JOURNEY TO CHRISTMAS

Marcia Norwood
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking


JOURNEY TO CHRISTMAS
  

Copyright 2011 Marcia Norwood

  
Advent  is the coming or arrival of something extremely important.  An example is:   the advent of the computer.


Advent is the liturgical (public worship) period preceding Christmas.  It begins in Western churches on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, and in Eastern churches in mid-November.  It is observed by many Christians as a season of prayer, and fasting.

Images of Advent

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http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=mcafee&sz=all&va=advent

Christmas Advent Activity Ideas

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https://www.pinterest.com/littleandrea/christmas-advent-activity-ideas/

One way I celebrate Advent is by sharing Christmas stories.  

It has been my JOY over the years to create Christmas devotional book/booklets for several churches.  

This Advent Season, I'll share photographs, stories, and recipes from the pages of the devotion books I've edited previously, and some new ones from my family and friends around the world.  

Some stories will touch your heart, and some will make you laugh.  

It is my prayer that our stories will help you prepare your heart for the Savior, who humbly came into our world as a babe on that first Christmas. 

This is the cover of the JOURNEY TO CHRISTMAS 2011 Advent Booklet that I edited for Living Stones Community Church.

 

The first story I share as we prepare for Christmas 2013 is taken, with permission,  from JOURNEY TO CHRISTMAS 2011. 

It's a story about my friend, Jennifer Campbell.  I met Jennifer through her sister, Laurie Patterson.  Jennifer and her husband, Bill, are mom and dad to 39 children at Haiti Home of Hope in Pignon, Haiti.  

Haiti Home of HOPE

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 http://www.haitihomeofhope.org/

CLICK on photos to enlarge.

  

Copyright 2013 Haiti Home of Hope

 

"A Father of the fatherless, 

and a Judge of the widows, 

is God in His holy habitation." 

Psalm 68:5

The Haiti Home of Hope (HHH), is an orphanage ministry in Pignon, Haiti.   Pignon is a small peaceful village located in the mountains of the N. Cental Plateu. The HHH ministry houses and provides total care for now 39 orphaned children. 

The ministry also has a feeding center for children out in the community that are in need of nutrition. The ministry sits on 4 acres with an 8 acre garden in back. 

They have a boys home which currently houses 24 boys, and a girls home with 15 girls. The children's ages range between 1 and 14. The children are served 3 nutritious meals a day. They also are provided an education, clothing, medical and lots of love. 

There is playground equipment and a library for the children to utilize. They also currently have 8 children from Oasis Orphanage from Port-au-Prince whom lost their compound during the earthquake.

A Message from Bill Campbell:

Jennifer and I along with our son Jesse, were commissioned as missionaries to go to Haiti and minister to orphans and widows according to scriptures in the Bible, Psalm 68:5 and James 1:27. We arrived in Pignon, Haiti on Jan. 21, 2003 and plan on staying as long as we can to see some of these kids graduate high school, and start families of their own.

I was a hazardous materials transporter(truck driver) and Jennifer a stay at home mom, when we surrendered to the call of missions. We both sensed a deeper commitment or purpose for our lives although we were already involved in different ministries in the church. At some point I remember we were challenged as a church congregation to pray about personal ministry opportunities, even to the point of saying I will do and go where ever God would have me to go. We never imagined it would be as missionaries to Haiti.

We first heard about the need for a family to come and start this new ministry back in 1997. We both wanted to be involved somehow as stateside support. We kept trying to find a family that maybe had been actually trained as missionaries to go, but we eventually found out God had been preparing us our whole lives for just this moment. Our faith was being tested. Did we really trust God enough that he can use simple folks like us to face actual life and death, voudoo occults, starving people. To be honest I was scared for my family's life. Was I being naive or irresponsible to move my family to a third world country such as this? I asked God to help me by convincing everyone in my life, and the church that this was a real, God calling thing and that we needed to go. He did that as well as a lot of other answered prayer, that encouraged and convinced us even more.

So here we are ten years later. At times it has been almost unbearable, but overall it has been worth it and has brought much joy to see a starving, helpless child come back to life, or a hopeless widow find new meaning for her life, through a little love and compassion. It's amazing what just a little help and genuine love can do for someone. The most fullfilling and most important goal, is to share the life changing message of what God did when he sent His only son Jesus, to die and pay the penalty for our sins on the cross. And that they can find forgiveness and everlasting life in heaven when they leave this world. Haiti needs the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ. The whole world needs to hear Good News.

I hope you will at least consider what Jesus did on the cross for you. Be honest and ask yourself can I really be certain of the truth? How can you know unless you seriously read some important scriptures in the Bible that talk about life and death? If you don't know then please read the books of John and Romans in the New Testament.

We hope that the HHH ministry is a blessing to all who read about it or are involved in one way or an other. A lot of people have helped us along the way which we are so thankful for. May God richly bless you and give you His peace.
--Bill Campbell

Page from JOURNEY TO CHRISTMAS 2011.  Edited by Marcia Norwood

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and invite a friend.

Marcia Norwood

America's STORYTELLER

Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking