Eric and Michelle Johns have been the pastors of the Buffalo Dream Center, in Buffalo, New York, since 1993. His church has become well known as a ministry that meets the needs of inner-city families, going into crime-infested neighborhoods – places other churches are afraid to go.

The Buffalo Dream Center reaches thousands of people through various children’s outreaches, a mobile food pantry, a bus ministry, and many other programs that feed, clothe, and bring hope to those who have none. The church has touched so many children that two-thirds of those attending Sunday morning services are under the age of twenty. Boxes of Love, an enormous Christmas outreach held every year, provides food and toys to thousands of inner-city families. To raise funds for this large event, Pastor Eric draws attention to those in need by living on the streets of his city with the homeless. He does this for one week every winter. He has become affectionately known as “The Homeless Pastor”.

Pastor Eric and Michelle preach the uncompromising Word of God. They encourage Christians to look beyond their own needs and meet the needs of others. They believe that there is something greater than being blessed. The greater life is to be a blessing.

Pastor Eric, Michelle, and their family have a love for many other countries. Work with pastors, orphanages, the poor, and unreached people groups is being done in Central America, Africa, and Asia. In India, Eric and Michelle have helped to establish two orphanages that rescue children off of the streets. Currently, their ministry cares for about sixty orphans.

Located for nearly twenty years downtown, the Buffalo Dream Center now calls the corner of Lafayette and Parkdale, on Buffalo’s west side it’s home. Pastor Eric and Michelle also reside on the west side. They have five children and two grandchildren. Alexander and Nathaniel live at home with their parents. Mikayla is a full-time missionary in Guatemala. Victoria and her husband, Skylar, have a daughter, Ethne. Emilie and her husband, Dezmond, have a little girl too. She is named after her grandmother, Michelle.