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Cornerstone Communications
Korea
March 21, 2007

Dear Friends & Family,

Greetings from Seoul, Korea! I just arrived here a few days ago after a wonderful and fruitful trip to Nicaragua. The Lord met us in Manangua, and He answered our prayers for souls as we saw over 400 new souls come into the Kingdom! Praise the Lord!

I have attached the newest video which will show you everything that the Lord did! For those of you who can't open the video, you can read the text below. Plus, you can also read the teaching for this month below that.

VIDEO MESSAGE

Video Text

Having arrived in Nicaragua from Kiev, Ukraine, I was expecting the temperatures to be extreme. And boy, was I right! The weather was HOT! I was greeted by my brothers, Pastors Milton Aguilar and Eliel Hernandez, who truly showed the heart of Jesus in the humble way they served me, and helped me to accomplish what God had planned.

I had a chance to see and to visit some missionaries from my home church, David and Claudia Albrecht, as well as new missionaries Chris and Corrie Harris. It was great to see them, as we seldom get to see each other. We’re all busy in our own areas, serving the Lord! Lord, bless my brothers and sisters in all they do for You.

One of the first things I did with Pastors Milton and Eliel was to go to a river and to baptize dozens of new converts. It was a wonderful day, filled with singing and prayer, and both Milton and Eliel baptized many people. I tagged along to get a glimpse of how believers must’ve gathered in Jesus’ day to baptize. There is nothing pretentious about it. It’s simply a group of believers worshipping and rejoicing.

Afterwards we fellowshipped and laughed together, and we had lunch… I believe it’s called Vorigon, on banana leaves. It’s boiled yucca, sliced cabbage with fried pork skins on top. A plastic bag filled with a cold drink completes the meal.

We immediately went into auditions, and began rehearsals. We had a wonderful cast of talented actors. Nicaraguans are desperately poor, so they don’t have many opportunities to experience culture. Yet, given the chance, they shine! The actors took to their parts quickly, and wasted no time learning their parts.

Nicaragua is filled with bright and colorful characters! Life here is truly like in few other places around the world! I mean where else can you see, a giant lady walking down the street, and hitchhike a ride on an ox cart! Horse and buggies still “rule” the streets, with cars honking at every possible situation. And Managua is the capital! Dirt roads, barefoot children playing in the streets, dogs barking chasing the chickens outside your door, rooster’s crowing, and peddlers selling vegetables, tamales and an assortment of other delicacies makes Nicaragua a feast of sights and sounds!

Rehearsals continued. The actors had dived in headfirst, and were memorizing their lines and their movements. They changed their work schedules to make rehearsals. Wow, what commitment! Pastors Milton and Eliel were busily at work, along with 2 new faithful organizers, Pablo Lopez and Dino Andino. Both moved mountains to help us get the production into warp speed. We had rehearsals at a nearby church, but because there is no air-conditioning, the rehearsals were hot and stifling, for me anyway. The cast never realized there was a problem! Rehearsals were going well.

Along the way, we had no idea where we could possibly stage such a large production. And although the Lord was gracious to give us a dozen churches to work with, we still couldn’t find a stage large enough. Our wonderful Lord, who is gracious to meet every need, and to exceedingly, abundantly give us all that we could even hope or imagine, opened the door for us to perform in the Rubin Dario National Theatre! This place is a showplace, and hosts all of the famous groups from around the world, such as famous dance companies like the Bolshoi Ballet and other traveling international theatrical productions. The only problem we would have, according to the theatre, is that the people of Nicaragua are not cultured (their words, not mine) , and wouldn’t attend such an event. To complicate the situation, the buses don’t run that far, and therefore getting the people there would add to the lack of response. We went to prayer, and trusted the Lord to bring the people. Otherwise, how can they hear the message of Jesus Christ if they can’t come?

God knows everything! One of the men helping us, just so happens to be a television celebrity! Dino Andino is not only a kind servant with a heart of gold, but he had auditioned and had gotten the leading role in our show, “The Judgment Seat”. He works as the host for the daily national broadcast of “Hoy Premiere”, or “First Today”, a morning show similar to the likes of NBC’s “Today”. With Pablo’s help, we were able to secure many sponsors who’d pay for the production. With Dino’s promotions, we were getting national recognition. Here Dino interviews me for national television on one of the studio’s many sets. The promotions worked, and the cast continued to pray for miracles.

And they came! People started calling and reserving tickets. We weren’t giving tickets away. We were selling them! More amazingly, we sold so many tickets that two nights were sold out before the tickets had even been printed! The hall seats 1200, and with only 3600 seats, over 2000 were sold by the time we could even distribute the tickets! What a miracle! God was blessing our endeavor. After all, this show is HIS idea, not mine.

