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Cornerstone Communications
Mexico
August 17, 2006

Dear Friends & Family,

Greetings from Mexico City, Mexico! I just arrived yesterday after a "Patience Building" experience in Kiev, Ukraine (read "A Study in Patience" below) . Last week was filled with blessings as we finished up the production in Sevastopol, Crimea. We had an amazing overflow of people attending the production, and I'm still on "cloud 9" from all that the Lord did there!

Production Update

Thursday, (August 10) , with costumes and sets complete, lights and sound set, we opened a beautiful production of "The Judgment Seat" to not only a packed auditorium, but also to an overflow crowd of 200! We were excited, because we had anticipated that, so we had a large screen and projector ready. Altogether, we had 125 respond to the Lord the first night.

On Friday, (August 11) , we had a packed house with 500 in overflow, and we had 158 respond to the Lord's call. Finally, on Saturday, (August 12) , we had 1000 in overflow, and over 300 responded to the altar call! Wow! We saw around 600 people give their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ! I was so blessed, and amazed at God's grace to bless us with a beautiful performance, and with hundreds, even thousands of lives touched with His love.

After a performance, the cast and crew of "The Judgment Seat" pose for the paparazzi, hundreds of cameras taken lots and lots of pictures!

Why such an amazing response? Because of the churches UNITY! They had prayed together. They had trusted God for the finances, and they fasted for the production. It's no wonder that the production was blessed, and that we had such a response.

A very special THANK YOU to Pastor Yuri Fyodorovich and Isus Gospod Church, and the other 14 churches who worked so closely with him. Also to Administrator Radion, my interpreter Stass, Stage Manager Nastia, Construction Director Volodya and House Manager Valera for their outstanding efforts to carry this production to new heights. I'm forever grateful to all their commitment and efforts, and may the Lord richly bless them.

Lastly, to Igor Aksionov from Yalta for being the KEY to Crimea. He was the one who went to the Sevastopol Church Council and recommended me, although they weren't familiar with me or my ministry. They are NOW, and they've invited me back to do another production next year! Thank you, Igor, and thank You, Lord, for an amazing time in Sevastopol, Crimea!

A view from the balcony of Sevastopol's production of "The Judgment Seat"

A Study in Patience

On Sunday, (August 13) , after the production, I flew to Kiev, Ukraine in order to catch a flight on Monday to the U.S. and Tuesday to Mexico City. I rested a bit in Kiev, and met with a pastor who'll help the other churches with the November musical scheduled for Kiev. I also had a chance to visit with dear friends Egor Egorov and Yuri Gorzey and Alex Vasilenko.

On Monday (August 14) , I said goodbye to friends, and we boarded our Delta flight at noon. As we waited on the tarmac for over 2 hours, an announcement came that our flight was cancelled, and so we all had to deboard, get our luggage, go through passport control again, and get checked into a hotel for the night, because there were no other flights till Tuesday. OH NO! The chaos that ensued was just horrible. Amidst the daily news of bombs on board and terrorist threats, people panicked. The news was that there was "a mechanical problem" but you never know when they're telling you the truth or not. Kiev was not prepared, and their new Delta crew had no idea what to do either. After 6 hours of processing, we were at our hotel, and spent the night. I had to rebook my flight for Mexico for Wednesday noon. I'm an optimist, so I praised the Lord that this was the worst thing happening. It could've been a bomb, or it couldn't been mechanical failure over the Atlantic. I just praised the Lord.

Tuesday (August 15) , this week, we were at the airport early to rebook, recheck our luggage, go through security and passport control. Then, the nightmare began. No one knew what to do with us. We were herded about like sheep, and moved from one gate to another, for 8 hours, and no word whether or not the trip was cancelled. It was grueling. There's always something good that comes out of any situation. In this case, I met a wonderful young brother in Christ named Yuri Semenyuk who's still in Bible school, but doing missions for the summer. We had a grand time speaking of God's goodness, and we even witnessed to the people on our flight!

After packing out the auditiorium nightly, we opened an overflow room for the hundreds that couldn't fit, and many got saved from the "video performance" they watched!

Finally, in the evening, we were immediately told, "BOARD!" So everyone flocked to the gate, afraid they'd cancel again. We made it! We were airborne and headed to JFK in New York, but I knew already I'd missed my flight to Dallas. We arrived at 9:15 p.m. into New York, and couldn't fly to Dallas. We were checked into another hotel in New York, and got to bed at midnight, after the process of 300 people.

