A familiar song worth reading to the end....Happy New Year!

Good King Wenceslas

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath'ring winter fuel

"Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know'st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes' fountain."

"Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither."
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind's wild lament
And the bitter weather

"Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly."

In his master's steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing .

A cool and funny video for your Christmas pleasure!!
Merry Christmas!
The Schmors

Make a Smilebox greeting

A Christmas thought from Bono, of the Irish rock band, U2.........

"A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord’s blessing. I was saying, 'You know, I have a new song, look after it… I have a family, please look after them… I have this crazy idea…' And this wise man said: 'Stop. Stop asking God to bless what you’re doing. Get involved in what God is doing—because it’s already blessed.' Well, God is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing. And that is what He’s calling us to do."

A 'Christmas thought' you might say (?) - well, yes...maybe we can take a look at what God is doing this Christmas and go from there, rather than...you know...

After all, Christmas was His idea to begin with.
- Randy

Merry Christmas everyone! I don't normally do this, but as some of you know, we are leading one of our Gateway Teams in 2010 to Brazil. So, I thought there may be a few more of you out there that aren't on our email listings that may be interested in this opportunity. If that's YOU :) - please get in touch with us as soon as possible. The following is a copy of the last email we sent out in promotion of this opportunity; as you get in touch with us, we'll send you the 'attached documents' that are mentioned at the bottom of the message. Thanks!

November 20, 2009

Hello again and Happy Thanksgiving (Americans! Belated, Canadians!). We’ve had a good response to the opportunity of a Brazil Gateway Team to the CHAIN of Love Homes in Campo Bom next June! Please know that unless you’ve responded to us directly, this will be the last email you’ll receive about this as the application deadline is approaching on December 11, 2009.

If you’re unaware of the details of this particular mission, please read on and also take a look at the attached document ‘Proposal for Gateway Team to Brazil’.

We’re now in what we call the Promotion Stage (9-7 months away from departure) so here are a few items to consider at this point:

Promotion Stage (9-7 Months Out) Items - FOR THE JUNE 2010 BRAZIL (CHAIN OF LOVE HOMES) GATEWAY TEAM:

Payment Schedule & Info
***Finances and Important Dates***
– this is a major question that many will have at this point…Fees/Funds should come from 3 sources:

(1) Team Member Personal Contribution ($100/person minimum)
(2) Team Member’s Home Church (special services/offerings/church budget)
(3) Letters to Family/Friends OUTSIDE of Home Church

-ALL FUNDS US (USD)-

* Please note that these are TOTALS to have by each due date; the vendors (airfare, etc.) receiving the checks will be given later. ALSO, PLEASE ASK YOUR CHURCH ABOUT DOING THE RECEIVING AND INDIVIDUAL RECEIPTING FOR DONATIONS RECEIVED FOR THIS MISSION. The church can then make out the checks payable to the correct vendors as you’ll be receiving that information at later dates. If you do not have this option available to you, please let us know ASAP. Thank you!

We’ll work on the basis of these dates for funds due (and other key dates) unless otherwise informed –

September 22, 2009 – Team Member Applications available on Gateway Teams’ website under “Resources” - Gateway Teams Website >http://www.nabconference.org/pages.asp?pageid=717

Payment #1 Due – December 11, 2009 - $100/person (non-refundable) - Team Member Applications and Team Member’s MINIMUM PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION due to Gateway Teams Office (Brookfield, WI address in signature below)

February 11, 2010 – Team Training begins (individual study materials, preparation for June Team Training Retreat which will immediately precede the mission and be in the Milwaukee area)

Payment #2 Due – March 28, 2010 - $1700/person – Primarily the cost of airfare

Payment #3 Due – May 11, 2010 - $1000/person (approximate, actual amount TBA) - The balance of the trip costs

June 8-11, 2010 – Team Training Retreat AND Assistant Leader Training session – (“Effective Planning, Training and Leading of Short-Term Mission Teams”) - in Milwaukee, WI

June 11-28, 2010 – Brazil Mission

Please NOTE! – Funds MUST be collected & checks MUST be received by the vendors (TBA) by the dates indicated. Failure to do so will result in cancellation of the mission.