The cast continued to rehearse, and we built the sets and started mounting the scenery and decorations. We were almost ready. Thanks to Pastor Milton, he had formed a group of intercessors to pray every morning at 5 a.m. for one hour for the production. Things were going well. The problems were small, and yet daunting. We had lost an actor a few days before the show. I also found out that my funds were depleted. How could I ever pay for the last few things that needed to be done? God came through, and provided the necessary funds through faithful saints like you, to help me finish the preparations for Opening Night.

We opened the show, and the people were stunned! The theatre staff was amazed by the beautiful sets and the cast’s excellence! The cast was amazing, and the show went off supernaturally well. The Lord was answering all our prayers. I was never more proud of a group of actors. NONE have ever acted before in a major production like this, and yet they showed their true colors!

Best of all, after the production, the pastors had their altar calls, and the hundreds of people responded each night! Thank You, Lord, for all that You did! Altogether, around 400 decisions were made for Christ, and I’m so grateful to the Lord. I was able to challenge the audience each night. They were enthusiastic about all they saw, and we, the pastors and cast, were so blessed!

Immediately after the production, I hugged everyone goodbye, and had to fly out, and begin my long flight from Managua, Nicaragua, to Miami, to Atlanta, to Dallas where I overnighted, then on to San Francisco and finally, to Seoul!

We begin auditions today, here in Seoul, and tomorrow, rehearsals begin! Here we go again! I’m so grateful to the Lord for all the miracles He did in Nicaragua, and now, I look forward to seeing all He’s going to do here in Seoul, with my hosts, Dr. and Mrs. Yonggi Cho.

I’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, please keep us in prayer as we reach out to the South Koreans. For more information, you can logue onto www.cornerstonearts.com.

Love Never Fails

I Corinthians 13:13, “Now there abides faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.”

The Bible clearly states that love is greater than faith or hope. Why is that? It’s because faith can’t work without love. Faith is dependent on love for it to work. Galatians 5:6 says “… but faith which works by love”.

Did you know that faith also can’t work without hope? Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for….” You have to have hope before your faith can bring it substance. If you don’t hope for anything, then your faith can’t work because it has no reason to believe God.

In I Corinthians 13:1-3, the Bible tells us that even if all the gifts of the Spirit were at work in us, that without love, it doesn’t profit us at all! It’s as if nothing happened! Wow! Love is a pretty powerful tool!

This all leads to what I want to discuss. If love is so powerful, then why don’t we strive for it? We want to be “great people of faith!” We want powerful ministries, a fruitful ministry, etc. However, how “loving” are we? I mean, if the Bible is true (it is) , and it says that love is the greatest, then why do we seem to avoid that subject? John 13:35 says, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you LOVE one another.” Yet, we guard our love. We shield it. We mask it. Why? I think that many times we’re afraid. We fear what others are thinking of us, if we’re too caring.

To love means to risk. Most parents can testify to that. They love their kids so much that they’ll gladly give of everything they have to provide for their child. They risk hurt, to ensure that their child is raised properly. Love is the tool at work, and it stops at nothing to bless. Then why do we limit God’s love, by stopping with our children?

There is a world that’s filled with hurting people who need our love. Let me re-phrase that: who need God’s love. However, it flows through us. We mustn’t “stop up” the flow. God’s love will overflow from you onto others if you’ll simply ask Him for that supernatural love. Corrie ten Boom said, “We must show the world that love is greater than hatred, that forgiveness is greater than hurt, and that there is no pit so deep that God is not deep still.”

Don’t be afraid to reach out to a hurting world. 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.” The Lord has already put some people around you to minister to… in love. It might be by doing something small, such as baking cookies for your next door neighbor (no, you don’t need a reason either!) . Or by mowing the grass of an elderly couple. Yet, it’s these small, seemingly insignificant tasks that expand the Kingdom of God.

How are you helping the Kingdom of God to expand? You can do it through simply loving those around you. There’s a bonus: when you think of what kindness you can do for someone near you, then a joy will fill your heart, and suddenly, your troubles seem to vanish, your worries are somehow less, and your heart is brimming with love… God’s love!

Chuk Bok Hamnida!

That's Korean for "God bless you"! It is an honor to serve the Lord by serving you. My ministry has a three-fold purpose: 1 To glorify Jesus Christ, 2. To give others the opportunity to know Jesus Christ, and 3. To encourage other believers to do the same. I hope that these newsletters encourage you to go out into your world, and make disciples of all men. Please know that you're in my prayers also. So, please let me know specifically so that I'll know how to better pray for you. God bless you!

For the Kingdom,
Richard Montez