Wednesday (August 16) , I was up at 4 a.m. determined not to miss my shuttle to La Guardia, and caught the 6:40 flight to Dallas. I was met by dear friend, Heather Garrison and daughter Ashton. I only had 1 hour (compared to 1 full day originally!) to do everything. We hurried to run some errands, pick up things needed for Mexico, and met my assistant, Pam, and got some documents and papers. I sped back to the airport, and boarded my flight to Mexico. I was back on track, albeit one day late. I arrived in Mexico City and we prepared for auditions. I was so exhausted over the 4 days of travel that I came home at 7 p.m. and crashed. I was so tired, I slept forever!

Thursday, (August 17) , That brings us to today! I'm rested now, and tonight we begin auditions. Please pray that the Lord will allow me to quickly adjust to the new time (my body thinks it's 7 hours ahead, so by 4 p.m., I'm ready for a good night's sleep!) . Pray for Pastor Sergio Alaniz from Mundo de Fe, and the other pastors that will be joining him to make this production possible. Also pray that the Lord will send the right people for the production, and that we'll have at least the same unity and organization (and consequent blessings) that we had in Sevastopol here in Mexico.

A picture from a very busy place each night after the production. We had a Ministry Room set up for those accepting Christ and we provided refreshments and tables. Each table had workers and the room was divided into the city's regions.

Amazing Grace

What is grace? I've heard it said that "Grace is God's unmerited favor". That's a fair assessment. He does meet our every need, even when we don't deserve it… that's true. However, I believe we're missing so much more about grace. Without it, we have nothing, we can't do anything, we ourselves are nothing. Everything, including our salvation when we first pray to receive Jesus in our lives, is based upon grace.

It's important that we understand that we can't pay for our sins, nor can we save ourselves. We've heard it said that "Religion is man's way of reaching God. Christianity is God's way of reaching man." John 3:16 talks about this, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." He came to us. John 1:14 says, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us."

Yet, surprisingly, man tries to fix his own problems, figure out his own way to come to God. Through doing good things, giving money to the church, and helping with worthy causes. These are fine, but they alone won't get you to heaven. Ephesians 2:8, 9 says, "It's by God's grace that you are saved through faith, and not of yourself. It is a gift of God. It's not because of your works, lest any man should boast." We couldn't possibly save ourselves, so God gave it freely to us. I just simply had to receive God's gift, by receiving Jesus Christ to come into my life.

Who me? Rest? No way! I did have a chance to visit my actors from nearby Yalta, and took some pictures of the breathtaking panorama here. On one side are the majestic mountains, and on the other side (not seen) is the beautiful Black Sea.

Okay, that's Grace 101. What about AFTER we're saved? "Now that I'm saved, NOW WHAT?" If you're like most people, you were getting bored just reading the first three paragraphs, weren't you now? Be honest! "That's for new Christians", isn't it? So you say! Now that we're saved, all our problems are gone, right? Of course not. I used to tell the Lord, "I could be such a great Christian if it weren't for all the people in my life!" If they would only change, then I could finally be victorious!

The Lord started showing me that I was the problem. He showed me that I was the one who needed to change. Imagine! God thinking that I had problems! Well, the more I grew, the more I realized He was right! I tried to change myself, but failed each and every time. I truly wanted to be good, but the Lord showed me I was trying to do it in my own flesh. I realized that I took pride even in trying to be holy! The more "humble" I became, the more proud I was of it! "No one's as humble as me!"

The fact is that we can't change ourselves. It's the Holy Spirit's job to do that. Our job is to submit ourselves into His hands, and allow Him to do His work in us. As the Lord shows you areas in your life that need to change, simply submit that area to the Lord. John 6:28 finds the disciples asking Jesus, "What are we to DO, that we may do the works of God?" Jesus answers them in verse 29, "This is the work that God asks of you; that you BELIEVE in the One whom He has sent you."

Even thought there is a picture of the Cast and Crew, I wanted to show the rest of the workers who also made the production a success.

That's God's plan for us! Believers believe…. Workers work! Are you a worker, or a believer? By believing God to work in you, you can have the life of victory that you have longed for, but has seemed elusive, because you were trying to reach it by your own works! Zechariah 4:6 says,"it's not by power, nor by might, but by MY Spirit, says the Lord."

The more we understand about the great gift of Grace, the less we're going to worry and lose sleep how to accomplish God's will in our lives. Grace is the power you need. By putting your faith in God, and giving up on your own methods, God's grace will always meet every need you encounter in life!

A Dios!

That's Spanish for "Goodbye!" or literally "to God". What a busy 10 days this has been, as you can see! I'm so grateful for the amazing stories that accompany such a hectic, and blessed ministry. I'm so grateful to all of you for your prayers, your support, and your kind letters of love and concern. They truly help me to continue moving forward. I look forward to sharing with you the wonderful stories of all that the Lord is going to do here in Mexico. God bless you!

For the Kingdom,
Richard Montez