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Cornerstone Communications
South Africa
June 27, 2006

Dear Friends & Family,

Greetings from chilly Port Elizabeth, South Africa! Okay, I hate to admit this, but it's starting to get a little too cold for comfort! I was thinking it would be mild, and it is, but it can also get COLD! Worst of all, since they don't have much cold weather, the house aren't equipped with central heating, so you just "deal with the cold". This has been a "Trip of Three's". I've been here for three weeks, and it's the third time I've done "Joseph" this year. As the third time we're presenting this musical, it's sure to be blessed!

Production Update

It's hard to believe that I've but been here 3 weeks today, and we're now only 3 days from Opening Night! It's exciting, and the cast is almost ready. But, granted, there's a lot of work to do. We had a set back on our sets, so I contacted my friends at Durban Christian Centre, Charmaine Smith and Pastor John Torrens, who were wonderful to send us one actor and the sets from their show which they completed just a few months back. Thank the Lord! That helped so much!

Working with the cast before dress rehearsals, I give them last minute changes to their stage direction.

Here in PE, my American costumer and friend, Marjorie Bell and her husband, Ken, arrived last week, and have been hard at work creating the beautiful costumes for the production. Builders are building, artists are painting, curtains are going up, lights are being hung, and the sound is being equalized. There is such a "buzz" in the air of excitement!

However, there are always challenges. The cast has gotten desperately sick, including me. I caught a mild flu, and because the tap water has gotten bad (it used to be very nice to drink) , I caught a serious stomach bug, that just about wiped me out last week. I was cramping so bad, I could hardly stand up. Because of our tight schedule, missing or cancelling a rehearsal was out of the question, so what happened? We rehearsed! Ugh, I don't want to do that again when I'm feeling the way I was. Please pray for the cast, who is suffering from colds, flu and other symptoms.

The cast is working on the sets as we prepare for this week's opening of "Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat".

We have been heavily promoting the production on television, newspaper and radio, along with print work through posters and flyers. As hard as everyone works, there's a reason. This is all for souls for God's Kingdom! It's easy to lose focus. We can get so caught up in the production, that we forget that this is an actual evangelistic outreach. Souls will be saved, but it's imperative that we have a support prayer base to "stand in the gap" for those whose eternal destiny hangs in the balance. Would you consider being a part of that prayer base this weekend? The production will be Thursday, June 29 through Sunday, July 2 at 7:30 nightly.

A Life of Holiness

In my last newsletter, I had a chance to pour out my heart to you. It was so necessary. The closer you get the to Father, the more radiant He is. He always is, but when we're far away from Him, how deceptive the enemy can be to make us think we're "close" to the Father. My younger brother, before he was saved, would always say something that made me cringe. He'd say, "Yeah, me and the ‘man upstairs' are tight'". What kind of reverence is that? There's no Fear of God in that statement. The closer we get to the Lord, the more glorious, the more radiant He becomes. Consequently, the more sinful we appear. You see every single fault. It's like anything else. The more light you have, the more dirt you can see. I'm determined to "weed" out every sin, every fault, until I look just like Jesus! This will take my entire life to my last breath, but that remains my goal. I want a life of holiness.

A giraffe takes a keen interest in us and our vehicle as we drive by!

Everyone of us has the responsibility to live right, to be a doer of the Word. I Peter 1:15, 16 says "But as the One who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living. For it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy."

We can't become holy accidentally. It's a process that happens when we allow the Lord to daily work within us. Hebrews 12:14 says, "Strive to live in peace with everybody, and pursue holiness which without, no one will see the Lord." I want to share with you some steps the Lord has given me to climb. As I share them with you, in NO WAY do I even pretend to insinuate that I have "arrived". No, I'm also on the journey. So, join me!

Seven Steps To Holiness

1. You MUST begin with Fear (Respect, Reverence) of God. Without it, there's no passion to live a holy life, or to pursue holiness.
2. You must be careful what you watch on television or on film, what you listen to, what you talk about, and who you associate with.
3. You must enjoy life! I'm not talking about living a life that is bland and boring! Do things which will bring you great joy. People will see it in you.
4. Spend time in the Word of God. Balance your intake of "bad" news of the world with the "good" news of God's Word.
5. Be physically fit. Watch what you eat. Exercise daily. Get a good night's sleep. You can't be spiritually effective if your "temple" is run down.
6. Call a "spade a spade". What was destroying my walk with the Lord? Not calling sin "sin". We have got to call them as God sees them.
7. Spend time with the Lord. One thing I appreciate about being a missionary, is that I can't always read the paper, or listen to the news, because I'm in countries where there's NOTHING in English! I used to miss that at first, but now I realize what a blessing it is. I am not distracted by lots of negative news. Also, because it's hard to have "friends" to hang out with (I'm working, and have little time for social activity) , I find myself reading, writing and praying. Yet, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is more effective than just being with the Lord! Do I mean "Pray"? Well, sure. But come on, we can be more creative than that! Walk and talk with Him. Write Him a poem, a song, a letter. Sing or dance to Him. There's creative ways of being with the Father. Best of all, you'll have something to say. People usually do when they've been with Him.

I hope these 7 points will help to bring you closer to our Lord. He's worthy of our praise, and our worship, our lives, and a life of holiness. And it'll make your life so much better. Not just now, but for eternity!

Spending the week in radio interviews, I take a moment with Cornelius, a deejay at Radio Kingfisher here in Port Elizabeth.

In (*) kosi Mayikusikelele Wena

(The (*) represents a clicking sound made with the tongue) That's (*) Kosa for "God Bless You!" It's hard to believe that we open in just 3 days! Please be in prayer for us as we reach out to Port Elizabeth with this amazing story of redemption and reconciliation. God bless you!

For the Kingdom,
Richard Montez