Hit Them Knees! (in prayer)

Dear prayers,

So, i went to the doctor today to talk about options with surgery and to get a second opinion. He looked at my MRI pictures and said they look a little fuzzy like the magnet is old. He also felt my knee stability and said that it feels just as stable as my other knee. He also said that since i had no swelling for the first day after my alleged ACL tear, he is skeptical about a tear. He said that the pain i'm having when i twist and straighten it could be from a bruise which could feel just like an ACL tear.

All this being said, he doesn't think that it's torn! Whoa! Huge props to my Xtreme Team leader, Jeremy Taliaferro, who insisted on a second opinion.

I'm going to have another MRI made this afternoon at 4:15 before going up to SWO. I probably won't hear the results from that for a couple days. If he doesn't find a tear, i'm going to be in training with Bobby in Peru this month and won't be delayed more than a month. Yes, if i don't have a tear, this will probably change all plans that i've made with people and churches over the next couple months (ie. the commissioning service at MVBC, speaking engagements, and the going away party). Stay tuned.

Please pray that:

• Dr. O'keefe would see any problems, if any, so that i won't wrongly go to Peru and further injure my knee for life.
• Dr. O'keefe would be wise in diagnosing my knee because there is something painful going on, just not necessarily an ACL tear.
• Bobby Lane would have a safe flight to Peru tomorrow and would be able to share the Gospel boldly wherever he goes.
• Pray that as his training begins (this week, i believe), he would be able to learn a ton and apply it to the field.
• Praise God for He is good with or without ACL tears!

Thanks so much!

i love yall,

til the whole world hears,

corey reid pendergrass

Terminado

That means "finished" in Español. I'm finished with FPO. We had our commissioning ceremony yesterday and as Rupert and i climbed into the car to leave, he remarked that we were turning another page of life, that this chapter is now finished. It's true. We are writing our lives as we go.
Today, back in Winston-Salem, i saw him off. He remarked that our parallel roads are splitting. It's true. He's going that way. I'm going this way.

We've been riding shotgun to each other's lives for quite some time now. Now the fate of my left ACL has forked the road. Bobby will continue as i stay behind. Farewell, my right hand man. You have been the eyes in the back of my head, not just watching out for physical danger, but also spiritual attacks. Someone will soon replace me. Some teammate on the Xtreme Team. I pray that they will be as tenacious in their love for you. See you again someday. Adios

The Story

Here's a little something God's taught me this week:

Relating to someone can be very difficult sometimes, especially if they are from a different culture. So, the more someone can relate to another person, the more apt the listen is to listen. For instance, David MacInnes is a talented skater. He holds a weekly Bible study for local skaters at Snowbird. I would have a harder time than David to keep those boys coming back faithfully since i don't skate. They have respect for them because he has used the talent of skating God has given him to relate to them.

Here's a crude diagram of what's going on in my head. The thinking is a bit abstract, so bear with me.

God's Story (red) is a story from the Bible. Creation, David and Goliath, the Temptation of Jesus, the Crucifixion, etc.

My Story (yellow) is my testimony of my salvation and other stories from my life. My family, my friends, my experiences, etc.

Their Story (green) is the stories from their life. Assuming they are lost, they, of course, won't have a testimony of salvation.

Cultural Story (blue) is a story that most people in that culture know about. It can be a legend, a historical event, or even a popular movie or song.

Now, in the example of David and the skaters, the majority of their individual stories don't overlap, but they have found common ground in skating, represented by the lime green area between "My" and "Their" stories.

An example of where My and God's stories meet (orange) is with John the Baptist. I think he and i have a lot in common.

An example of where God's and Cultural stories meet (purple) is with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. At the end of this movie, Jones walks across an invisible bridge over a bottomless canyon to get to the Holy Grail, symbolic of eternal life. Since he cannot see it, he must solely trust his fathers book, the journal. Jones stepped out and as soon as the bridge caught his foot, he could see it. The same is true with the Gospel. A lost person cannot experience or see the Bridge before he steps on it. He has only the Bible, our Father's Book, to tell him the Bridge is there. The Bridge is Christ and It must be crossed to obtain salvation. By putting his faith in that Bridge, he will receive eternal life.

Do you see how these circles can overlap and things become more relevant the more they overlap. My prayer is that i will be able to present the Gospel to South Americans in a way that is relevant to them.

When Bruce Olson witnessed to the Motilone tribe in Columbia, he used his own testimony, the Gospel, and Motilone legends about ants and banana leaves to help them understand the Gospel. I recommend his book about this story, Bruchko.

Please pray that i'll present the Gospel so that the people understand. I feel that a people group will most likely understand where some or all these Stories (God's, mine, their's, and their culture's stories) meet, represented in the center black space. Please pray with me that i'd be able to find where all 4 meet. More importantly, pray that God would simply save many of them and they would, in turn, lead many others to Him.