**Also please note that the amounts of Payment #2 and #3 may change primarily due to airfare**

- Airfare and/or Ground Transport – I’m working on these logistics right now….please note from the material above that this mission will depart from Milwaukee; your travel to and from there is NOT included in the Payment Schedule above -

- Planning fund-raising - funds should be raised 3 ways:

- Team Member personal contribution ($100) - with application

- Church budget, special offerings and fund-raising events - plan NOW

- Support letters to relatives and friends OUTSIDE of your Home church - THIS IS IMPORTANT! - not to be done until team training begins in February

- Team Member applications – are available NOW and are due by December 11 - (the beginning of the Selection Stage) with a $100 non-refundable fee; the team member's personal contribution

- Team Training Schedule – is attached to this email so the full time commitment of this mission can be considered

Attached Documents to this email –

- Brazil Appendix M – please insert in your GT Team Member’s Manuals when you receive them
- Portuguese “Helps” Booklets – also to be inserted in manuals as a part of Appendix M
- Proposal for Gateway Team to Brazil – Please review

- We are here to help you in your preparations any way we can….let us know what questions you have.

Thanks everyone, I look forward to your responses. Blessings!

Merry Christmas everyone.

I'm just offering a brief update on Kerry Livgren (see post below) and his stroke recovery. Please go to - http://www.topekabiblechurch.org/services/sunday/sermons/978-abcs-of-thanksgiving - Livgren's testimony starts at about the 6 min. mark on the video. Thanks to my good friend John R. for getting this to me!

Blessings and a joyous Christmas to all!

Hey everyone!
I'm just finishing an amazing week with our first Bulgaria Gateway Team! The Oprenovs (our partners here) and their church, Sofia Baptist, are awesome and have incredible vision for reaching out with the Gospel of the Kingdom into the hardest issues facing this city-center Sofia church.
We were able to help with ESL classes over the past week or so and also had the opportunity to share in church yesterday.
Take a look at Randy's facebook page for more on this at...
http://www.facebook.com/randy.schmor

There will actually be more pictures and video to come from this mission soon.
Thanks!

Just found out that Kerry Livgren of the band Kansas (writer of 'Dust in the Wind' and 'Carry On My Wayward Son') had a massive stroke on Sept. 1. His family is asking for prayer. See the links below for more details...
http://www.kansasband.com/news/
http://www.numavox.com/

I know it's quite uncharacteristic of us to post twice in a week (!); but we're excited to share a video with you that highlights one of our newest partners in Bulgaria. We're also quite excited to be taking our first Bulgaria Gateway Team to Sofia to work with this ministry as well in October (28 - Nov 10) 2009.

http://www.bulgarianpartners.org/building_hope.aspx
(please paste in your browser)

Thanks again for your interest, partnership and support!
The Schmors

Hey everyone!

We've come to the end of another busy summer here at Gateway Teams...and for the Schmors, an amazing number of weeks in Germany, Cameroon, Canada and Mexico.

Our family's been back from Mexico City for about a week now and in addition to a great 11 days with the Castros in Tlahuac, we had a some quality time with our long-time friends, the Lunas and another one of our Mexico City host receivers, Jaime Becerras. Jaime pastors churches in Santa Ursula Coapa and Huixquilucan in the Mexico City region.

But, back to Tlahuac...we led a Mexico Gateway Team from North Pointe Baptist Church in Warren, Michigan with our partners, Juan and Anamaria Castro who themselves are church planting missionaries from Chile/Brazil. Tom Gibson is the Youth Pastor from North Pointe and did a great job chronicling our time there in video and pictures...take a look and thanks again for your support and prayers!

Hi!
Just a few quick updates....and fyi's....

