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Happy New Year Everyone!
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I hope that you enjoyed a really good Christmas and New Year. It was great for me to be home, and spend Christmas with my family and friends.
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So here we are standing on the threshhold of a brand new year. I`m one of those people who get excited about that, but for me its not just an emotional experience, saying good bye to one year and welcoming another.
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It's much deeper than that!
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In April of 1987, in a small family church in New Zealand, I heard and understood the Christian message for the first time in my Life.
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I was 26 years old, at that time. I had already been travelling for several years, working in different countries around the world, and had just crossed the Gibson desert in Australia on an old DR 500 motor bike. I was blown away by some of the most amazing scenery I had ever seen, and my thoughts had turned to the possibility of there being a creator!
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My story is on this website, under: "About us" then:"publications" then:"living life to the fullest"
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My trip across the Gibson desert Western Australia.
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That morning in that small church in New Zealand. I was given an opportunity to pray, and to receive Jesus Christ into my life. A decision that would radically alter the course of my life in a fantastic way!
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It involved me recognizing, before a Holy God, that I needed His forgiveness in my life. That confession proved to be the doorway into a personal relationship with God.
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Over the weeks and months that followed, I did my best to cultivate this new relationship. I talked to God as if He was my friend, and as I started to go back to church and to read the bible, I felt Him speak to me.
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A passage of scripture that gripped me is to be found in the book of Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10. It said that God had prepared things in advance for me to do.
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Over the years that followed, as I yielded my life to Him, I asked Him to reveal that plan to me. Since then, I have been staggered at the opportunities He has put in front of me. Not least being given the opportunity to make a difference in Africa.
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Now I include God in everything, carefully praying about the coming year, and asking Him what He wants me to sink my efforts into, listening carefully for His direction.
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In Jeremiah 29:11 the bible says that God knows the plans that He has for you, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
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Standing on the threshold of this new year, I am so excited about all that He has planned for us to do!
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I'd love to take this opportunity to encourage you, wherever you are in life, or whatever challenges you may be facing. There is a God in heaven who dearly loves and cares for you, who, more than anything, desires a relationship with you.
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It involves you opening your heart to Him and receiving Him into your life.
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I cannot think of a better way to start the rest of your life, let alone this new year! Why not, as this new year begins, do just that? It's the best decision you will ever make!
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Thank you everyone for all your amazing support this last year. Please continue if you can. Your support is essential for our ongoing work, out in one of the poorest countries in Africa.
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Thank you and God bless you.
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Pete Houston
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