Randy & Ronda’s Newsletter

North American Mission Board

September, 2007
A “Bend in the Road”
Dear Family and Friends,

It is hard to believe it is the end of September and fall is in the air. We wanted to update everyone
on what has happened in our lives over the past two months. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything
give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”. Wow, this verse has
been a test of faith for the past few weeks.

Sometimes there are “bends in the road” and the Corn’s recently came to a definite “bend”. On Au-
gust 8th, Ronda went to the hospital to have minor outpatient surgery for a routine test. On August
9th, we received a call from the doctor’s office telling us that she had an issue that needed prompt
attention, which involved major surgery and 6 weeks down time. So after several more doctor visits,
the surgery was scheduled for August 21st.

God works in mysterious ways and if surgery could be in the wonderful category that is where this
“bend in the road” would be placed. God stationed angels every step of the way from beginning to
end. Ronda had asked everyone to pray for little to no pain (she has very little pain tolerance) and
after a 3-hour stay in the recovery room, she arrived in her room pretty much pain free. The pathol-
ogy report came back totally free of any issues. God is so good and He answers our specific prayers!

September 7th was the first of two, Global Impact Celebrations (GIC). For those of you who may
wonder what is a GIC, it is a mission’s celebration where missionaries gather at a church and share
what God is doing through their perspective ministries. It literally brings the world to the church
through the eyes of the missionaries. The first church we visited was North Point Baptist Church in
Weaverville, NC. We attended a missionary banquet on Friday night, participated in Mission’s day
on Saturday, and taught a Bible fellowship class on Sunday. We were able to make new friends and
share our vision to equip volunteers to share the Gospel as they serve.

On September 12th, we began our GIC at Biltmore Baptist Church. We were honored to be mission-
aries in the celebration at our home church. This was a very special week because in past years we
were behind the scene, helping to coordinate this event. This year we were humbled to be one of the
missionary couples. Wednesday evening was the kick off service for all the missionaries attending.
In addition, we celebrated the commissioning of 48 missionaries by the International Mission Board.
It was amazing to see people of all ages and backgrounds, all called out by our Lord to work in re-
mote areas of the world. We attended a missionary banquet on Thursday night with music provided
by “Point of Grace”. On Saturday Ronda attended a women’s luncheon and Randy attended a golf
outing for the men. Saturday night we were invited to attend a dinner and speak at a home in Lake
Lure which was hosted by two BFG classes. Sunday we spoke in the BFG class and were treated to
lunch after the service. Once again, we met new friends and shared what God is doing in our minis-
try.
 September, 2007

Ronda continues to recuperate and gain her strength back. I have been busy helping around the
house and working to finalizing the Evangelism Power Point and manual I am preparing for the
Disaster Relief & Baptist Builder State Directors. This will be a very important tool for training vol-
unteers to share the Gospel as they serve. Please pray that God will speak through this PowerPoint
and that it will be utilized by Disaster Relief & Baptist Builder Directors to equip volunteers
throughout North America to share Christ and lead many to know Him.

For those that like to surf the web you may want to check out an article written by Jim Burton, Sen-
ior Director for Partnership Mobilization, North American Mission Board. The article is titled
“Reclaiming the KISS Gospel” and features Ronda and myself along with others in the story. “KISS”
stands for Keep It Simple Saints and the article stresses the need to stick to the basics of the Gos-
pel. If you have a computer and internet access you can go to www.namb.net and type “KISS” in the
search box and it will take you to the article.

A bible verse that has truly spoke to us this month is 1 Corinthians 1:17. Paul speaks to the church
at Corinth and says: “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel-not with words
of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” (NIV)

It is not about our persuasiveness or human eloquence of words that draw people unto salvation,
but it is about the simple message of the cross through the power of Holy Spirit. Paul was sent sim-
ply to announce the truth and to proclaim Christ crucified for the sin of the world. He did this in the
plainest and simplest manner possible. In this way, the numerous conversions which followed were
not attributed to the apostle's eloquence, but to the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit.
This gives us reassurance as we encourage volunteers to be “fishers of men” in knowing that it is
not about us. We need to share the simple and saving message of the cross and let the Holy Spirit
take it from there.

We are excited to be commissioned by the North American Mission Board in Atlanta on October 8th.
The Lord has blessed us with an opportunity to go to Israel this month for a tour of the Holy Land.
We plan to take lots of pictures and share our adventures in the next news letter. We know this trip
will strengthen our Christian walk and witness as we literally see the Bible unfold and come alive
through the steps of Christ.

Those wishing to support our ministry can send a check payable to the North American Mission
Board and mail to: NAMB-MSC, PO Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368-6543. Please include our ac-
count number (8922) and our last name (Corn) in the memo section of your check. All gifts are tax
deductible. May God bless you and your families. We thank you for your prayers and financial sup-
port that allow us to serve as Mission Service Corps Missionaries with the North American Mission
Board.

For His Glory,

Randy & Ronda Corn