Hello friends of the Schmors and Gateway Teams -

Please pray for our Cameroon partners (nationals and missionaries) as we received this info today (the Klettke Team is not one of ours, but with another group)...

It's 9 AM and there's shouting and singing and tear gas bombs down at Nkwen Market. Yesterday it didn't start until 10:30 AM. People are really upset with the President's speech last night. He basically said that some people who could not achieve their desires through the polls are using the youth to achieve their ends and will be stopped. It doesn't look like this will end soon, but we are not threatened. Pray for the Cameroonians who serve us. The resthouse people who have to risk going to the "black" market to get us food, our house help and laundry people, our guards. Pray for the Klettke Team who can't get out of Daoula and are having a hard time getting food.

Also, an update on Kathy Kroll from her co-worker Lori Hiller -

Hi everyone,

Today Kathy was again quite alert and appeared to focus on what we were saying. She is still on the ventilator, but the doctor is now in the process of weaning her off of it, and hopes to get the breathing tube out by this weekend. Further tests have shown that she does have herpes encephalitis, but she seems to be responding to the treatment. I have had to cancel my flight to Douala on Friday, as the situation in Cameroon, and Douala in particular, is still too unstable to be safe to go back. So, I don't know how long I will remain in Paris.

Lori

Both of these requests involve are friends/partners in Cameroon as you can see.

Our friend John (picture below) is working through his rehab and doing quite well! His 2 boys still need your prayer as they are having a hard time with dad being gone. Especially since they both have birthdays coming up and dad's in the hospital. It looks as if it will be about a month more in the hospital with rehab each day. Pray for the Roberts...John's goal is to play the grand piano in the hospital lobby before he leaves; I think he'll do it!

And please remember Kameron as this evening is opening night for "The Sound of Music" (4 performances ahead). Here's a picture of our 'Kurt Von Trapp'! Thanks for your prayers!

Randy

Hey friends! Here are some Updates:

John Roberts - many of you have been praying for our friend John Roberts who is continuing to recover from a stroke he suffered on Feb. 17. Please continue to pray for his rehab and also for his wife Amy and their 2 boys over this difficult time.

Craig Kelly - a friend of ours from Washington state, Craig is the father of one of our former students, Aaron Kelly, who we continue to be very close with and has served as a pastor himself. Craig is 53 and was diagnosed recently with a golf-ball sized tumor in the center of his brain which doctors will attempt to remove on Feb. 28. Please pray for this family.

Kathy Kroll - a missionary colleague of ours who has served as a nurse in Cameroon for over 30 years, Kathy recently suffered what was thought to be a stroke but after an MRI proved to be encephalitis. She was evaced to Paris, France where she continues to be on a ventilator. Pray for Kathy please.

Mr. Santos - our friend Dan Santos' dad who also suffered a stroke during an extended stay in Sao Paolo, Brazil (the Santos family are originally from Brazil). He is doing much better and has been sent home as of today, but still has a ways to go as far as full recovery.

Thanks for your prayers for each of these folks and their families. It's very odd to be confronted with so many similar illnesses in such a short time involving folks we know quite well through our current and past work. We honestly don't get it. But, I'm glad that Someone else we've come to know quite well does......!

PS - a couple of other requests for us if you don't mind!

Kameron - he's playing Kurt Von Trapp in a high school production of "The Sound of Music" on Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week. An incredible amount of rehearsal is going into this which is pretty tiring for a 9-year old, but he's doing great! (even survived a bad sledding accident where he landed on his face this past Saturday! He's ok. Unfortunately, his friend Skyla (6), who was on the tube with him, is not. She has 2 broken wrists. Please pray for her and her family through the next 2 months of arm casts!

Randy - I'm heading to Israel on Mar. 5-17 for a GYI (Global Youth Initiative - www.globalyouthiniative.com) Summit. Pray for our family on the homefront and for me as I process and contribute at this event. God has been using Gateway Teams participation in GYI to bring clarity to our specific purpose in the Short-Term Mission arena.