1. Cameroon - Nick and I (Randy) did make it home! We arrived late on July 3, exhausted but very encouraged. Our last days in Cameroon gave us a chance to recup a little bit as we hit the ground running pretty hard upon our arrival there. The future partnership between our youth and youth leaders among the Cameroon Baptist and NAB looks very promising and this training team consisting of a mix of Cameroonians and Americans was a great experience!

2. Canada - The whole family had the opportunity to head to Winnipeg, Manitoba last week for the North American Baptist's 'Triennial' Conference. It was exhausting, but a great week all in all as we connected with many friends, supporters and participants in Gateway Teams. Randy and Shelly led 2 workshops on "Effective Short-Term Missions - What is it?" and Kameron had a great time in the well organized children's program (although he continually lets us know that he's almost a Middle-Schooler!).

3. Mexico - We're heading there with a team from the Detroit area next week. Please pray for us as we re-connect with our friends in the Mexico City region of 'Tlahuac' and help them reach their community with children's ministry and English classes.

4. Brazil - (read on, maybe this is for you!)
CHAIN of Love Homes - www.chainoflove.org - Campo Bom, Brazil
Gateway Teams is taking an 'open' team to help serve the children of CHAIN of Love in June 2010. Please send us an email if you would like more details or are interested in applying!

Randy Schmor

NAB Youth gave towards the purchase of this motorcycle for the Ndu Field Youth Pastor back in 2003.


Youth Leaders that attended the Ndu seminar.

Nick Reyes teaching on the 'Building' section of our seminar.

No, it's not Greg Jennings but Richard Apongde, one of our trainers who has become a recent Packer fan! (Just kidding, but he did like the shirt! Especially in Ndu's cool 7500 ft. altitude!)

The group of CBC Youth Leaders attending our seminar in hot and sticky Mutengene, close to the coast.

Hello friends from Bamenda, Cameroon in West Africa!

As some of you know, I (Randy) am here with Youth Pastor Nick Reyes from Fontana, CA working together with youth leaders of the Cameroon Baptist Convention for the past 2 weeks. We completed the 3rd of our 3 discipleship seminars for youth leaders here using material from J-Life Africa on the Strategy of Jesus (as well as a follow-up seminar entitled 'Foundations'). Thank you for your prayers!

The training that we've been doing is a part of a partnership between North American Baptist (NAB) Youth and Leaders and the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) Youth and Leaders that has been going on for the past 5-6 years. I led the first training team of 6 youth leaders here back in 2007 and this current mission is the follow-up to that. From this point, the training of lay youth leaders in about 800 CBC churches here will be done by the Cameroonians. As a matter of fact, although just Nick and I traveled out here, we actually were a team of 5 as Tah Martin, Daniel Wango and Richard Apongde, who are all a part of the CBC youth leadership, joined forces with us as one training team.

We started in Mutengene, close to the Atlantic coast and about an hour from the Douala airport, moved on to Bamenda about 5 hours inland, and then went 5 more hours further inland to the village of Ndu, close to the Nigerian border. All together, close to 300 youth leaders were in attendance with over 135 attending at Ndu on June 25-26. (back in 2007 we had about 150 youth leaders in 4 different locations) The response was exceptional and our team was very encouraged as these youth leaders traveled, some over great distance to be a part of these seminars. Examples: at Ndu, some youth leaders walked on foot 8 hours to come; one man, Pastor Genesis, was in a car that he hired along with some others to come that rolled over a number of times, he ended up climbing out and helping the others and still made it to the seminar.

But what impressed us the most about the attenders here was their commitment to God and their knowledge of the Scriptures. They asked very good questions, knew the Scripture references they quoted and showed an incredible love for youth and the desire to see them grow spiritually.

