is centered in Friendship, New York. You can find out more online from their Facebook and website.

 

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