At the training camp

Sideways Rain

• Had a great time at the family reunion at Hatteras, NC! Miss yáll!
• Rach got her root canal and everything is fine with it, but the lasic never got done.
• Xtreme team training is going well
• To date no one has sent letters to the guys in training. Please write letters to these guys. Your encouragement to them is crucial.
• Please pray for kori and Rach as they try to memorize stories in French (its not going so well)
• Rach and Fisher got stalked by a psycho French woman on Ayauascha (the halusinagenic drug used the the local shamans to see spirits)
• Fisher is doing great... he is healthy and growing fast. 4 teeth in two coming s we speak.
• Photos coming when we get back to the states.... sorry for the wait.

Big Ol' Fat Rain
(stories will be seperated by title for you convinience. if your not interested skip tp next topic)

Reunion:
We had a great time at the beach with the Penderg-s and the Roberts Clan. Got a ton of great pictures and enjoyed the fresh ocean air. Fisher gave most of us Laringitis...thanks fisher.

Surgeries:
Upon arriving in Lima we spent two days getting my surgeries done. The tooth was fixed via a root canal. I was sent to a Dr. Carlos who dug out the canal, then I had to walk 3 blocks down the street with a gaping whole in my tooth to get the temp cap put on by Dr burger. The next day he did the gold reconstruction. I am now officially a gangster, or a red neck one. We spent most of 18 hours trying to get my lasic surgery done. They sent us to over four different clinics spent hours getting tests done and then having them tell us they did the wrong tests. i was so frustrated. The best we could tell is that they were afraid to do an imperfect surgery. Their technology could onlyfix up to -8 but my eyes are now -9 and -8.75 so i would have needed reading classes at the most but they were not willing to do it. So se la vie

First day of Training:
We arrived in Iquitos and spent the first 4 days with J and Susan. During that time we were building our hut at the land and sleeping at their house which has all the modern commenities. The day we began building our roof J ( the leader of the Xtreme Team) decided that that was the day our training began. Suprise! I was unaware that we would be going through training) That afternoon a 1/4 of our roof was finished before we ran out of supplies. J, having said that our training had begun that day decided to "make us deal". Praise God Adam (the leader in training) was able to go out and by the rest of the materials for us to finish our roof. At least the "A" frame (not the sides) was finished. That night it poured (as it does most nights). Fisher and I slept together in my hammock and were woken up by what seemed to be a flood of water from the sky. The rain swept throught the hut as though we were standing right under th cloud in open space. Kori and I weighed whether it would be better to hike out in the storm to the closest home or wait in the hut. So we wrapped Fisher in every blanket we had and wrapped our rain jackets on the outside to protect him as much as possible we laid their sleepless, wet and freezing until dawn came and we could hail a moto tax. We decided to go speak to the powers that be and get a hostel until the roof and floor of the hut were finished. Well, we stayed two nights in a pat by the hour hostel( unless you pay 240 USD at one of the finer hotels , theyre all pay by the hour).

Letters to the boys:
Unfortunately the boys have been in training for 6 weeks and have not recieved a single letter. We really desire for the body of Christ in the states to encourage their brothers who are suffering for the Gospel. Please do not neglect Gods invitation to encourage the universal body of Christ.
Xtreme team
Apartado 151
Iquitos
Peru

Rach and Fisher stalked by a drugged up French Tourist:

