Luke 2:7-11–7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord.
Dear Friends,
I often think of the verse in Philippians 1:3 which states “I thank my God
upon every remembrance of you”. These updates go out to many of you in
other countries throughout the world. I do thank God for every one of you,
both here and abroad, whom I have had the privilege of knowing and/or
working with throughout the years. I thank God for your faithfulness,
whether in fulltime ministry work, or just being a faithful servant wherever
He has placed you. I thank Him for so many of you who have helped us to be able to minister throughout the years. One is not more important than the other.
As we enter this Christmas season, again I will say that we are facing times
that our country has never faced before. I think that we need to be
constantly aware that the Lord often provides circumstances for each of us
to have the opportunity to minister the love of Christ to others. Last
night, in devotion, I shared 1 John 4:8, “But anyone who does not love does
not know God, for God is love”, and I asked each one to be aware of those
they come into contact with each day– to be open to those in need and
ministering to them as the Lord makes it possible. As our pastor said this
past Sunday, “Christ is Christmas”. I can think of no better way to lift Him
up than for us to be a conduit of His love to others. ? I am attaching the
story of an incident that happened to the Osoinach family in Romania years
ago. It demonstrates just what God can do when we make ourselves available. I hope it will be a blessing to you.
In the attached pictures you will see some of the kids as they are ready to
attend the Youth Christmas Gala at our church, us receiving and distributing food from here, loading for Native Americans in New Mexico, and then them getting clothes and food ready for distribution there. There are also pictures of some who received from the container we sent to Heart4Orphans (heart4orphans.org) in Transnistria. Because of so many of you, we are able to help in these areas.
I am also attaching an article describing the current world food situation
and what we can expect, in case some of you are not aware. Sissie and I are
praying for direction and resources to prepare to be able to help as the
Lord opens doors. We would ask that you join us in prayer for His direction
in the coming days. Most of all, we want only Him glorified in whatever is
accomplished through Fairhaven.
Please remember that as you pray and support the ministry here, you are also a part of blessing these other ministries such as those you see in the
pictures. We can never express the depth of our appreciation to all of you.
From Sissie and I, and everyone at Fairhaven, we wish you all a very Blessed and Merry Christmas.
In His Service,
Johnny
Johnny Huffman
Fairhaven Ministry of Faith, Hope, & Love
21066 Fairhaven Road
Covington, La. 70435
Ph: 985-892-1134
Fax: 985-892-1385
Cell: 985-264-5052
Email: johnny@fairhavenministry.com <mailto:johnny@fairhavenministry.com>
Web: hopeforothers.org
Love is God’s will in action.
Phillipians 2:4,5-Look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
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Christmas Bag Story
A few weeks before Christmas, I was at the nursing home translating for someone, when one of the younger residents stopped me to talk.
Lili is 30-something and is heavily medicated for emotional problems. She also has problems with her weight. She is the largest person in the nursing home. She started telling me how God takes care of her, how she doesn’t need to worry about food or clothing because there’s Someone watching over her. I affirmed what she said, then went on my way. When the holiday season rolled around, we were back at the nursing home handing out Christmas packages with some of our Romanian friends. Lili couldn’t stand still in her anticipation of receiving a gift bag. She followed us around as we went from person to person. She continued to get in the way and interrupted, so I finally turned to her and asked her to go sit on her bed, wait her turn, and we would come to her. On her way out, she told me to be sure to bring her a packet with a sweat suit in it. (I did not know she had been asking Dad for a sweat suit the last few weeks and he had been saying, “Lili, if you want one you are going to have to pray for it.”) I told her none of the packages had clothes in them, but I didn’t really expect her to hear me. I just didn’t want her to be disappointed.
One of the Romanian helpers said, “I’ll give her the gift package now, be it her turn, be it not.” Our friend went and found the biggest packet she could find and took it to Lili. At that point Lili began bouncing up and down on the bed. I was sitting with another woman in the same room watching her.
Lili’s first question was, ”Does it have a sweat suit in it?” The lady who brought her the packet told her, “I don’t know. I didn’t look. Let’s see what’s in it now.”
The first thing pulled out was a sweatshirt—the XXL size. The Romanian and I just stared at one another and Lili took off dancing around the room. The next thing to come out was a pair of matching sweat pants, XXL size. That was more than Lili could take. She came right over and began telling me all over again how Someone was watching over her.
I think I was more amazed than she was. I had to back up and tell the helper the conversation of a few weeks before and when she had heard it, she took the opportunity to drive the point home telling Lili that God does care and He listens when we pray.
During the holiday season, we gave out over 500 packages, but that was the only one with clothing in it. For Lili it was the fulfillment of her desire. For us, it went to prove how much He does care about these forgotten people. Our God still does miracles.