We also have had our share of adventure as many of the roads here are unpaved with many dips, holes (potholes would be way too mild of a term) and slick mud because we're in the middle of rainy season. As a matter of fact, as we were coming back from Ndu to Bamenda on Friday, our car slid off of the road and it took the 5 of us with the help of 4 other persons to actually lift the car out of it's prone position, ready to fall 4 feet down into a ditch, back onto a part of the road that was a little more stable; and all of this in slick mud and rain.

But we thank God for this time, for commited youth leaders and CBC youth leadership to pass this training onto and for the opportunity to share in ministry together with these committed followers of Jesus. And...we thank you for praying! Please don't stop! Nick and I will be traveling back to the coast tomorrow and then our flight will leave on July 1 late at night taking us to 2 stops in Europe before we finally end up back in Milwaukee late on July 2. Nick especially needs your prayers as he deals with excrusiating back pain that the rough trip back from Ndu revived, the result of a car accident he had some years ago. It hasn't been easy for him since we returned here to Bamenda last Friday and we have a lot of miles/kilometers to cover in the next few days.

Thanks again for your prayers and interest! If you'd like more details, please send us an email and let Shelly or I know.

In His Grip,

Randy

Hey Everyone!

Thank you for all the prayers for the combined team of youth leaders from the US and Cameroon. Things are going really well at the seminars, and exciting things are happening. Please continue to pray for health and safety for Randy and Nick. It's hot there! They will be finishing up some seminars in Bamenda today and then on to the town of Ndu. Please continue to pray for good relationships to be built with our brothers and sisters in Cameroon. It is exciting to be a part of the Kingdom work around the world. What a privilege that God allows us to partner with Him. The family in the picture is one of the youth leaders, Daniel, that Randy and Nick are training with. The baby they are holding was born last year and is named Randy - after our Randy!!!! Too cool!

The team that was in

Cameroon in 2007

Cameroon 2009

Hi everyone! Just wanted to give you an update on things. Randy and Nick Reyes of Fontana, CA are on their way to Cameroon, West Africa. They will be partnering with 3 Cameroonian youth leaders there to form a team who will go out to several locations to train volunteer youth leaders in discipleship principles. This is exciting as ALL the youth workers in Cameroon are volunteer. There is only one paid youth worker among the 800+ churches. This team is part of an ongoing partnership between NAB youth workers and Cameroon Baptist Convention youth workers. Please be in prayer for these men as they seek to raise up emerging young leaders! These are exciting times!

Randy and Nick will be arriving in Cameroon tomorrow! Right now they are in Germany on a very brief visit to some potential new hosting sites of Gateway Teams. Please be in prayer for their safe travel to Cameroon and then an exciting and fruitful time of ministry over the next 2 weeks. Thanks!

Shelly (for all the Schmors)

Quiet time, devotions, daily prayer, time with God.....

What do you call it? That time that you spend with God. Whether it be daily, weekly, moment by moment.... When and where do you meet with God?

I was contemplating this today because I found a new website at http://www.examen.me/ . It's a site that you can do various spiritual disciplines while at your computer. I did one this morning that took me to a passage in Ezekiel, I really liked thinking through the scripture and how God was speaking to me through it. I also did something called a "Center Out" prayer. A prayer time that started by praying for yourself, then friends and family, then our culture, and then the world. Again, I really liked the guided time of prayer.

Now, would I do this everyday for my "God Time"? No - I like to be outside and in nature way too much to connect with my creator only through my computer screen. But, when it's raining and cold.... it was a pretty neat thing. Please check it out!

But, I would love to hear from you in the comment section (please take a moment to share) of what are some creative, different or even routine ways that you connect with God. What do you do? Where do you go? Let's share some ideas - it might just spur each of us on to try something new and connect with our Lord in a way we never have before - maybe he'll teach us something when we step out of our "usual" routine!

Because we are a "Sound of Music" kind of family and Kameron performed in an amazing production of it last year, we thought you might enjoy this as much as we did!