It was the craziest thing i have ever experienced (and thats saying a lot ). So... I was bathing Fisher, and because there is only cold water here he was screaming his little head off. All of a sudden i heard someone banging at the door yelling "Abre la Puerta" (Open the door). So it took me a second, but i opened the door half dressed with fisher covered in soap and butt naked. A red headed french woman made the owners wife open the door because she said that someone was hurting a child in on the the hostel rooms. When the owner saw it was me and Fisher she smiled at me and took her leave. The French woman stood there staring at me with crazy eyesa. I let her know that Fisher was fine and that she could leave. I basically closed the door in her face. Well i decided to wipe the soap off Fisher with a towel so he would scream and worry the poor french woman. At first i thought "well i can understand... this is a pay by the hour hostel and she heard a baby crying. I too would make sure the baby was safe. " But for the next hour she walked back and forth across my room passing the screaned window and glaring at me. She kept trying to give a message but she was speaking three languages at once. English, French and Spanish. I kept hearing pieces of information like "the two men in your room want to hurt your son" I looked around and said "No ones here". The next time she came by she yelled profanities at us saying "its fing bs" she kept saying in her borken English. I couldndecide whether i should walk outside and confront her and maker her leave or if i should stay in the room and wait for kori to get back from the hut with the things we needed for the night. I decided to stay in the room and spend time in prayer. After not having seen her for a while i went outside and spoke to the owner about the situation. He explained she had caused a lot of trouble and that she and her partner had been going up the Amazon and had been taking Ayuascha ( the hylusinagetic drug taken by the shamans or spiritual healers in the communities of the amazon jungle. It is said they take this drug to see spirits and these spirits tell them what is wrong with someone and the cure.) I can not help but wonder who or what she saw in my room.

Fisher:
Fisher is growing fast. He is babbling non-sense words and standing on his own for 10 seconds at a time. He has 2 top and 2 bottom teeth and two are cutting as we speak. His diareah has subsided and he entertains himself for hour plaing motorboat and indian with his mouth.

Quote of the month:
"Being on the Xtreme Team means youre going to be Xtremely hungery!" -Juan (Trainee)

´til the whole world hears,
kori and Rach

I Just Stepped in a Pile of Peru

Root Canal: (essentials for the skimmers)

• New photo albums (password required)!
  • Firsher's first visit to SWO
  • R&R Kayaking
  • Last Days at the Penderosa
  • The Roberts in Tobaccoville
  • OBX Fishing
  • OBX Family Fun
  A book Rach and i contributed to, Stories from the Ends of the Earth, is here! Please go to the SWO store and request one. I think the price is about $5-$10.
• We had a wonderful family reunion on the Outer Banks of NC with Rach's family and mine.
• Rach, Fisher, and i made it to Iquitos, Peru. Safe and sound.
• We have 5 students in the Xtreme Team training (2 more if you count Rach and i). Please write them a letter! Details below.
• Rach had plans to get a root canal and laser eye surgery in Lima, but were only able to do the root canal.
• PrayeRequests below.

Lasik: (extras for the readers)

Dear adopted children of God,

As many of you know, Rach and i (as well as several other SMOi missionaries) have contributed some stories from our overseas experience to a book called Stores from the Ends of the Earth. After over a hundred hours of work from othe

r contributors, designers, editors, photographers, and my wife (who did most of the work); we finally have produced a book. It is sold in the SWO store online and in the camp's Snack Shack. Special thanks goes to Le Print Express of Winston-Salem who donated 100% of the design time for the book and gave us a discount on the printing.

We have just spent a week with the Roberts family and the Penderg- family on the Outer Banks of NC. Highlights of the vacation included an evening at The Lost Colony drama, deep-sea fishing when my dad and i caught two white marlins at the same time, and my father-in-law teaching me to use a cast net. From their we drove to Miami and boarded a plane to Lima.

In Lima, Rach was planned to have a root canal and Lasik surgery on her eyes. She had the root canal, but still has sharp pain (please pray). After her eye exam for the Lasik surgery, we discovered that her prescription has regressed to a -8.5 and a -9.0. Unfortunately Lasik eye surgery can only correct vision down to a -8.0, meaning if she got it she would still need glasses. This comes at a huge disappointment because we had been saving for this for quite some time. This Lasik was to cost $300/eye! There is a more expensive type of Lasik that would have worked, but the cost was 5 times higher! We reluctantly ordered Rach a new set of contacts so she can see again.

