Hometown Heroes

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. A...

“Hometown Heroes” on Family Life This week’s Hometown Hero is Sandy Lenahan of Shamokin, PA.  She’s created as series of YouTube videos to get the Word of God into young children. Lenahan tells us that these inspirational videos are geared especially for ages 2 to 6. “These are really foundational years for children, and there … Read More Read More

Todd Gallagher is a Parker, PA native who has spent nearly 20 years as a missionary to Ukraine and Romania. He talks about his unexpected path to that ministry, as well as the current turmoil in Ukraine.

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“Hometown Heroes” on Family Life An organization which will provide gifts for 3,000 children in the month ahead has a goal to assure that every child in their county receives a gift at Christmastime. This year’s president of the Arctic League is Scott Heffner. He gives us the impressive history of the organization — this … Read More Read More

Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes“ At Thanksgiving and Christmastime, communities are especially generous to reach out to help individuals and families who struggle financially. This week’s “Hometown Heroes” news feature gives you an inside look at one such ministry, from Katie Rhodes of Catholic Charities in New York’s Southern Tier region. Rhodes updates us...

Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes“ This week’s Hometown Heroes continues our conversation with Buffalo Pastor Eric Johns. This will be his 25th and final year of living on the streets for a full week, getting the experience of homelessness first-hand. As he prepares to retire, his sons will follow in his footsteps. There are other ministry … Read More Read More

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 … Read More Read More

“Hometown Heroes” from Family Life Helping people breaking the chains of addiction is the aim of a western New York ministry.     The man running that ministry has seen both sides of the consequences of drug use. One-time addict Christopher Knapp is now director of Total Freedom in Darien Center. Total Freedom offers a long-term, residential … Read More Read More

“Hometown Heroes” on Family Life “We sometimes feel like we kind of have to put Jesus in a box, go to work, and we can take Him back out when we come home. We gotta break that.”  — Liz Smith Chatauqua County (NY) Paramedic Liz Smith felt a divine calling to provide encouragement and support … Read More Read More

Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes“ This is part 2 of our conversation with Jeff Seigworth about his recent — and upcoming — mission work in western Ukraine. Today’s segment focuses on how his experiences with people whose nation is at war influenced his own faith — and what he saw about faith and evangelization for the … Read More Read More

Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes“ Multiple mission organizations are active in war zones in Ukraine and southern Russia, bringing Christian healing and Christian hope to those caught in the crossfire. One of those agencies is A-1-8, named after Acts 1:8, the Biblical mandate to take Jesus’ Gospel far and near, into all the world. A18 had … Read More Read More

Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes“ Chad Kurtz of Brookville, Pennsylvania, saw the challenges boys face in childhood and their teen years, when a father or father figure is not prominent in their lives. He directs the local chapter of “Truth in Nature”, a ministry which matches responsible Christian men with young people who need that kind … Read More Read More

Many Christians have less of a “handle” on Old Testament scripture as they do from the Gospels and New Testament letters. A church leader in Lancaster, New York, is preparing to address some of that lack of familiarity with the Hebrew portions of the Christian Bible. Glenn Tanner will lead a four-month series of video-based … Read More Read More

Child Evangelism Fellowship brings the Bible — and Biblical hope — to 19 million children around the world.  There are new and expanding New York outreaches of CEF to Genesee, Wyoming, Monroe and Orleans counties. Mary Hooker and Beth Russell tells us about the Good News Club and the Five Day Clubs which reach out … Read More Read More

Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes” gets the first-person story of the start of Matthew 25 Farm in Tully, New York, south of Syracuse.  It was winter a decade and a half ago, and there was no farm, no property and no equipment — just a spiritual calling. Rick Rarick explains how the farm became a reality … Read More Read More

“Hometown Heroes” on Family Life  Link Youth Mentorship is a ministry which pairs compassionate, involved adults with young people in the Rochester area. The program is motivated by a Census statistic that 72% of young people in that city spend at least part of their growing-up years in a single-parent household. While the custodial parents … Read More Read More

  Gary Woodruff and his family provide the “Photos For Souls” website. It offers photos, internet memes and thought-starter writings to help encourage Christians and to share the faith with others. They also run the Traveling Chapel, collecting bibles and other Christian literature for those in need. Hear this conversation about the evangelistic website, plus … Read More Rea...

This week we feature the founder of “Foster Hope New York”, a ministry which helps pair up local foster care kids with families. Hannah Bender started by connecting with one fostering family in the Syracuse area just a few years ago. This ministry added a foster club, and now helps to “fill in gaps” as … Read More Read More

Angela Lukaszonas is founder of The Young Ladies of Grace Performing Arts Academy, a Christian-based studio teaching young women dance and much more. The program at Williamsville and Pittsford, New York, certainly provides the performance skills and techniques needed for acting, dance, and modeling. The Young Ladies of Grace have a higher calling to instill … Read More Read More

This week’s Family Life “Hometown Hero” is Lydia Sujkowski. Lydia is a Cortland College senior organizing a September 5K race to raise funds to better train area counselors on treating eating disorders, which she herself began suffering in high school. Hear her inspiring story, and discover how she is reaching out to encourage others, plus … Read More Read More

“Operation Good Neighbor” serves the Southtowns area around Buffalo, New York. This provides a food pantry, clothing closet and much more for it’s neighbors in Derby, North Evans, Evans, Brant, Farnham, Lake View and Angola. Listen as Family Life’s Mark Webster gets the good news about “Operation Good Neighbor” from Claudette Abshire and Bill Bateman, … Re...

“The Impact Project”  sprang from a simple act of kindness: A group of church members banding together to assist a woman whose dilapidated home was in dire need of repair. The extensive work a band of volunteers completed in less than 48 hours proved to be a powerful witness to her neighborhood, and the genesis … Read More Read More

Watsontown, Pennsylvania’s Craig Wheeland has demonstrated the Gospel of Jesus Christ in small towns and large cities in Pennsylvania — plus many villages in many countries. His work encourages children to learn to read, so they can read the Scriptures and talk about faith with their parents. When he and a U.S. team go on … Read More Read More

This week on “Hometown Heroes”, meet Kevin Keeley of Spring Creek Lavender Farm in the Oneida County village of Remsen, New York. They will host a Thrive Marriage Weekend August 11-12, 2023. Keeley says the wonderful dreams which people take into their marriages often are followed by couples’ harder times. There are always ways in … Read More Read More