GAIT

Randy Schmor Gateway Global

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Praises

  • Christmas, Holidays, Family – We had a great holiday season traveling with and to see family and hosting a number of gatherings in our home! Truly a blessing!
  • Sister-Church Partnership Orientation and Church Visit – First Baptist in Emery, South Dakota – I was the youth pastor in Emery a number of years ago, and it is always great to go back and reconnect with longtime friends. It was also a great opportunity to thank this church for many years of support AND to provide them with the opportunity to one day serve with an international sister-church partnership!
  • PRAISE from my Central Europe Field Director role in Hungary/Serbia:

Prayer

  • NorCal Short-Term Mission Leader Workshop – Sunrise Community Church in Fair Oaks, California – Please pray for a number of NorCal church mission team leaders to come! (Registration is at nabonmission.org/gateway-registration.)
  • GAIT (Gateway Advisory and Initiative Team) – Brookfield, Wisconsin – GAIT was just formed in September as a group of volunteers to advise/serve the NAB Gateway Ministry. We’re hoping to have our first in-person meetings this April! Please pray that the logistics come together for this time.
  • Bonfire – Medina, Ohio – Pray for this NAB gathering that includes a number of groups, including the Mission Advisory Team, where I’ve been serving for 13 years.
  • FUSE Trips – Please continue to pray for applicants to join two upcoming Gateway FUSE Teams in Cameroon and the Philippines! (See nabonmission.org/fuse for more info, or pass along this opportunity to a young person you know).
  • For all of Gateway’s ongoing sister-church partnerships in various stages of development and engagement in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Mexico, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, and Cameroon.
  • For more North American churches to engage in sister-church partnerships.
  • PRAYER REQUEST from my Central Europe Field Director role in Hungary/Serbia:
    • Please pray as the NAB and MEK Hungary continue to discover our way forward with ministry in Hungary. Pray for me as well in this as I represent NAB Central Europe, Hungary/Serbia as field director.

 
You’ve probably noticed that in the international missions community we like to use a lot of acronyms. No doubt in my newsletters alone you’ve seen NAB, MAT, SCP, STM, and more! (The one’s I just mentioned standing for North American Baptist, Mission Advisory Team, sister-church partnership, and short-term mission.) And when you’re not a part of this world, these acronyms can be somewhat tedious, and even annoying(?).

Well, if I may, I’d like to share another acronym with you, one that represents a new group of people I am excited about as they volunteer their time, interest, and service with NAB Gateway. We call them GAIT, and here’s what it stands for:

G – Gateway
Pretty much self-explanatory as the name of the ministry I direct.

A – Advisory
This group (formed in September 2025) meets once a month to bring their experience and consulting to the Gateway ministry. As you’ve (hopefully) read my newsletters over the months/years, you’ve probably had questions or thought of ideas and ways you wondered if they had ever been considered in the Gateway ministry. GAIT brings ideas, asks questions, and will hopefully over time guide Gateway and myself toward new and relevant directions.

I – Initiatives
As important as advice, questions, and words of guidance are in a ministry like Gateway, it’s also quite important to have people (both volunteers and staff) to do the work of the ministry. Gateway is hoping to multiply our numbers more and more into the future by having folks serve as short-term mission team leaders, trainers for both short-term mission teams and their leaders, cultural interpreters who help churches navigate vision trips for potential sister-church partnerships, and many other needed roles. The common denominator among ‘Initiatives’ is the availability of individuals who can provide hands-on help in a variety of ways. (Maybe you are seeing yourself here?)

T – Team
Of course, this is simply describing those who form GAIT. Currently this is:

  • Mike Delong (volunteer) – Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
  • Lucio Gallo (volunteer) – Salta, Argentina
  • Chad Merrifield (volunteer) – Whitecourt, Alberta
  • Joann Merrifield (volunteer) – Whitecourt, Alberta
  • Jim Reimer (volunteer) – Grosse Pointe, Michigan
  • Randy Schmor (staff/director) – Brookfield, Wisconsin
  • Kristi Thao (staff) – Minneapolis, Minnesota

 
As I mentioned in the prayer list, please pray for GAIT. I’m excited about this team and the unique possibilities each one brings. Also, please pray that logistics will work out and we’ll be able to have our first in-person time of meetings this spring.

For the Kingdom,

Randy Schmor

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