Now, we are finally in Iquitos! The Xtreme Team training is underway and we've met the students and helped teach them one class so far. Rach and i will be teachers at times and students at times. Out hut is going to need a lot of work as three termite nests the size of basket balls are growing under the thatch roof. We're going to town today to get some supplies. Eliseo, Pedro, Felix, Nestor, and Juan are the Latino students in training to become missionaries in Peru and beyond. If you speak Spanish great, so-so, or not at all, please take twenty minutes this week and write some of them an encouraging letter. Though they come from Peruvian churches, many of those churches are unable to or unwilling to encourage their brothers in taking the Gospel to those who have never heard. Tell them you're praying for them. Tell them about yourself and how God is using you in the States. Share some Scripture with them. Expect replies!

Please mail those to:

Xtreme Team

Apartado 151

Iquitos

Peru

PrayeRequests:

• Praise God for getting us to Peru
• Praise the Lord for great friends in Peru
• Praise God for the 5 young men in training
• Pray that Rach's tooth pain would subside.

†il the whole world hears,
the penderg- family

Approved

A Trip to West Africa: (essentials for the skimmers)

• The board of trustees has approved us for service in West Africa!
• We leave for Peru in a few weeks.
• God met our goal for funds to support our Peru trip. Worship with us.
  
• Thomas Beck, a coworker who was a very hard agnostic, came to Christ Sunday! Praise the Father!
  
• New photos! Album: Last January in NC.
  
• Fisher is humongous.
• Racheal recently gave Instead of Ashes a web makeover with several new lines of jewelry.
  
• SMOi welcomes the Hoover family to the prayer site. Pray for them as they prepare for West Africa too.
• Coming soon! Stories from the Ends of the Earth, a book of a collection of stories from the SMOi missionaries' experiences overseas will be available around the end of May.
  
• PrayeRequests below.

A Trip to Peru: (extras for the readers)

Dear redeemed,

In the last month or so God has really touched people's hearts concerning our finances to go to Peru. Right now we're celebrating as God has abundantly provided our goal! Worship with us as God has been so generous.

So reign, please reign in us
Come purify our hearts
We need Your touch
Come cleanse us like a flood
And send us out
So the world may know You reign, You reign in us!

In Fisher Stone news, he is growing so fast! At five-months he was wearing 12-month clothes. He's almost eight-months-old now. He grew his first two teeth two weeks ago and should start walking or crawling any second.

On May 4 we received great news from the mission board that we'd been approved by the board of trustees for overseas service in West Africa. This simply means it's official now.

Many have asked us for our time line of our upcoming dates:

• May 19 :: Sharing requests at the prayer gathering of Center Grove Church in Clemmons NC, 6:30p
• May 23 :: Giving the teaching at the worship gathering of the River Church in Arcadia, 10:30a. Teaching series: The Ultimate Fighter (spiritual warfare, the armor of God, and the Sword of the Spirit)
  
• June 3-4 :: Racheal's family's reunion in Goshen KY
• June 5-12 :: Family vacation with Racheal's parents, her brother, my parents, and my sister to Hatteras.
  
• June 14-September 1 :: Peru trip! We'll be teaching Latino and indigenous people how to be missionaries. Most of the time we will be in a jungle setting for classes. We hope to plan a visit to the village of Paiche Playa where i served in 2007-2008.
• Sept 2-14 :: Visit Racheal's hometown of Key West and see her parents one last time before West Africa.
• Sept 15 :: Appointment ceremony in Brandon, FL for the mission board
• Sept 16-17 :: Visit friends in eastern TN.
• Sept 18ish-Oct 10 :: Last days in Tobaccoville, NC
  
• Oct 11-Dec12 :: Training/orientation with the mission board
  
• Soon after Dec 12 :: Move to West Africa for 3-4 years

You might be thinking to yourself, Wait, does that mean you'll only be in Winston for two more weeks before Peru? Yes! And, only three more weeks before West Africa.