Thanks for praying everyone! Randy's surgery went very well on Monday! In fact we think God was at work on his knee before the surgeon even got a chance to get in there. When the Dr. looked at the MRI before surgery he was pretty convinced that the damage to his MCL was pretty significant, but when he went in and looked at it, it was totally attached to the bone and was "very strong". So, when all was said and done, Randy only needed to have two areas of frayed cartilage shaved as well as the bottom of his knee cap. So, all this means, recovery time will be much shorter and the damage pretty much wasn't there! We truly believe that we experienced a miracle from the hand of God! So, we are going to brag on HIM and give HIM the honor due his name! Thank you for lifting Randy in prayer!

With Love and Appreciation!

The Schmors

Some Prayer Requests.....

We are so thankful for so many of you that faithfully lift our family and ministry up in prayer before God on a regular basis. We know that we could not do the things that God has called us to if we didn't have people like you loving and caring for us! So, thank you! Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus to us and loving us well. Our lives have been greatly touched and influenced by so many of you.

We do have some prayer requests that we would like to share with you....

* On Monday, April 6, Randy will be having knee surgery to repair his MCL. Please pray for the doctors and all involved that things would go smoothly. Pray that Randy would be a good patient and listen to all he needs to without getting frustrated.

* Please also pray for Kameron and Shelly through this time. Kameron is worried about "his daddy's operation" - pray for peace for him - he needs to be able to focus hard on school during this time and this is a HUGE distraction! Shelly is asking that you pray that she will be able to balance and handle all that she usually does as well as taking on more things to take care of Randy and many things that need to get done for Gateway.

* April 17-18 we will be having a Gateway Teams Leader Training Event at Sioux Falls Seminary in Sioux Falls, SD. We are so excited for this time as it has been long in the making and we are excited to continue to grow in our partnership with this fine place of learning. Pray that we will be able to give all that we have and can to this time.

* April is a busy and exciting month with the things listed above. And also, we will be celebrating Kameron's 11th Birthday on April 20 and our 21st Wedding Anniversary on April 30. Please pray for these special days in the life of our family.

Isn't the picture above beautiful.... I love it because in the midst of winter (that seems to go on and on and on..) it reminds me of the hope of spring and the making of all things new. I'm thankful that our God can and does make all things new and He gives us HOPE when we need it most! What a mighty God we serve - thank you for your partnership with us as we seek to see HIS kingdom come!

Love

Shelly (for Randy and Kameron too!)

Hey Everyone - I found this article on a website that I like to read and thought it was good enough to share! Seeing as we are all facing financial hard times - what can we learn through it. Hope this gets you to thinking too!

