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Cornerstone Communications
South Africa
November 27, 2007

Newsletter Contents

1. Greetings
2. VIDEO
3. Teaching for November What A Dream!
4. Text from the Video
5. Closing

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Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Port Elizabeth, South Africa! I feel like I come “home” when I come to South Africa. So many friends, so exciting the move of God, and so delicious the food! We saw a tremendous move of the Holy Spirit in South Korea. Not so much for anyone else, but rather for me. The problems were mighty, but mightier still is our GOD! So, we ultimately had a victory.

Sorry About That!

The Story Behind the Animals

My friend, and one of my actors from past productions, Mike Morrera, is a Wildlife Park Ranger at Kraka Gamma Game Park here in South Africa. Because of his expertise with wild animals, he encouraged me to shoot my report with the animals behind me. This is not a "park" as you and I might suppose. No, its really Africa at it's best!

The zebra were being spooked by a hedgehog, which can be dangerous. Mike coached me how to avoid the hedgehog, video the zebra, and get out of there unharmed. Whew! The cheetah was easier. Duma is a cheetah which starred in a Warner Brothers movie by the same name, so he was tamed, and beautiful! The giraffe are very shy, so they would move constantly, and were actually the hardest to tape.

Lastly, the rhinocerous! DO NOT TRY THIS!!!!! Mike is trained, and this is NO trained rhino! Mike took a special dried bush, a favorite of rhino. When rhino eat, the don't pay much attention to what goes on around them. Very slowly, we made our way to Buhla, the rhino. His "wife" and baby weren't around, so he wasn't feeling very "protective". We slowly approached him, and I stood behind Mike the whole time! He'd tell me to freeze, and I did! We got close enough to present the food, and very happily for us, Buhla accepted it! As he started eating, Mike told me, "Okay, you have 2 minutes to stand beside this rhino, do your video, and get in the bukie (the Afrikaans name for a pickup truck) ." I spoke, but I was one very nervous director! He told me I must inform everyone watching the video that they must NEVER try this! Consider yourself warned!

One More Miracle

One story that didn’t make the video report was at the American military base, the lights we brought were 220, but the base operates on American 110. We were 3 hours from show time, and we had no lights. We needed a minimum of a 15 kilowatt generator, ideally a 30 kilowatt generator. After hours of searching, calling electrical companies, we had exhausted every effort.

A dear friend and host at the American military base, Jim Dunnet, was coming to bring me the bad news. A man he passed asked, “How are you?” Jim said, “I’d be doing a lot better if I had a 15 kilowatt generator. You don’t happen to have one laying around, do you?” The man said, “As a matter of fact, I do.” SHOCK!

Jim said, “Actually, I really need a 30 kilowatt generator.” The man said, “Actually, that’s really what I have.” He asked Jim, “When do you need it?” Jim said, “Now.” The man was surprised, but said, “Sure, let me go get it, and we’ll set it up”. One hour before the show, the lights went on, and they quickly programmed the lights right before the audience came in! Another example of God’s faithfulness to get HIS Word out!

VIDEO MESSAGE

NOVEMBER TEACHING

What a Dream!

Has God ever given you a dream of doing something so great that it just seemed impossible? Well, I want to encourage you to not 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 people, 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. These stories are written to encourage and inspire you. Yet, we often think that these men and women are somehow different than us. After all, we feel we’re too 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.

I was the first one from my Catholic family to be born-again, and not only was I alienated, but I didn’t have anyone I personally knew who could mentor me. So, I went from one spiritual 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, I was THAT ignorant about God’s kingdom!

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 hone their skills, without having to be subjected to all the immoralities that are associated with secular theatre. I loved theatre, but knew I could never own my own theatre, so I 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.

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.

People 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 as 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 your limitations spiritually and financially, and he reminds you of your weaknesses and failures and lies to you that you could 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!

VIDEO TEXT

I have come to love Korea as a second home. The people, the culture and the living conditions are so gentle, that they make all foreigner like me feel welcomed and loved.

Upon arrival, I attended Yoido Full Gospel Church, led by my dear friend, Dr. David Yonggi Cho. The service is a blessing to attend, as I feel the Holy Spirit at work there. We had auditions that first week, and immediately went into rehearsals for the production, “Godspell”.