My friend and coworker, Thomas, was hardened to the gospel. He was an agnostic after growing in a rough family (to put it mildly) and working on a boat on the Mississippi. He was afraid that God, if He existed, had left him because of how many he had lead away from God by his reasoning. But, this past Sunday, May 16, 2010, the scales fell off Thomas' eyes and he found out what Paul meant in 1 Corinithians 1:18: "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." He started to weep and ran outside as we sang "How He Loves" by The Glorious Unseen (popularized recently by The David Crowder Band). After i came out to find him he told me he had an epiphany that God loved him so much in spite of his lifetime of sin. So, let me write his obituary...

BECK - Mr. Thomas Beck, 38, died May 16, 2010, by taking his own life and laying it at the foot of the cross. However, he was in a moment born again as the new Thomas Beck, alive in Christ and filled with the Spirit of God. He is survived by his fiancee and three children who he is already sharing Christ with that they too might have a relationship with their Maker. A celebration ceremony is being planned for sometime within the next two weeks where he will be buried in baptism and raised to walk in the newness of life. Details to come!

PrayeRequests:

• Praise God for the money He's raised for Peru. Praise Him for the money that He's about to raise to reach the $4000 goal.
• Pray that God would send someone quickly to disciple Thomas in our absence.
  
• Pray for the Peru trip. May the missionaries that leave there tell thousands of the good news.
• Pray that we'd be good stewards of the short time we have in the States.
  

†il the whole world hears,
the pendergrass family

For Auld Lang Syne

Happy new year, from the Pendergrasses!

A Trip to West Africa: (essentials for the skimmers)

• Our interview conference in VA went great. Our new deployment date for West Africa is December 2010! Whoopee!
• Racheal graduated from the Baptist College of Florida. She is officially educated.
  
• New photos! Albums: Racheal Graduates, Petersburg and Richmond, Snowplay, and Presents.
  
• Racheal's handmade jewelry business has really taken off. Check her new products out at Instead of Ashes.
• PrayeRequests below.

A Trip to Peru: (extras for the readers)

Dear loved ones,

Congratulations to Racheal! She is a college grad! On a comical note, her degree was not given to her in Biblical Studies as we all expected. However, when they called "Racheal Pendergast" it was for the Bachelor of Arts in Ministry Studies. I didn't mind. It cost $40K, whatever it is.

In other news, the following week Racheal and i went to Rockville, VA (near Richmond) for our Candidate Interview Conference. We and about 50 missionaries were there finalizing our application process to the IMB. Though it's a little later than we had originally hoped, we are ecstatic to announce that we'll be appointed to the IMB in September 2010 and deployed to West Africa the following December! This is what we've been waiting a year and a half to hear. Praise the Lord. Seriously, take a minute and praise Him.

Like i said, December 2010 is a little later than the date we'd hoped for earlier (June 2010), but don't think for a second the Pendergrasses are going to suck their thumbs for another year waiting for December to roll around. We're planning a volunteer trip to Peru this summer to the Xtreme Team Training. The purpose of this trip will not be an evangelistic "crusade" (I despise that word.), but rather a time for us both to brush up and develop our oral storying skills for when we go to West Africa. Plus, we'd like to encourage the Body in Peru. Furthermore, i'll also be assisting in training Latino missionaries though teaching classes. Granted we'll have to raise our own support (since it's not through the IMB), so we'll check between our couch cushions to see if we miss placed about $3500 or so.

PrayeRequests:

• Praise God for an eventful and positive time in Richmond with the interview process.
• Pray for the "S" people. They need Jesus whether we'll be the vessel that brings the Gospel or not.
• Pray for the Peru trip. There's a lot to plan for. Praise God for the $250 flights we got!
  
• Thanks for praying for my wrestlers. It's working. Keep it up.
  

