News from Randy & Ronda Corn

NORTH AMERICAN MISSION BOARD JULY, 2007

Training
On July 10th -13th
Ronda and I attended Critical Incident Stress Management Training at Ridgecrest Con-
ference Center in Black Mountain along with three of our good friends. This continuing education course
was sponsored by the North American Mission Board and focused on assisting individuals in crisis. Over
80% of Americans will be exposed to a traumatic event during their lifetime and 9% of those individuals
will develop (PTSD) posttraumatic stress disorder. We want to be prepared to minister to those in need
during disasters and other traumatic events.

Psalm 145:17-18 The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The Lord is near
to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.

Our Journey to the Mid-West

We have just returned from two weeks of Families On
Mission in O’Fallon and East St. Louis, Illinois. Activities
included acts of kindness, light construction, painting, yard
work, minor plumbing, prayer walking and witnessing. We
taught evangelism, prayer walking and a mission’s education
class during the week and had the opportunity to participate
in several mission projects.
One of the highlights was working with the kids at the
Christian Activity Center (CAC). The CAC is a nonprofit,
faith based ministry located in the heart of East St. Louis.
The center provides a comprehensive after-school program to
more than 4,000 students a year. They provide a Christian
Care Clinic, Nutrition program, Wellness Education, and
Spiritual Growth classes. Chet Cantrell, a NAMB Missionary
from North Carolina and graduate of Mars Hill College is the
Director of the center.
East St. Louis leads the nation in childhood poverty, with
58% of children growing up in “extreme poverty” compared
to 17% nationally and 61% of families living below 200% of
the federal poverty level. The Christian Activity Center’s
impact on the community is astonishing! In 1989, 50% of the
neighborhood youth were gang affiliated, 50% failed to com-
plete high school, and the teenage pregnancy rate was 13%.
Today fewer than 5% of the youth are gang affiliates, 90% of
youth graduate from high school, and teen pregnancy is un-
der 2%.
During a prayer walk through the projects on Sunday af-
ternoon we encountered a lady named Dithra, sitting outside
cooking on a grill. We explained that we were praying for the
community as we walked and that we would begin work at
the Christian Activity Center on Monday. We asked if we
could pray for her, and she immediately said yes and mo-
tioned for us to come inside her modest apartment. She began
to pour out her heart. Dithra was in charge of three apart-
ment buildings and had to call the police the night before
because of drug use next door. Dithra’s daughter, who will be
attending college soon, had asked if the second hand smoke
from the drugs in the projects would have an affect on her
memory. We joined hands and prayed for Dithra and her
family. Dithra began to cry and said, “God sent you here to
my home today; thank you for your prayers”.
We assisted a new church plant that was giving a block
party for the neighborhood. There was an abundance of hot
dogs, hamburgers, cotton candy and entertainment. Families
On Mission volunteers assisted by serving, working the
stands, and greeting the guests. It was a time of encourage-
ment and the gospel was presented, one-on-one, many times
that afternoon. One of our team members had the opportu-
nity to lead a young lady to Christ and introduce her to the
church pastor. We all had the privilege to do a small part that
day and rejoice in what God had done. We leave you with
these verses from an old hymn:
“Must Jesus bear the cross alone
And the world go free?
No, there’s a cross for everyone,
And there is a cross for me.”

Thank you for your prayers and financial support that

enable us to encourage and equip volunteers to share the
Gospel as they go!