First Baptist hosts ‘A Healthy You, Inside and Out’ series

Do you find that stress or health problems have made your life more difficult to deal with?

The First Baptist Church in Lansdale is reaching out to the community with a free series of speakers who have dealt with life-changing situations and are willing to share how they have learned to cope in their daily lives.

“We wanted to create an outreach to meet the needs of people in the community who might have to deal with stress in life or disabilities,” explained the Rev. Eric Kraihanzel, senior pastor of the church. “We want to reach out to those in need and to be able to help them.”

The speaker series, titled “A Healthy You, Inside and Out,” will begin with three sessions at 7 p.m. on Fridays, April 13, May 11 and June 15 at the church at 700 N. Broad St. in Lansdale.

The first speaker, Artie Van Why is a 9/11 survivor who has produced a play and written a book about his experiences. In May there will be a live Skype session with Anna Whiston Donaldson, a mother who lost a child. And the June speaker will be Heidi Kelly, who calls herself a “breast cancer thriver,“who started a small business as therapy while dealing with her health situation.

Kraihanzel stressed that these are free events that will be very laid back. “We just want people to come out on a Friday night to listen and ask questions,” he said.

“We want to reach out with more than our normal gospel, to say we care who you are,” the pastor added, “and to provide lectures and seminars that people might connect with.” He said they are also hoping to continue the series in the Fall with experts speaking about more health subjects and nutrition.

Kraihanzel said the idea for the first three speakers was brought to him by a longtime church member and Lansdale resident, Shellie Cavallaro, who suffered a serious illness several years ago and had to deal with the recovery and resulting PTSD.

Cavallaro explained that in 2015 she suffered a GI bleed and was rushed into surgery where they performed an ileostomy. After the work of recovery, she said that although she sought counseling she felt she needed to seek out those who had shared lifechanging experiences. With the help of reaching out to such people through friends and the Internet, she said her healing started.

“I thought about It and finally decided I wanted to do something to help others,” Cavallaro said. “I thought there have to be other people out there that need support from those who have

overcome adversity and survived.”

“People need to see the success stories, those who have persevered, those who pray, those who seek and those who get up every day and move forward.”

Cavallaro said when Pastor Kraihanzel spoke about the outreach she thought the church would be the perfect venue for this. “I don’t want people to think they are going to come and be lectured,’ she said. “It is about love and connecting with the community.”

The first speaker, Artie Van Why worked across from the World Trade Center and witnessed the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy shortly after the first plane hit the tower. He said he tried to help people and he felt like he was on a battlefield. Due to the horror of it, he said he had to leave that job and began to write about his experiences. He first wrote a one-man play, “That Day in September, which was produced in Los Angeles and Off-Broadway, and then penned a book of the same title. He said after moving to Pennsylvania to be with family, he began speaking to area schools and colleges.

Van Why is working on a second book about living after a traumatic experience. “I am hoping people can relate to this — after a traumatic and tragic life event how one moves forward from that,” he said. “I hope the things I have done may help others in their journeys of grieving and healing.”

About the second speaker, Cavallaro said she was comforted by reading the book, “Rare Bird,” written by Anna Whiston Donaldson about her strong faith in the midst of the loss of her child. There will be a live Skype session with Donaldson, and there will also be a talk on therapy dogs and cats afterwards.

The third speaker, Heidi Kelly, who calls herself a “breast cancer thriver,” said she has a love of animals and it was helpful to be surrounded by them throughout her ordeal. She said she used her sewing machine as therapy and between surgeries she started designing one-of-a-kind fabric handbags. “It would keep my mind off it and eventually enough people wanted them that I started a business,” she said.

Kelly said she now has two blogs and been interviewed for a book and newspaper articles. “I have wanted to start talking about it to an audience,” she explained, “the aspect of going through something so horrible and coming out the other side so positive.”

For more information about the series, contact the church as (215) 8553457 or info@fbci.com.

“I am hoping people can relate to this — after a traumatic and tragic life event how one moves forward from that.” — Artie Van Why, speaker in ‘A Healthy You, Inside and Out’ series