†il the whole world hears,
corey reid pendergrass

Sir, I Wanna Buy These Shoes...

"... for my mama, please." I'm tired of that song already. So cheesy. I know guys at work that cry when they hear it and i'm thinking, "Really?"

Thanksgiving: (essentials for the skimmers)

• New photos! Album: All Hallows Even
• Fisher is healthy and giggles a lot.
• Racheal has started a new handmade jewelry business, Instead of Ashes.
• I'm a coach Reagan High School Wrestling again. Check us out on Facebook.
• A few NC churches have given us the opportunity to speak before them about overseas missions. We've already spoken with Enon in East Bend. On December 6 we were with Hyde Park in Lumberton and Riverview in Lincolnton. Then on December 20 we hope to speak with Great Marsh in Saint Pauls. Please pray with us.
• Congrats to my wife who is graduating from the Baptist College of Florida tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 11). If you're near Graceville, come on over.
• This is the last year for WWLMD? shirts. I have several left in S and M, but L and XL has yellow only. Get ya some of them apples.
• PrayeRequests below.

Turkey: (extras for the readers)

Dear prayer partners,

The last update i had sent out, we had just found out that we'd been invited to the Candidates Interview Conference in Richmond. Now that is just around the corner. So Racheal and i are taking a week and a half off work (A few days for her graduation in FL and a few more in VA for the conference). That conference will be pretty much the final step in the one and half years-long process of applying to be missionaries. Please join us and the Board of Trustees at the IMB as they decide when and how we'll get to West Africa.

Racheal is finally graduating from the Baptist College of Florida! She's getting her four-year degree (her four years took a couple of victory laps) in Biblical Studies. Congratulations to my wife!

PrayeRequests:

• Praise God for allowing us to apply to the IMB.
• Pray for the "S" people. They need Jesus whether we'll be the vessel that brings the Gospel or not.
• I've got the priveledge of having some deep conversations about the the Lord. One guy inparticular who i've got to know well over the past year confessed to me his struggle with internet p-rn. It broke my heart to hear it, but i know that the vast majority of my boys probably view it often. Despite that, i was able to talk with him about how Christ had freed me from it. At the end of the conversation of tears and smiles and walked away and thought to myself, "This is why i'm a coach. Thanks God." Pray for my boys. Pray for me.
  

†il the whole world hears,
corey reid pendergrass

Happy Reformation Day!

To whom it may concern,
Thanks for your prayers regarding the IMB's decision to advance our application process at this time. Two days ago we heard from the Board that we have been invited to the Candidate Interview Conference in December in Richmond!
This is great. However, it still does not mean that we are for-sure headed overseas in June 2010 (which is the earliest we could go). It doesn't even mean that we've been appointed by the IMB for overseas service. It simply means that we can potentially do both and that we have a "job request" reserved in our name in west Africa.
So, please continue to pray for our application process and for the vast lost among the "S" people.
There are a few things that could happen that would prevent us for reaching west Africa by June.

1. Inadequate funds - Please be praying for the upcoming Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, the annual offering that represents over half of the IMB's sending funds. They have had to turn down more applicants in recent months than ever before because of the recession. There is a "cap" on how many missionaries can go during a given amount of time. We've already been told that we will likely be pushed back to the September 2010 or November 2010 Field Personnel Orientations (FPOs, which last two months before overseas deployment). This would be heartbreaking.
2. Moral failure - We know we are not above temptation. Please be in prayer for our stamina against the Enemy as there are some sins that would forfeit us from taking the great commission to the "S."
3. Incomplete paper work - So far we've done everything up to par, but it's a lot of paperwork and documentation. Please pray for us as we get forms submitted on time and for the IMB as they process those forms in an organized manner.

Above all please pray that God would bring the Gospel to the "S" how He wants to and when He wants to. Obviously, we would leave next weekend if the Board would let us, but that's not God's timing. We hope we can attend the FPO in April 2010 and go to west Africa in June 2010. However, God may desire that that spot on the roster be filled by someone else going to a people group in more need at this time. If so, we will wait... patiently.