During this time in October, Dr. Cho hosted his famous, annual CGI, or Church Growth International conference. Thousands of pastors, including my pastor, Mike Hayes, converged from around the world to attend this important conference.

Guest speakers included Benny Hinn, Dick Bernal, Dr. Yonggi Cho, and several others. During the conference, Mrs. Cho invited me to lunch with the speakers. What a privilege to be with such important men of God!

We continued rehearsal during this time, preparing for our November performance.

After 3 weeks in Korea, I was able to fly home to attend to some business in Dallas, Texas. I flew home, and arrived in Dallas, Texas. It was wonderful to be home with dear friends, Paul and Brenda Platt. They live out in the country, so it was a peaceful place to be.

I had been invited by my dear friend and brother in Christ, Chris Burr, to be a part of Tres Dias, a powerful ministry that hosts retreat quarterly. I had a chance to fellowship with some great brothers in the Lord, and attend a prayer breakfast with my reunion brothers called Peace and Grease, and even find time to lunch with some dear close friends, Steven Prince, Bryan Adams and Phillip Bleecker.

While in Dallas, I attended my church, Covenant Church, and enjoyed the beautiful praise and worship. I’m seldom in Dallas, so this was a rare treat. I love Texas for it’s well kept older parts of the city, but I also love the urban atmosphere in Dallas, with all of it’s modern and beautiful buildings.

During this 2 week period, I would direct “A View from the Edge” for my dear friends, Marc and Kelly Accetta. We loaded in to the beautiful Majestic Theatre. I have performed here before, so it was wonderful to be in this historic theatre.

The show boasts some 22 different scenes! Did you know that most musicals average 3-4 scenes per production? So, to have 22 was quite a feat! Such characters included Sherlock Holmes in London, England, The Traveler, which is set on a Caribbean beach, the Grim Reaper set in the middle of a cemetery, the Hockey player set on an ice rink, even God and Country scenes featuring George Washington bring the people to their feet. This show truly has something for everyone. The audience leaves here charged and excited about the Lord, about the U.S. and about life. Thank You, Lord, for allowing us to touch thousands of lives with such a production.

The very next day, on Monday, November 20, I boarded a plane and flew back to Korea. My cast had been practicing without me, and were ready for me to return. Once I arrived we went through all the scenes, and cleaned each song.

The Lord had opened up a truly remarkable opportunity. For the first time in my career, I would have a chance to present a musical for the American military forces, stationed here in South Korea. We arrived by bus, where the posters for “Godspell” were seen everywhere.

Before the show, the military was fed barbeque, and so they were ready now for a performance. The show went well, and the troops were so blessed, they gave the cast a standing ovation. Due to American constraints, we were not allowed to have an altar call, but I did encourage them in the Lord and even shared the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ!

Afterwards, my dear friend, Jim Dunnet had arranged for the military personnel to mix with our cast for pictures. We had a great time posing with the cast and crew, but the blessing was mine, to be able to meet and minister to so many great young men. Thanks Lord, and a special thanks to my dear friends, Jim and Debbie Dunnet for all of their help to make this all possible.

I was officially through with my two shows: the one in Dallas, Texas, and now with my show in Seoul, Korea. I was able to drive by some beautiful temples and churches, representing the old and the new eras of spirituality in Korea.

On the day of my flight, November 19, my cast came together to have a farewell lunch, just to officially say goodbye.

Even though I had come for only one week, God had done a miracle to allow the production in Korea. Thank You, Lord for all the miracles, to make this production a reality!

I flew on from Seoul to Hong Kong, then Hong Kong to Johannesburg, and finally flew over those familiar beautiful sandy beaches of Port Elizabeth! What a blessing to be back! I landed and was met by dear friends and worship leaders, Jeff Latham and Fenlin Petie.

God Het Jou Lief!

That is Afrikaans for “God loves you!” I’m still walking around in complete awe of the beauty of God here in South Africa. There’s a new awareness that has “gripped” me that is making me enjoy life in such a focused, extreme way. I pray that doesn’t leave me! I’m also more than ever grateful for YOU. Thank you for your amazing letters to pray for me, encourage me, and bless me. God bless you!

For the Kingdom,
Richard Montez