December 5, 2006

Season of Joy! (not necessarily happiness...)

Let me get right to it. Fresh in my mind today are a number of people in our lives going through some major hardships and because it's this time of year, all the mention of being merry and happy can make it even more difficult. I'll mention some of those prayer requests in a moment, but it's at times like this where we need to know that Jesus has come. We still look forward to a 2nd coming but He has come.

"Joy" to the world is not a fleeting thought or a baseless hope, it is in fact, the reality that we hold to because Jesus has entered this world and through those who follow Him, He, by the Spirit in us, continues to make His presence known "far as the curse is found". It can be tough living here where the "curse is found", but His presence and Kingdom has come. There isn't always happiness or merriment as that Kingdom continues to emerge, but where Jesus is, there can be 'joy'.

Would you pray for....

- Mark and his family, a close friend in need of employment
- a marriage/health situation
- Kelly, a friend with health concerns
- a Pastor friend's (and his wife's) marriage
- the loved ones of Harry (a 50 some year old inner-city pastor, and host of mission teams, in Winnipeg, MB) and Lisa (a 17 year old Gateway Team member from Bismarck, ND)

Also, please pray for me over the next month and a half especially as I'll be traveling most of January to Cameroon and leading a Gateway Team. The team consists of a very special group of youth pastors who will be connecting with youth workers in Cameroon as we meet together, pray for each other and discover together some principles from Christ's life for discipleship.



Prayer requests for the Cameroon Gateway Team (January 7-25) -
- First off, pray for Godwill Ncham (our main host receiver)
o for his responsibilities over this huge area of ministry
o for new leaders that he is investing in
o for his family
- That we take time to invest in Godwill's life and the lives of some new up and coming leaders.
- That we encourage application in local churches and would equip leaders
- That we encourage these leaders to take what they learn and apply it in their ministry
- That we would build upon the foundation of partnership that has already been established - Our Gateway Team’s air and ground travel safety and health
- Our training time in Chicago
- Our families back home during the month of January

Also, please pray for other travel I (and we) have over the next 90 days to the Bahamas, Mississippi, Arizona, Kentucky, Tennessee, northern and central Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

It's a busy time ahead and we have much to be thankful about. Please join us in prayer for all of these items and folks. And, have a very blessed and joyous Christmas. The Lord has come!

Randy

Prayer Requests from Romania

In Romania, Gateway Teams partners with the Hungarian Baptist Convention (yes, that's right!). And I recently had the chance to talk with our Field Facilitator there, Pastor Istvan Gergely (that's him on the left) as he is visiting some of our Gateway Teams participants and supporters in North Dakota, about some things he would appreciate prayer for....



1. Please pray for the 3 church plants made among the Roma (Gypsy) people of the area. It's a great opportunity for outreach that the Hungarians have right in their own regions.
2. Pray for the 18 (yes 18!) churches that Istvan pastors. He has 2 associates that help him, but he is the pastor of all of these congregations. There are many small towns in their Transylvania region of northwest Romania and Istvan has to do a lot of driving to get around.
3. Pray for a Gateway Team that we need to go to Romania next summer to work on the roof for their new church (pictured under construction).
4. Pray for the Falcon Rock Camp ministry that is in need of buildings and development (another open opportunity for a Gateway Team).

In addition to all of his other responsibilities, Istvan is the General Secretary for the Hungarian Baptist Convention of Romania. Please keep Istvan in your prayers and think about forming a Gateway Team in your church or region to go to Romania!

Thanks!

Welcome to the Schmors and Gateway Teams new Prayer Request Blog!

October 2006

Thanks so much for your continued support of this ministry! And thanks for visiting our new blog! We hope to do monthly prayer updates here so you can know how to pray for our ministry. Feel free to check it from time to time. We'll also try to send an email out to remind you to visit the site when we've posted something new!

We'll also try to use this site to blog through our travels, missions, etc. as they happen in the future!

Please pray for Gateway Teams over the months of September-October for the following requests:

September
- Gateway Teams Leader Training Event – September 15-16 – Elk Grove, CA

October
- Gateway Team (CoL) – October 13-30 – from Quail Lakes, Stockton, CA – led by Wayne Bibelheimer
- Gateway Teams Leader Training Event - October 27-28 - Edmonton, AB

Juan Luna
- Juan and Amanda Luna have been Host Receivers for Gateway Teams for over 13 years in Texas and Mexico. Juan has gone through a number of health related issues and surgeries over the past 2 months from which he will be in recovery for some time. Please pray for his health, his wife Amanda, the church he pastors, and the financial difficulties incurred.

2007
- We have a very busy schedule of ministry shaping up for next year. Here's some of the items coming up for which we'd ask your prayers:
- Randy has just been elected to the steering commitee for the "Fellowship of Short- Term Mission Leaders" annual conference in October.
- Cameroon Gateway Team in January led by Randy. The team consists of youth pastors
who will help lead 'Sonlife' discipleship seminars in partnership with
Cameroonian youth leaders.
- More possible Leader and Team training events.
- Leading of other Gateway Teams (TBA).
- Coordinating, planning, recruiting of many other teams.










Schmor Prayer Requests
Kameron – Kameron started 3rd Grade in September and is enjoying being back at school with all his friends. He had a great summer in Colorado and Mexico. He met lots of new friends – especially in Mexico. This fall he is playing soccer and taking piano lessons again as well as attending AWANA.
Shelly & Randy - We also had a great summer. We led a Gateway Leader’s Training Event in September in Elk Grove where we had 32 leaders trained! Praise the Lord! We will be attending a conference in Atlanta and leading another training event in Edmonton in October.

Prayer Requests…
*Pray for Shelly’s Grandma (Lorna Toll) & Shelly’s Mom
. (Sue Burgh)
*Pray for the Schmors as they continue to seek God’s
wisdom for many decisions. Pray that we would effectively minister to and meet the needs of those we are assisting.
*Training Events – that God would raise up many more effective leaders.
*Travel mercies as we once again cover many miles in the upcoming months.
*Family time at Thanksgiving with Shelly’s family in Oklahoma.

In His Grip,
Randy Schmor