God Is Passionate About His Own Name

First, i want to thank all of you who sent prayer requests. It has been a pleasure praying for you, my prayer partners, these past couple weeks. I want to continue to pray for you so please, send me your requests. I also want to thank yall for praying for me through this time of training. Know that God is hearing your prayers and i'm experiencing the answers to those prayers.

FPO is almost over: just 3 more days. These last couple weeks have been slow. Though i am learning many important things, i am itching to get to the field. I know it still months away, but it seems like ending FPO will bring me one step closer.

Here's my schedule for the next few months, Lord willing:

• July 19 we will graduate and be commissioned by the IMB from FPO here in Rockville, VA. All are invited. It will begin at 2pm. (You're invited.)
• I'll speak to the children at Cornerstone Christian Church in Advance, NC on missions on July 23.
• July 31 i'll speak with my surgeon about what kind of surgery and when to do it.
• July 24-29 and 31-August 5 i'll be back at Snowbird.
• August 5-9 i'll be at Ridgecrest (near Asheville, NC) recruiting for the Xtreme Team with Steve King.
• I will be commissioned by my home church, Mt. Vernon, in Boone on September 10, so hopefully i'll see many of you there. (You're invited.)
• The celebration at Tanglewood is still TBA. It will probably happen in September.
• I plan on leaving the country sometime in late September but am not sure.

PrayeRequests:

• Please pray for Jon as he still hasn't received an official letter of invitation from the government of his country, necessary to obtain a visa. He can't go without it.
• Please pray for Bobby as he won't have much time to travel and see his family before he leaves for Peru on August 1. Pray that this precious week would be well spent.
• Please continue to pray for my knee. There are different types of surgery for a torn ACL and i don't know which is best for me. Pray that i'd be able to get on the field asap.
• Please pray like Linda.

Thanks for all yall do,

†il the whole world hears,

corey reid pendergrass

Just In Case...

...you didn't know where Ecuador is:

It's on the equator. Hince, the name. Ecuador, equator... kinda sound the same, especially in Spanish.

I Saw the Light!

Way back in December '05, i met Annie Bendtsen, an atheist from Demark, while volunteering at Orphanage Emmanuel in Guaymaca, Honduras. Robin Barres and i were privaledged to talk to her at length about the Lord. We've (especially Robin) kept in touch with Annie since and she decided to come work at SWO (Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters) a few weeks this summer. Robin was able to have many conversations with Annie while she was there at camp. Annie called yesterday afternoon and we talked about 30 minutes about getting saved. She still had questions, but i knew she was in good hands with Robin. Last night Annie called me at 2am to report that she had just got saved! She'd been talking with Robin since 11pm and she finally took the leap! When i got of the phone, i couldn't tell whether i was laughing or crying out of joy. I started to go back to sleep but God wouldn't let me. He said, "Sing me a song."

I reasoned with Him that someone might hear and wake up.

He insisted, "I SAID, 'SING ME A SONG!'"

"Yes, Sir," was my reply.

I gathered my iPod and some clothes and went outside in the grass playing "I Saw the Light" sung by David Crowder. I started jumping and dancing, doing the Irish jig and laughing and singing! What a time! Just me and the Lord above the dew and beneath the stars! After making my praise offering to the Lord, i returned to my quad. One of my quadmates stuck his head out of his door and said with tired features and blood shot eyes sternly, "Corey, it's 2:30." He had obviously been asleep moments before.

"Sorry. Did i wake you?" i replied.

He nodded.

"Sorry. Did you hear me singing?" i asked.

He nodded.

"My friend just called and she just got saved."

"Well that's something to praise about."

I couldn't have said it better myself! I went back in the room and laughed some more. What an eventful day! First the news about Ecuador and now a sinner set free!

Ecuador Bound!

Praise the Lord! Minutes ago i accepted an assignment to Ecuador. There, i'll be working as an "Indigenous Field Research and Quichua Church Planting Team Member" doing field and internet research on indigenous people. Lord willing, i'll be able to do internet research and travel to Quichua communities accessible by 4WD. This will allow me to continue preparation for the Xtreme Team in February and share (while equipping others to share) the Gospel with those who may have never heard it. Mostly i'll be researching these communities to find out if they have a church presence.

Please start to pray now:

• Pray for the Quichua (pronounced "kee-choo-ah") to be receptive to the Gospel and be discipled.
• Pray legalities to fall into place as God sees fit (visa, surgery date, recovery, flights, etc.)
• Pray that God would glorify Himself, do His will only, and be Himself in this situation as in everything.

Love yall, bros and sisses,

†il the whole world hears,
corey reid pendergrass

The District of Columbia

On the way to D.C., i pondered where the "Columbia" part came from. Probably from Christopher Columbus, but if anyone has any insite, leave a comment.