Shelly

How to Beat the Recession: Go on a mission trip
By Jeff Goins

March 2009

I heard a pastor the other day say that his church’s giving was down by 50 percent. He had to call up all of the missionaries they supported and tell them that the church wouldn’t be able to send them money this year. A friend of mine was such a missionary, getting an email from another church that could no longer send him monthly support (it was a substantial amount of his monthly income). Another friend who works for a large Christian missions organization told me that the number of participants they were sending into the mission field this summer was down by 60 percent, which translates into a few thousand missionaries for them.
Without casting stones at churches that are just trying to see their businesses make it through the recession, I want to point something out here—going on mission trips should not be optional. I know that some might say that short-term mission trips are nothing more than glorified vacations for rich youth groups (and in some cases, they would be right), but I’ve seen short-term missions serve the Church in incredible ways. I’ve seen teenagers come back from a month overseas, and their lives have completely changed. In fact, I recently got an email from a friend whom I helped train for a short-term trip a few summers ago; she was asking for prayer for some friends that she met in downtown Toronto. She’s been meeting with a homeless community each week for several months, all because God first broke her heart for the poor on a trip to Latin America.
My teenage sister has a heart for Africa, but she also has a tendency to desire “needs” that aren’t really needs at all. She recognizes it, but her surrounding culture isn’t offering an alternative other than self-centered materialism. What can she do? “Go on a mission trip,” I suggested. She listed a series of excuses, including finances, and I told her to find a mission trip and that I’d help her get the money.
The most generous and sacrificial people I know have all had some sort of experience in which God birthed compassion in them through exposure to the poor while on a mission trip. I know that there are other ways to get perspective and a healthy worldview, but the best way I know is to pack your bags and go live amongst the less fortunate for awhile.
Why is this relevant? Given all the economic hardships due to the recession, I’m concerned that the American church is facing a temptation to merely survive. For some of us, practices like charitable giving and going on mission trips are becoming increasingly more difficult. Naturally, it makes sense to make wise budget cuts, but I don’t believe that all God is calling us to do is subsist.
I believe that a scandalously gracious God wants to see His Kingdom come through His Bride who spurns the seeming lack of means to accomplish the task at hand.
I believe that Jesus wants His Body to live in such a way that our lifestyles say, “What recession?” (I realize that may be impossible for those who have lost their jobs, but I think you understand what I mean.)
I believe that our cultural addictions to comfort and excess need to be broken, and now is the perfect time to catalyze that paradigm shift. I suggest the way that you do that is by going on some kind of intentional trip to serve people much poorer than you. Read Luke 9 or Matthew 10, and tell me that short-term missions aren’t biblical, that Jesus doesn’t use discomfort and risk to teach His disciples how to rely only on God.
I realize that it seems counter-intuitive to cure a recession by spending potentially thousands of dollars on a short-term mission trip, but consider it an investment that will have long-term returns. Once you see people living happily on much less than you would even consider “fun money,” it changes you. It changes the way you make decisions, the way you spend your money, and the way you relate to the world around you. If you’re having trouble figuring out how to do this, send me an email, and I’ll help you figure out where to go and how to get there.
And then, maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to say, “What recession?”
Thoughts?
Jeff Goins lives in Nashville, Tenn., with his wife, Ashley. He works for the nonprofit organization Adventures in Missions, recruiting people for short-term mission trips, and edits an online magazine for “spiritual misfits.” In his spare time, he likes to write, read several books at once, play guitar and eat sushi. Oh, and he Blogs.

Randy at the Jordan River - 2008.

Matthew 11:16-17 - (The Message) - Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.

The unforced rhythms of grace. Unforced - not conjured up, not forced, not pushed, not earned, just given --and received. Why do I try to "get" more grace? All I need is there - available - all the time, every minute of everyday. It's there - but just like I can't do anything to "get" or "earn" or "deserve" more - God won't push it on me or force me to take it. I need to make the choice to receive it - accept it - take it.

Rhythms - ebbs and flows - patterns - like a river - sometimes flowing strong and hard - like rapids, other times just a soft, quiet flow, and other times a small, almost trickle. Rhythms - sometimes fast, sometimes slow but always complimenting the melodies and harmonies of life that go with it. Always enough. Not too much, not too little. Not overpowering, but not so little that it can't be heard, seen, felt.

Grace - What is it? Do I really understand what it means? Have we ever truly experienced it? Do I live it? Do I give it? The Sunday School answer often given - God's Riches At Christ's Expense. What are God's Riches? Do I think I only experience it when things are "going well" and I am 'materially' blessed? Or, do I understand his Riches even in hard times and dark days? A quote from our good friend Pastor Mike - Never question in the dark what you know was true in the light. If it's true in the light then it's still true in the dark days. It doesn't change even if my circumstances do.

...Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.... Learn them, figure them out, seek understanding and wisdom. Learn - it's a process - it doesn't just happen overnight. How long does it take? A day? A week? A month? A lifetime? Yes! All of the above - because it's given (grace that is) as we need it - in rhythms. ebbs and flows.....

Wow Lord, thanks for speaking. As I live and learn in the unforced rhythms of your grace - help me to then be an extension of that grace. To all those around me and especially to those that I am closest to let grace flow. Help me to love well and not in a controlling or manipulative way but in a way paved by GRACE!

Because of His Grace,

Shelly (for all the Schmors)