Handling SPACE in [SQLstatement] argument during mailmerge

Below is my vba code for calling a mailmerged word doc with data filtred for any cell under the [Status] column that contains the value 'Pending report'.

These code resulted in infinite loop of error "Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action".

However, if the value to be matched is changed to one that does NOT contain any SPACE e.g. WHERE [Status] = 'Done', everything's fine.

I attempted to handle the SPACE with the following ways but to no avail:

• 'Pending'&' '&'report'
• [Pending report]
• '"Pending report"'
• 'Pending%report'
• ""Pending report""

I have try googling the solution for the whole day Any help would be much appreciated!

Sub Gen_Report()
    
    Dim wordApp As Word.Application
    Dim wordDoc As Word.Document
    Dim wordMailMerge As Word.MailMerge
    Dim wordMergeFields As Word.MailMergeFields
    Dim wordPath As String
    Dim excelPath As String
       
    CurrentWorksheet = ActiveSheet.Name
    excelPath = ThisWorkbook.Path & "\XYZ.xlsm"

        Worksheets("New App").Visible = True
        Sheets("New App").Select
                        
        wordPath = ThisWorkbook.Path & "\MailMerge.docx"
        Set wordApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")
        Set wordDoc = wordApp.Documents.Open(wordPath)
        Set wordMailMerge = wordDoc.MailMerge
                
        wordMailMerge.OpenDataSource Name:=excelPath, SQLStatement:="SELECT * FROM [New App$] WHERE [Status] = 'Pending report'"
        wordMailMerge.Destination = wdSendToNewDocument
        wordMailMerge.SuppressBlankLines = True
        wordMailMerge.Execute Pause:=True
        wordApp.Visible = True
        wordDoc.Close savechanges:=False
                 
End Sub