Heidi
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Famine Is ‘Knocking On The Door’ Of 2021
By Michael Snyder/End of the American Dream December 09, 2020
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Unless there is some sort of unforeseen miracle, millions of people could literally starve to death in 2021. We are facing a global food crisis that is unlike anything we have ever seen before in modern times, and 2021 is going to be the year when it starts to become extremely painful all over the globe.
But don’t take my word for it. David Beasley is the head of the UN World Food Program, and so he is in a better position to assess the global hunger crisis than any of us. According to Beasley, 2021 “is literally going to be catastrophic” and his organization is facing “the worst humanitarian crisis year since the beginning of the United Nations”…
“2021 is literally going to be catastrophic based on what we’re seeing at this stage of the game,” said Beasley, adding that for a dozen countries, famine is “knocking on the door.”
He said 2021 was likely to be “the worst humanitarian crisis year since the beginning of the United Nations” 75 years ago and “we’re not going to be able to fund everything … so we have to prioritize, as I say, the icebergs in front of the Titanic.”
Beasley is feverishly trying to raise more money to meet the rising tide of hunger that he is witnessing all across the planet, but he feels like he is fighting a losing battle.
Freakish weather patterns, crippling droughts and colossal armies of locusts have devastated crops throughout 2020, and the COVID pandemic is putting an extreme amount of stress on global food distribution systems.
As a result, food prices are surging and hundreds of millions of people living in impoverished countries now find themselves unable to afford enough food to eat on a regular basis.
Here in the United States, approximately 50 million people have experienced food insecurity at some point in 2020. According to PBS, this hunger crisis is even worse than what we went through during the last recession…
Those fighting hunger say they’ve never seen anything like this in America, even during the Great Recession of 2007-2009.
After the initial wave of fear caused by the COVID pandemic started to subside, a lot of Americans thought that we were out of the woods, but now a new wave of lockdowns is being instituted and CNN is reporting that the hunger crisis in America is actually “getting worse” as we approach the end of the year…
Hunger skyrocketed at the pandemic’s onset because of record high job losses, school closures and strained food pantries. But at that point, Americans were better positioned to make ends meet with support from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamp, benefits.
Yet, as we near year’s end, the problem is getting worse, not better. With the expiration of CARES Act benefits and without any hint as to when the next round of federal aid will hit people’s pockets, families around the country are suffering and will likely continue to do so throughout the holiday season.
Could it be possible that 2021 will end up being even more painful for hungry Americans than 2020 was?
That is difficult to imagine, because the numbers from this year have been truly horrific. The AP analyzed Feeding America data from 181 different food banks, and they found that those food banks had given out 57 percent more food in 2020 than they did in 2019.
If the demand continues to skyrocket, eventually there simply will not be enough food for everyone.
We are all familiar with the photographs from the Great Depression that show men waiting in very long lines for free food.
Well, the same thing is happening now, but with a twist. Needy people are lining up as early as 2 AM and are waiting in their vehicles for up to 12 hours just to get a few bags of provisions from their local food banks…
The history books are filled with iconic images of America’s struggles against hunger. Among the most memorable are the Depression-era photos of men standing in breadlines, huddled in long coats and fedoras, their eyes large with fear. An overhead sign reads: “Free Soup. Coffee and a Doughnut for the Unemployed.”
This year’s portrait of hunger has a distinctively bird’s eye view: Enormous traffic jams captured from drone-carrying cameras. Cars inching along, each driver waiting hours for a box or bag of food.
From Anaheim, California to San Antonio, Texas to Toledo, Ohio and Orlando, Florida and points in-between, thousands of vehicles carrying hungry people queued up for miles across the horizon. In New York, and other large cities, people stand, waiting for blocks on end.
Of course my readers were warned in advance that all of this was coming.
For years I have been warning my readers that economic collapse, civil unrest and global famine were approaching, and I strongly urged everyone to stockpile food and supplies.
Now we are constantly being bombarded by headlines that declare that the days that I have been warning about are here, and 2021 threatens to be even worse than 2020 was.
Today, I came across a news story that I think is an appropriate metaphor for what we are potentially facing in 2021. Hundreds of black vultures have invaded the town of Marietta, Pennsylvania and they are causing tremendous problems. They are tearing up rooftops and garbage cans, they are defecating all over the place, and they “spew vomit that smells ‘like rotting corpses’ on sidewalks and homes”.
Residents have been desperately trying to scare them away, but they can’t shoot the vultures because they are protected by law…
More permanent solutions are in short supply, as the black vulture is federally protected and can’t be exterminated without permission.
It’s illegal in the US to trap, kill or own black vultures without a permit and violators can face a fine of up to $15,000 and up to six months in prison.
So those vultures will get to stay in Marietta for as long as they wish.
Sadly, vultures are now circling over America too. I have written countless articles about the rotting, decaying carcass that our society has become, and those that hate traditional American values have increasingly gained more and more power.
Now we are just a few weeks away from the start of 2021, and there is every indication that it is going to be an exceedingly painful year.