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Cornerstone Communications
Korea
April 29, 2005

Dear Friends & Family,

Greetings for the last time from Seoul, Korea! What a week this has been! I have been so busy working to get "The Promise" up and running, that I didn't realize it's been 10 days since I've last written. Well, guess what? After 11 months on the road, I'm coming home! I'll be leaving the East, and "heading west" on Tuesday! I can't wait to be back on U.S. soil once again!

Production Update

I love my actors here in Korea, but I had met my match in trying to get the actors to learn their lines in English. One great actor and singer, and friend was playing the role of Jesus. However, it was too overwhelming for him, and so we had to think of another solution, and I invited my friend, Herman Potgieter from Port Elizabeth, South Africa (who just finished playing that role last month in PE) to come and help us. Amazingly, he agreed to do so! Praise the Lord!

Herman arrived, and we went straight to work, trying to get him caught up to some of the changes. His South African accent against the Korean accents was just humorous! (Hey, I'm the ONLY one around the world without an accent, okay?) The students loved him, and he quickly fit right in.

Part of my job as the director is to do interviews and promote the current production, but I use the opportunity to tell people about Jesus Christ.

We have been building the sets, working on props, on costumes, on lighting, on sound, etc. I worked so hard this week, that I put in 43 hours of work with only 10 minutes of sleep. It's been that hard. (So, if you haven't heard from me personally, please forgive me… I'll write next week, I promise!)

Last night was our big night. We opened "The Promise" to a crowd of 4,000. Gulp! Please, Lord, HELP! The mayor of Seoul, and other dignitaries were in the audience. I had a chance to meet him when Mrs. Cho introduced me. However, I was more interested in making sure that the Lord was pleased with the show.

The curtain went up, and the actors were just super. The sets and costumes were stunning and best of all, Jesus Christ was glorified. So many hearts were changed. I prayed with a few people who spoke English, and one man told me in his broken English, "I love Jesus so much more now". That, to me, is what this is about. Changing lives. Giving people an opportunity to Jesus. Unfortunately, I won't be able to send any pictures of the performance until tomorrow. We'll be taking those beginning tonight. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to minister tonight and tomorrow night.

My South African friend, Herman, arrived last week, and has been hard at work with the cast to learn the Korean show.

What a Dream!

Has God ever given you a dream of doing something so great that it just seems impossible? Well, I want to encourage you to not to let go of that dream, no matter where you are spiritually or financially. You may think it's impossible, but God is big enough to make it happen in HIS time.

The Bible shows us countless examples of this, and Abraham is just one such example. God had promised him that he would be the father of countless, and yet he didn't have one son, and he was 100 years old! Talk about the impossible! Abraham didn't give up on his dream, nor on God, and his dream was fulfilled.

I could tell you of so many others in God's Word. They are written about to encourage you and inspire you. Yet, we often think that they're somehow different than us. After all, we're weak and fraught with faults and have failures a mile long. So, we don't even try to achieve what God has planned for us.

Leave it to the Koreans and their marketing! A huge banner is hung on the building where we'll be doing the show.

When I was born-again, I was the first one from my Catholic family to do such a thing, and not only was I alienated, but I didn't have anyone I personally knew who could mentor me. So, I went from one disaster to another. I didn't even know I had to be baptized. I wondered what a tithe was, and if it was the same as "Blessed by the (tithe) that binds"???? Yes, folks, you heard it hear first. I was THAT ignorant about God's kingdom and terminology!

All I knew was that I loved the Lord, and wanted to serve Him. During this time, as a young Christian, I dreamed of having a Christian theatre. I had always done secular theatre, but wanted to give Christians an opportunity to learn theatre, without having to be subjected to all the immoralities that are associated with secular theatre. I loved theatre, but knew I could never make it, so didn't even try, and instead worked from one boring job to another, afraid to accept God's will for me.

You see, I had no hope, nor vision to see how God could use me. I was in a denomination that taught about the "God of the past", but never about the "God of today". I grew a little spiritually, just trying to stay "saved". I could see no future for me, and so I contented myself with being active in my church, and that would have to be enough. I could never accept God's dream for me.

I then had the opportunity to attend Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas. The thought of being a college student once again didn't really appeal to me. After all, I was 28 years old. Nonetheless, I did want to know more about the Lord, and enrolled. It was the best decision I ever made! I learned so much about myself, because I learned so much about God. I was slowly starting to understand that God really did love me, and wanted to bless me. (I'd heard and THOUGHT I knew that all along)

Meeting with my friend, Mrs. Cho, we pose for the camera just outside Hansei University's main building.

After Bible school, I was in some singing ministries, as I was "testing the waters" of ministry. Then, I met someone who had a small theatre ministry, and I linked up with him. For the first time in my life, I had found my niche! I KNEW that I knew that this was where I was supposed to be! He eventually dropped out of theatre, and I came to a crossroads… Do I go back to how I had been living, or try to step out on the water, and walk by faith? I chose the latter, and haven't regretted it since.

Please ask me today in interviews, "Has this always been your vision, to do Christian productions around the world, and how have you made that a reality?" I respond, "My vision was to direct the current production, and make it beautiful as possible, but that was it! Somehow, show after show, I find myself around the world doing yet one more show!" Someone recently said, "Wow, your ministry has just taken off overnight!" Scripture says that one thousand years to the Lord is like one day. So, I guess that's true. My "overnight" has been "over 25 years of nights"!

When the enemy tries to discourage you by showing you're your limitations spiritually and financially, and he reminds you of your weaknesses and failures and lies to you that you can never accomplish that dream that God put in your heart, you remind him that you're a child of God, and "My God can do exceedingly, abundantly above anything that I could ask for or think of"! Receive your dream, and start taking "baby steps" of faith towards it, and soon you'll find yourself living out your dream!

Anyang Kihasayo, Korea

That is Korean for "Goodbye, Korea". I always love coming here. It's such a beautiful country, filled with humble, hardworking and loving people. If it's God's will, I will come back, and do all I can to let people here know of my wonderful Savior and Friend, Jesus Christ. God bless you, dear friend, for your love and support of Cornerstone. It's because of you, that I'm here. I don't ever forget that. I hope to see you soon!

For the Kingdom,
Richard Montez