Thanks again for praying,
'til the whole world hears,
corey reid pendergrass

PS. For more info on Reformation Day, click here. Thanks for having some gumption this day in 1517 Martin Luther.

What WOULD Lottie Moon Do?

2500 shotgun shells fired: (essentials for the skimmers)

• New photos! Albums: Fisher's first week, Dates and such, Fisher's 1st vacation, and SHOOT DOVES
• Fisher is growing like kudzu.
• We chose a people group to work with for next 3-4 years! At this point, we will call them "S" since we were asked not to share their name for security purposes, but it is an unreached people of over 1,100,000 in west Africa. PRAY FOR THEM.
• After submitting everything to the IMB we are waiting to hear back from them. We have not secured a job yet but we are faithful that God will work in this. We should hear something by October 30.
• Last week Racheal took Fisher to Key West to visit Gramps and Nonna. My dad took me to Argentina to dove hunt for a few days.
• Check out SMOi's newest missionary, Anne Tully.
• I read/heard a cool blog entry a few weeks ago by Abraham Piper about parenting like God. You may want to read or hear it too.
• We were given the privilege of speaking with a Sunday school class of Brookstown Methodist Church. Thanks for inviting us!
  
• PrayeRequests below.

1507 dead doves: (extras for the readers)

Dear prayer warriors,

Thank you all for praying with us over the decision of where to go overseas and with what people group to serve. We've finally made that decision after reviewing various IMB "job requests" from around the world. For security reasons we'll refer to this people group as "S" for now. Please be praying for these people of west Africa who have less than 0.02% born again. Compre that with the 35% of Americans that claim to be evangelicals. Now we wait a few days while the IMB "matches" us to that job request and decides whether or not to send us there. We should hear something by October 30. Please join us in prayer!

Several months ago my dad won a dove hunting trip for two to Cordoba, Argentina at an auction. Therefore, we made a "bucket list" venture down to South America for a few days. We enjoyed the rich culture of Buenos Aires for a day and then proceeded to a lodge in the country. We hunted for 3 days, and together we dropped some 2924 doves. It was like a video game. They just kept coming and coming. Thousands of them.

Don't think for a minute that Racheal was going to let me leave her alone with our son for a week while i scooted off to South America. No! Thanks to my in-laws generous gift of a plane ride her and Fisher spent several days in Florida. I missed them. A lot.

In any event, it's that time of year for chicken stews and fall colors. I missed this in Peru. I hear west Africa has a chicken stew, but it's not the same. Fisher is growing so stinkin' much! He's already mobile and can shove himself around with his legs. Not bad for 4 weeks old! Also, we are very grateful for all the gifts we've received thus far on Fisher's behalf, including clothing. But, in case you get the urge to buy us baby clothes, know that he already has about 40 outfits. If you really want to send something, call Racheal to find out what we need (336.978.1740).

PrayeRequests:

• Praise God for allowing us to apply to the IMB.
• Pray for the "S" people. They need Jesus whether we'll be the vessel that brings the Gospel or not.
• Pray that the IMB would process our application asap. If we are appointed by October 30 then we'll go to the 2-month orientation in Richmond in April followed by deployment in June 2010. If not, then we've been told that we will have to wait until the next orientation. That would be at least 3-4 months longer to wait while more "S" die without the opportunity of hearing the Good News! PLEASE PRAY DAILY UNTIL THE 30TH OF OCTOBER.

Quote of the Month:

Upon arriving to our hotel in Buenos Aires i announced, "There's a bidet! I hope i have to poop before we leave!" Alas, we left before i had the chance, but when we got to the hunting lodge it was evident that our God is a God of second chances.

In the words of Casting Crowns...

"Sing un-
†il the whole world hears,"
corey reid pendergrass