WHEN WE OPEN OUR HEARTS TO GOD HE SHOWS US WHO WE REALLY ARE!

NEIL ARMSTRONG THE FIRST MAN TO WALK ON THE MOON


Hello everyone

I hope you are well and at peace,

In mid September I travelled to Slovenia where I was
invited to speak at a big youth festival with between
3000 and 5000 attending and I thought there was a
great openness amongst them. The next day I was
speaking at a parish nearby and the priest told me
that he had attended the festival talk and afterwards
he was hearing confessions and had been deeply
moved by the how open and honest the young
people were.

The man who was translating for me was on fire
with the love of God and that makes a huge
difference. I was most impressed by the passion
he showed and even though I couldn't understand
what he was saying I know that he was totally
connected with the Holy Spirit.

One of the reasons I was in Slovenia is that they
have just translated my book into that language.
It is amazing to me because I am dyslexic and
when I was at school, in those days they didn't
know what Dyslexia was so they told me that
I was stupid and I believed them. But since God
changed my life I have written three books and the
first one, my life story, is an international best seller 
which has been translated into seven different 
languages. Before I found God I was asked to do a 
talk at my brothers wedding and I was petrified,
I couldn't string three words together. But since my
conversion I have spoken to more than 3 million
people all over the world including a talk at World
Youth Day in Sydney to 500,000 at once and I
didn't bat an eyelid because I knew I had God's
authority and that changes everything. When we
open our hearts to God he shows us who we really
are!

Next I travelled to Kansas in the USA and with all
the flying I had picked up some sort of a flu and I
was feeling pretty lousy, but it turns out I was 
staying that night with a doctor and he sorted me 
out with a good prescription. I thought this was
a good sign of God's providence and care. Whilst
there I did some talks and then was driven from
Kansas to Des Moines, Iowa to speak at the Christ
Our Life conference. This was a great experience
because the ladies who organised it were so full
of enthusiasm and joy. Over the course of the 
next week we drove from place to place for various
talks and by the end of the nine days I spent with 
them I had spoken to over 12,000 people in schools,
parishes and and at the actual conference.  

From there I moved on to Chicago to speak at the
Lighthouse Catholic Media conference. Lighthouse
are a not for profit organisation that spread the
Catholic faith through CDs, books etc and they
do fantastic work making these resources available
in parishes in the USA, UK and Ireland.
After this I spoke at a conference in Fargo, North
Dakota and once again the faith and commitment
that I witnessed, in those I met as well as the organisers,
was very inspiring.

On returning to England I went to do a talk in a school

at Gravesend in Kent where I got speaking to the 

headmaster and he told me that ten years ago I had 

visited a school in South East London where he was 

teaching at the time. I told the story of a fifteen year 

boy who had made a pact with his best friend that 

when they grew up they would become pilots together. 

Tragically his friend was killed in a plane crash on a 

family holiday and the boy was devastated, not only 

had he lost his best mate, but to the very thing they 

both dreamed of doing together. So he went home 

and locked himself in his bedroom and for three 

whole days he wouldn’t come out.  His mum was 

getting more and more worried about him. But on the 

third day he came out of his room and handed her 

a book and said “Mum, I’m not afraid anymore, I’m 

going back to school and I’m going to become a pilot, 

because that is what I believe God wants for my life.” 

His mum looked at the book and she was surprised to 

see that it was the Bible, because he never usually read 

it. Yet she could see that he’d been all the way through 

it and had ringed certain words in red pen, and it was 

always the same words “Do not be afraid!” over and 

over again. He found that 366 times in there, that’s one 

for every day of the year even one for a leap year “Do 

not be afraid” That young man grew up to be Neil 

Armstrong the first man to walk on the moon.

            

One of the students who listened to that story 10 years 

ago was a lad called Jason Puncheon, the teacher said 

that though he was a very talented footballer he wouldn’t 

apply himself and was getting involved in Gang culture in 

South London and was in danger of his life taking the 

wrong direction. But after hearing the Neil Armstrong story 

he told the teacher that he didn’t want to waste his gifts any 

more. From that day onwards he began to work hard in 

school and also train hard for football. Amazingly Jason is 

now playing for Southampton FC and scored his first 

Premier League goal  for them a few weeks ago. Again it

is only God who can show us who we really are!

Finally I journeyed to Malta where I spoke to 4 different 

groups. It is a beautiful island and has a great history of 

faith, I would recommend anyone who hasn't had the chance

to visit it to go there. The people I met were so open to the 
Holy Spirit and I thank God for the healing and grace that I saw

taking place among them.  Some of the testimonies that people

told me of their lives being transformed by God I will treasure

in my heart always.

You are very much in my heart and prayers, please keep me

in yours.

God bless you in his deep love

John Pridmore