Yesterday, as you know, the entire squad of missionaries ("Squad?" I don't know why i chose this word.) from FPO went to our nation's capitol on the 4th of July. From Union Station, we split up by region (Pacific Rim, East Asia, Western Europe, etc.) and hopped the Metro (train) to different parts of town. My group, South America, rode over to the Catholic University of America. We observed the Basillica there, officially called The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. It is the largest Roman Catholic church in the U.S. Absolutely stunning. The interior and exterior beauty was impressive. This a picture from the web (others from Bobby's camera soon to come) if found that shows the main room (Not sure what Catholics call it, but Baptists call it the sanctuary.) On the back wall, a dome-shaped mosaic of Jesus is shown. It is 6 stories high and the head of Jesus is 8 ft in diameter. We went to the Basilica because in Latin America, Catholicism is huge. It's interesting to see something in-person that so greatly influences many of the people we will witness to in Peru.

From there we ate some Mexican food, that was more like expensive spicy American food. From the restuarant Bobby and i left the group and happened upon Ford's Theater, where Lincoln was shot. We paid our respects to John Wilkes Booth.

Moving right along, we decided to go solo from there. Bobby continued in search of hippies to talk to about Jesus and i didn't know where i would go, but i just started walking. I caught the Metro over to Mall (no, not the shopping mall, the huge strip of grass with the Washington Monument, Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, WWII Memorial, etc.) and decided to stroll over to the Vietnam Memorial. I asked directions from this guy who looked a little younger than me. He weigned 500 lbs. if he weighed an ounce. He told me he'd take me there so i started a spiritual conversation with him. As i walked through the security check for the Mall, he turned and left. How i lost a 500 lb. guy in a crowd? I have no idea. Nevertheless, i changed plans about Vietnam when i happened upon the new World War II Memorial. It was humbling. After looking around a little, i decided it was time to witness to someone. I walked around the pool (pictured here) looking for a Latino sitting around the edge like everyone else. And there he was. Luiz, from Honduras. Sporting my Peruvian football jersey, we had something in common as he bore the Honduran jersey. He said he was Catholic so i asked him when he had accepted Jesus in his heart. He looked confused and told me he'd always been a Catholic and his salvation happened when he was sprinkled as a baby. I showed him Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." I explained to him that a baptism cannot save us, according to the Bible. He said he'd think about it. Please pray for Luiz and his family's salvations.

Independence Day just wouldn't be complete without a little Chinese influence. Upon returning to the MLC we decided it was time for some fireworks. Armed with a borrowed minivan and a google map, we set forth in search Richmond's fireworks. I drove a van full of singles (not including Rupert) until we found the fireworks. Once we saw the last half of those, another set started a few miles in the distance. We jumped back in the van and headed over to the second fireworks. As we neared, my passengers kept jumping out of the van at different traffic stops to walk. Chinese firedrills did not pay off as i left the majority of them on the street. I wanted to go see the fireworks! Jon Marts and i made it and they were beautiful. Once that was over we turned around and searched for lost pedestrians for about 30 minutes. We continued to drive in downtown Richmond lost for the next hour, hunting the highway we came in on. Late-night rap music on the radio through a couple people out of their element, who were raised on Anne of Green Gables and FFH. What a fun night! Totally improv. Seldomly kosher.

The Fruit of the Spirit is...

How many fruits of the Spirit are there? Count them:

Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

If you came up with nine, count again. look at the third word, "fruit." It's singular. The fruit of the Holy Spirit, which indwells every believer, is love, joy, peace, etc.... Don't think of it in terms of "He has the fruit of self-control, but she has the fruit of kindness." As Spirit-filled Christians, we should have all of these elements that make up the fruit of the Spirit. Let us not be satisfied with having one or some elements of the fruit of the Spirit. Let us strive to reveal all of these elements that are in every true believer because the Spirit puts all of those in us when we receive Him.

So, there is one fruit of the Spirit, and it includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

-just something God's been teaching me latel

Happy American Independence Day!

I want to thank all of you who were praying for today and my meeting with David Ford, the Richmond Associate for South America. He basically told me what i already knew: that my surgery would be after FPO and he wanted me to work in South America before February. He did, however, tell me that i needed to speak to Steve King, this other guy in charge of South America. I emailed him but havn't heard back yet.

Tomorrow we are going to the nation's capitol, Washington, D.C. Here everyone will get to go find someone from their region/people group who is traveling through or staying in D.C. in hopes of sharing the Gospel with them. This will be the first time most of us share the Gospel with someone from our people groups. Bobby Lane and i have not been given a people group yet so we will be finding people from South America, hopefully Peru or Bolivia. I'm very excited to see what God is going to do.

Also, Jon Marts is no longer going with us to the Xtreme Team. Long story short, before he signed up for the Xtreme Team, his heart was for a particular country in Central Asia. Recently jobs opened there for him so he switched. I think he is seeking God in all this.

PrayeRequests:

• Please pray for wisdom for South American leadership to figure out a job for me
• Please pray for all the missionaries going to D.C. tomorrow for the 4th. Pray for those they will encounter, that they would get saved.
• Please pray for Jon's short notice visa and that whole situation.

I want to pray for you! How can i pray for you, my prayer partners? I know that Satan would love to attack yall so you won't pray for me so people will come to Christ. Let me know!

Love ya bros and sisses,

†il the whole world hears,

corey reid pendergrass

Acts 20:24