J-Crew
Michelle Tellone
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Monday - Friday: 7 PM - 10 PMMonday - Friday: 11 PM - 12 AM
Lightforce Radio - Saturday: 8 PM - 1 AM
Up Close and Personal with Michelle Tellone
God has rescued me and done so much in my life, I don’t even know where to begin. I grew up in St Petersburg, yes, I’m a native! My parochial school upbringing gave me a reverence and respect for God but I never understood that He wanted a personal relationship with me. After seeing some hypocrisy in the church and hurt in my own life, I made some really wrong choices. In eighth grade I was on the student council, straight A’s and a cheerleader and by tenth grade I was failing and pulled out of school.I went to work full time for my family in a men’s clothing and tux rental business. During that time my music was so important to me. I would win stuff from radio stations all the time and always thought that radio would be the greatest job in the world!
When I was 17 I went for three months with my grandparents. Even though I hadn’t given my life to the Lord yet, that trip had a profound effect on me. I met relatives from the other side of the world. I saw castles and Roman ruins and history like never before and I decided I wanted to do something with my life. I came back and took my GED and radio broadcasting license test and started at St. Pete. Junior College. After working in college and volunteer radio for a while I landed a part-time position at 102.5 FM, which was a dream come true at the time! I soon went from part-time to full time and became the music director. In the natural so much was going for me, I had a condo on Siesta Key, a brand new Toyota and I had just been voted top female announcer in Tampa Bay by a local magazine. The drugs and partying in the secular music industry was unbelievable. For a 20-year-old tenth grade drop out I was making good money, but I remember feeling so alone, empty and unfulfilled. I didn’t like who I was.
Around Christmas time of 1981 I cried out to God and told Him I couldn’t live my life without Him any longer. He honored that desperate prayer and came into my life. After that it seemed that every where I went I met Christians who God used in my life. The Bible became so alive to me. God was speaking directly to me through His love letter! Through a co-worker at the radio station, I met my future husband. He had the same background as me and God was just beginning to do a work in his life as well. We were close friends for a year and went to church together. Then something changed and we realized we were meant for each other forever! December 3rd, 1983 we were married. Although I was still working in secular radio, I had written a term paper in college about the music industry and how the music we listen to affects us. Through that term paper doors opened in many churches to speak to teens. We were going all over the state, sometimes twice a week to share. The closer I became to the Lord the harder it was to work at the radio station.
I remember listening to a Christian radio station, WCIE, through the static and hearing that they were pregnant with a new radio station for our area! As God would have it, in May of ’86 we had a staff meeting at 102.5 and we were told that our station had been sold and we could lose our jobs. I was pregnant with our first child at the time. When I walked out of that meeting that day, on my desk was a message from the station manager of The Joy FM (Joy 88). God opened the doors for me to be a part of the Joy FM from the start in June of 1986. I’ve worked just about every airshift in these past 20 years. It’s so wonderful to be able to play music that offers people hope and life!
LightForce on the Joy FM was birthed in August of 1986 and my heart with this show is to reach this generation with cutting edge Christian music and intense topics. We have a great team of prayer warriors who come up every Saturday night to answer phones. Young people need to know that they have a destiny in Christ! Jesus has filled that empty place that was in my heart. He has blessed me with a wonderful husband who loves the Lord and has given John and six beautiful gifts from Him! Elisha, who is 19, Joshua, 17, Caleb our 12 year old, Crystal is 11, Hannah who’s 9 and Angelina’s 3. Our love for teenagers has continued and after years of ministry with Youth for Christ and as a Youth Pastor at our former church, God birthed a non-profit outreach call Whole Hearted Youth 13 years ago. WHY Outreach is my husband’s full time occupation. And we are supported by monthly gifts of family and friends. We go to detention centers, hospitals and campuses and hold youth meetings, Bible studies and concerts at a local storefront. Our building, The Front opened up June 2003 and we are amazed to see what God is doing there! It’s so incredible to see the Lord transform lives! He has done it for me and I know He longs to do it for you! Just ask.
