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Cornerstone Communications
Ukraine
April 30, 2009

Newsletter Contents

1. Greetings
2. VIDEO
3. Teaching for April Looking Thru The Eyes of God
4. Text from the Video (for those who would rather read)
5. Closing

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Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Skadovsk, Ukraine! I just arrived today after a long 3 day trip which took me from Dallas, Texas on Monday to Frankfurt, Germany on American Airlines (who lost my luggage!) , onward to Kiev, Ukraine Tuesday on Lufthansa Airlines, then caught a night train to Kherson and arrived Wednesday, was met by the host pastor, who drove me 2 hours to Skadovsk! Can you believe that they are only in their third day of warm weather? I arrived just in time!

You will never believe the horrible time I had in Panama. I never say such things, but this time, this country warrants it. From the lies to the broken commitments by pastors, we struggled to accomplish the Lords will. And, the Lord gave us victory! Watch the 5 minute Video Report.

VIDEO MESSAGE

APRIL TEACHING

Through the Eyes of God

How you see things has a very obvious impact on how you live your life. How you perceive things will determine your future. It affects you now. How you spend your time. How you spend your social life. How you spend your money.

A grocer was busy shelving food items when a gruff, older man came charging through the door, in a hurry, and with little patience for the slower pace of life in this sleepy little town. As he paid for his things, he asked the grocer, Tell me about this town. I hope the people here are nicer than the ones I left behind in the last town I lived in. They were a rude and hateful. The grocer sadly replied, Sir, I am sorry to say that the people here are just as bad as in your last town. Yeah, just my luck, the man grumbled as he grabbed his things and bolted out the door.

A few months passed, and the grocer was busy counting change. A young man with his young family came in and were buying everything in sight! They were obviously enjoying their spending spree, as they laughed and teased each other. Finally, upon checkout, the young man asks the grocer, Tell me, sir, about the people in this town. My family and I were just transferred here because of my job, and we are really going to miss the kind people of our last town. Are the people here as wonderful as the friendly people we left behind? The grocer smiled and said, Sir, you are going to be blessed living here. The people here are the nicest you could ever hope to meet.

The message is obvious. There were not two different towns. There were two different perspectives on one place. My question to you: How do you picture life? Life is what you make it. As trivial as that may sound, there is more to ponder in that phrase than we give credit to.

If you view life as something that builds your kingdom, then your values will be:

1. You acquire things
2. You enhance your image
3. You promote your name.

Our focus should be on HIM! What excites our Father? What blesses Jesus? What do we see the Holy Spirit doing? If we will ponder new ways daily of how to bless our Lord, then we will see a drastic paradigm shift in our way of thinking! Seeing through the eyes of God and helping God accomplish what is on His Heart will bring us an explosion of limitless possibilities in leading an exciting life! I have a secret! When you bless God by helping Him accomplish what He wants and by focusing on how to glorify Him, then He makes YOU come out looking GREAT!

Our focus MUST only be on Jesus, and not on ourselves. We then discover that:

1. HE provides
2. He makes you come out looking great
3. He exalts you

VIDEO TEXT

For one year we had been in contact with a pastor in Panama, so that when I arrived, he would be ready to receive me, and we'd start to work. Well, imagine how I felt when I arrived at the Panama airport, and no one met me for 3 days! I finally got ahold of the pastor, but he told me he did not want to help me! I was at a loss, as I do not know anyone in Panama. What I did know was that the Lord had called me to Panama, and I would accomplish what the Lord called me to do: bring many to Jesus Christ. Pastor Milton Aguilar from Nicaragua flew in to help me, and together we prayed, with no theatre, no church support, and no friends, we started. That's when the miracles began! We found a theatre, the National Theatre of Panama! We were in need of a church. We walked by a church, and met Lorena Jackson, the administrator for the church that would turn out to be a god-send. She helped us find actors, a place to rehearse, and a place to live! We began rehearsals, then began promotions. We were doing the impossible. We had some radio, TV and newspapers interview us. Ryan Reynolds, flew in to build the sets, and was a huge blessing. We built the decorations, then it was time to move into the theatre. But through a miscommunication, the theatre was closed! We were to move into the theatre at 8 a.m., and we were there with sets, costumes, and over 20 people prepared to work. Yet, by 10 a.m. no one had opened the theatre. We prayed outside, believing for a miracle. The cast went to work building the sets outside the theatre, while I made dozens of calls. I even spoke to the Vice President of the Country! Finally, at 3:15 p.m. the theatre was finally opened! We had to rush in, and build as quickly as we could, as the show was just in 3 hours. We were able to get all the wood mounted, but to cover it? At 6:30, I closed the curtains so that we could continue to work. The audience filled the beautiful auditorium on one side of the curtain while we desperately decorated the set on the other! Finally, at 7:05, I told the actors they had 5 more minutes to decorate, so they would have to finish completely. We prayed, the show was introduced, and when the curtain opened, the sets, lights and actors were beautiful! I cried from a combination of joy and exhaustion. I was so proud of all the actors. Afterwards, we had an altar call, and we prayed with hundreds each night to receive Jesus Christ! We were so happy that the Lord had heard our prayers. After the final performance, we took cast pictures. God won the victory, and the devil lost! I am grateful to my Central American Cornerstone team, Ryan Reynolds, Milton Aguilar and Pablo Lopez, but especially to Lorena Jackson, who without her help, we would never have been able to accomplish this. Immediately, the next day, I flew to the U.S. where I would be a part of a wonderful Mens Ministry called Tres Dias where I would be one of the speakers. After the mens weekend, I flew to Germany, on to Ukraine, then by car to Skadovsk.

Budtye Blagoslavenia!

That is Ukrainian for May the Lord bless you! This report just goes to show you the power of prayer. Had it not been for your prayers, I truly do not believe we would have been able to pull this show off. The Lord came through... again! Now, here in Skadovsk, we need your prayers for the work that the Lord will do here. Please pray for the production here that hundreds will come to Jesus Christ here in Skadovsk, Ukraine. God bless you!

For the Kingdom,
Richard Montez