Shelly & Randy - we have Randy's parents to thank for a great week in the Dominican Republic last week (a welcome respite from what has proved to be a pretty rough Wisconsin winter)! It also provided us an opportunity to visit our friend Robert Guerrero and see the incredible work that he oversees at Iglesia Communitara Cristiana in Santo Domingo. "Culturally revelant" and "wholistic" are the two best descriptors I can think of for what Robert's doing there in a tough neighborhood of S.D. in the D.R.! Very cool stuff that we can only imagine how God may use in the future; maybe even involving us...... :)

Thanks!
Randy

Hey everyone,
Here's an update on our friend John Roberts who suffered a stroke on Sunday night.
Shelly and I went to see John and the family at the hospital yesterday afternoon and it was good to hear clear speech from him and to hear that his first day of therapy went well; although it tired him out significantly. But considering all that he's been through, it was good to get the communication we did get from him.

He's going to be moved today (Friday) to a different room in the rehab part of the hospital where he'll begin what Amy was told would be 3 months at least of therapy. John's entire left side, from his mouth, to his arm, to his foot, is unresponsive.

We saw their 2 boys (ages 11 and 8) while we were there too. They seemed to be OK, and glad to talk with us, especially about our son and their friend Kameron, but Amy said that they're definitely scared.

Please continue to pray for these dear friends and supporters of ours. It's sobering to see a vibrant, young person like John, laid out in a hospital bed....please pray for his healing and for Jesus to be all of the Roberts family's strength.

Thanks.

Randy

Another quick update on our friend John Roberts that I just received.........

Dear Friends and Family,

Thanks so much for praying!

John is doing really well. Yesterday they moved him from ICU into the stroke area of the hospital, and today they've moved him into a regular room. He is mentally alert and his spirits are good. He is even sitting upright in a chair, propped up. John has not regained any feeling on his left side.

If he is chosen by the hospital as a good candidate, they will be sending him for extra therapy. He is currently having speech therapy.

I will send another update if/when I know more, but wanted to give you an update since I had asked for your prayers. The people of God have really stepped up for this family sending them glutten-free food and meals (the boys have celiacs). They are feeling so embraced by all the love and prayers.

I would ask that you would continue to pray for John's recovery.

Thanks again,
Kelly Fehr

It's been a long time since we've posted, but I want to let you know about a good friend of mine and supporter of our ministry, John Roberts. I've known John (and his wife Amy) for over 20 years, having attended church with them as well as playing in bands and worship teams with them.

Please pray for John (his wife, Amy, and their boys Jacob and Andrew)......read on as my sister Kelly explains....

Dear Friends and Family,

We are writing to you to ask you to pray for a good friend of our's, John Roberts, who had a stroke on Sunday evening. He is in his early 40s and was in good health aside from having a serious bout with Influenza Type A last week.

John was given a medication (I think it was called TDA) at about 2:00 a.m. Monday morning, 3 hours after the stroke occurred, which was to thin the blood and help with the stroke. When they took him for testing 6 hours after the stroke had occurred, they discovered his carotid atery was 100% blocked. This is inoperable because they would have to bypass it and with the medication they had given earlier he would bleed to death. He is fully aware and cognisant, and had been able to squeeze his left hand a couple of times during the day. They also believe there is another blood clot somewhere else and they did an MRI last night. He will be getting those test results this morning. During the night he had lost any control of his left side and they said that was probably caused by swelling in his brain. The first 48 hours after a stroke are critical, so we are calling on everyone we know to pray for him.

Please pray for this family: John's wife is Amy and they have 2 boys, 11 and 8, named Jacob and Andrew. John traveled a lot for his job with Northwestern Mutual Life and it was by God's grace that he was at home with his wife when this happened and not alone in a hotel room. John is also an accomplished pianist and he and Amy are in a Christian contemporary band called Beacon. They were scheduled to perform at a coffee house, John Harbor's in Menomonee Falls, this Friday.

Thanks,
Kelly Fehr

The update to this is that John is sitting up and doing a little better, but he has no movement in the left side of his body at all. We're heading to see John this afternoon as we just returned home from a week away.

Thank you for praying for John and his family. These are good friends, so this one hits close to home for us. Blessings.