Gateway Teams

Kameron sharing his testimony for the first time and being translated into Spanish by Pastor Juan Luna of Texas.
Isak, Pastor Juan Castro of Tlahuac, Mexico and Pastor Juan Luna of Rio Grande City, Texas on the site of Centro Internacional de Alabanza´s new location.





















At the Pyramids of ´Teotihuacan´.






August 10, 2007

A day of finishing well! It was our last day of Good News Club and we had a great day with the kids. About 5 children responded to giving their lives to Jesus Christ today after Amanda Luna (wife of Pastor Juan Luna, our translators) gave an invitation at the end of the Bible story. Praise God! And then we had some gifts for the children as well to take home and remember their experience this week.

There was some time to ourselves in the afternoon (most went on the Wal-Mart run!) and the ladies treated Anamaria to a trip to the beauty salon. In the evening, Pastor Juan Castro, Hugo Yllescas (lay co-pastor) and Isaac Collin (another lay leader) met with Randy, Mike DeLong and Pastor Juan Luna for a time to discuss issues of church leadership and share struggles the church is having after their 4 years of existence. It was a great time and well received by the 3 leaders of Centro Internacional de Alabanza. We then attended and participated in the Friday night church service with songs, testimonies and a message from Mike DeLong on “Passing the Baton” to the next generation.


August 11, 2007

Today was a cultural day for the team as we went to the pyramids of Teotihuacan just north of the reaches of the city. But, because Tlahuac is in the southeast part of the city, it took 2 to 2 ½ hours to get there! These pyramids and the city below them were built over 2000 years ago by the Teotihuacani people and around 500 AD had around 200,000 people living there. By the time of the Aztecs (like Moctezuma) it was revered as a ‘city of the gods’. It is a full day’s adventure to go to this site with a lot of walking and climbing of steps! And as is the case every day here in this area during rainy season, the rain poured down right on schedule around 4pm and we got soaked just as we were finishing up our time at this historical site.

It was a very full day and we were treated to have around 20 persons from the church join us on the bus we chartered to travel there. The connections we continued to enjoy with folks from the church made the experience and the day even more enjoyable. But, as we headed back home, you could have heard a pin drop on the bus as everyone fell asleep for a good portion of the trip! We were then treated to another great meal at Claudia’s (a lady from the church who owns a walk-up quesadilla stand) and ate to our heart’s content. What an awesome lady, servant and cook! Incredible!

By the time we got back, everyone was ready for bed as we knew Sunday would be a full day as well and our last day here at that.


August 12, 2007

Sunday began with what was to be a very important discussion that Pastor Castor arranged to have at 9am before the Sunday service at 11am. He asked in the beginning of the week, after we had had meetings with a number of the church leaders, if we could have a time with all the leaders of the church to discuss what it means to be a servant leader, how we are to handle conflict in the church and various other issues that these folks would want to discuss. Mike DeLong began the 2 hour session with a six point discussion on what it means to lead as a servant which was very well received and sparked much discussion. Everyone one on the team was encouraged by this meeting and the church leaders that attended (about 25) were very encouraged as well; including Pastor Castro.

This time was obviously a great cap to our time here and it was obvious that prayer had preceded it. Thank you so much for praying for this church; please continue to do so!

Our last church service here was a great experience as well, as we were invited by the worship team to join them in singing “Forever” (Chris Tomlin) in Spanish and English. It was also a very important day in the life of the Schmors! Shelly shared her testimony and touched many hearts with her honesty and our 9-year old son Kameron shared his testimony for the first time as well! We (the Schmors) were so proud of him. Randy also preached on ‘Joshua’ and how his name points to Jesus, the only ‘hero’.
After a time of food and sharing when church was over, our team and a number of folks from the church headed over to the church’s new site a few blocks away. They will be moving there next month. We walked through all the rooms and open areas and held hands in a large circle praying for the church’s ministry in this new location. The new site is very close to a busy interaction and we prayed that this whole new area would have a great impact for the Kingdom. Mexico City has so many needs and has so many un-reached areas; please continue to pray for the impact of Pastor Juan Castro and this church in this part (Tlahuac) of this city of 30 million people.

The evening was set aside for our de-briefing time as the team prepared to re-enter the United States. We discussed our important it is to say good-bye appropriately, how to share our stories with folks back home effectively and probably most importantly, how to integrate this experience into our life’s journey in a meaningful way. The evening concluded with packing, cleaning and generally getting ready for the trip home tomorrow afternoon.

Please pray for safe travel for the 10 members of the team heading home tomorrow and for the 3 Schmors as they head home over the next 2 weeks.


August 13, 2007

Well, departure day is here! And many of new friends came by the church to see the team off as they headed for the airport. It’s amazing how close you can become with people that you just met a few days ago by sharing experiences and more importantly, by sharing the same Holy Spirit. God worked through the team in incredible ways these past days and it will be great to see how this church continues to grow into the future in their new location. It’s also gratifying to know that our team may have something to do with the church’s growth down the road as we shared our lives together.

There was a sense of trust this past week as this was the third time Gateway Teams had come here and Randy had been the leader. Many seeds were planted and ideas sown as this church seeks to follow God’s will for the future. Yes, it was a short week and the time here passed quickly but there was a sense that God was really up to something special during this time. Many in the church sensed it as well as the members of our team.

Thanks so much for being a part of the support of this Mexico Gateway Team’s ministry over these past days of August. Without your prayers, the way could not have paved for the Holy Spirit to be at work. Thank you prayer partners! God bless you for your special role in this project. May His Kingdom come and will be done! Blessings.

PS – the team (10 members) all arrived home safely late Monday night; and the 3 Schmors began to take a few days of rest before leading their next Mexico Gateway Team who are arriving from Canada on August 17…..