Rodger Schmdit - Transformational Ventures at work series [2 of 2]

	LISTEN HERE SHOW SUMMARY Rodger and Lynne Schmidt are serving in Church planting and leadership development in Mozambique. Listen as Rodger shares his heart and passion for Ministry while pouring life on life into 9 young men as they live, work a chicken farm and minister together.
	SHOW NOTES MOF_2009_09_16_Schmidt2-web_nvr.mp3

SHOW TRANSCRIPT

HANS FINZEL: Hi, this is Hans Finzel, president of WorldVenture based in Littleton, Colorado. Our website is WorldVenture.com. Welcome to our radio program, Missions on the Frontline. WorldVenture supports over a thousand mission projects and missionaries in 65 countries. We've been sharing the good news of Jesus Christ around the world since 1943. This radio program is part of our new initiative to make you aware of exciting and new ways you can be involved in missions. And today we have an exciting guest with us here in the office, Roger Schmidt. Welcome Roger.


RODGER SCHMIDT: Thanks a lot, nice to see you Hans.

HANS FINZEL: Roger and his wife, Lynn, and their two boys are missionaries in Mozambique, which is in East Africa. This is a relatively new ministry for WorldVenture, we've only been there less than a decade. When did you and your wife land in Mozambique?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Just over six years ago.

HANS FINZEL: And just so our listeners know, where is Mozambique?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Mozambique is located in southeast Africa just north of South Africa on the eastern coast.

HANS FINZEL: It's a beautiful country. Has, what you say, 1800 miles of coastline?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Yes.

HANS FINZEL: You and I have stood together looking out at the ocean there and it's a beautiful setting. But it's a very poor country, isn't it?

RODGER SCHMIDT: It is a poor country.

HANS FINZEL: Tell us a little bit about the context of why you and your wife felt called to be missionaries to Mozambique.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Sure. We- in 2000 we took our survey, first survey trip to Mozambique. We were going there looking for a place to do ministry and we knew that we wanted to go some place where the needs were the greatest. There were very few missionaries, let alone Americans, and we felt that was the place that God was calling us to be.

HANS FINZEL: Is it a poor country?

RODGER SCHMIDT: It's a very poor country.

HANS FINZEL: What about the unemployment problem?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Yes, we have close to 90% unemployment, meaning those who have taxable income. So, most people are just sustenance farmers and scratching a living out of the ground.

HANS FINZEL: In my visit, I've only been there once, but I was struck by the deep, deep poverty and it's sad to see so many young men especially just wandering around the streets with nothing to do. It kind of breaks your heart doesn't it?

RODGER SCHMIDT: It does because I've come to know these guys and they're not lazy, they have no opportunity.

HANS FINZEL: There's no way to find a job or get a job. And you're a seminary-trained missionary, went to Denver seminary, a great school, but then as you landed in Mozambique and you- your passion is leadership development but before you knew it you became a businessman. How did that happen? It relates to this economic issue but how did that happen?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Because as we were looking to do leadership development and train Mozambican young men and young women into ministry it became very apparent that the impact of what we were teaching them to do and equip them to do was going to be extremely limited if they could not support themselves.

HANS FINZEL: Because what good is it to train a pastor or a missionary if there's no money to fund them, right?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Exactly.

HANS FINZEL: And what we don't want to do is to continue the never-ending cycle of dependence on American funds. And I honor you for wanting to break that cycle. So you decided you needed to create a business in order so they could actually sustain themself as missionaries.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Yes we did. Not only to sustain themselves while they're being trained, because they're working while they're involved with us in the internship, but also to equip them, to train them in business. We have the business course that we're going through that they will actually complete a business plan and their- part of their salary goes into savings so when they leave they can actually start their own business to support themselves for a lifetime. That's our goal. So they go anywhere in the country, do ministry and raise a family.

HANS FINZEL: In missions we're talking a lot these days about sustainability and creating jobs. It's called generally business as mission. We here at WorldVenture call it transformational ventures. But when you decided you needed to come up with a business, you found some businessmen to help you, didn't you?

RODGER SCHMIDT: We sure did.

HANS FINZEL: Here in the U.S. And this is what's so exciting is we're seeing more and more businessmen who are saying, now finally in missions I can use my business skills. How did that start developing?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Well, it started developing because I didn't know what I was doing, to be honest with you. And we were asking the American church to help us invest. And to start a business anywhere takes a tremendous amount of capital and so I started with the contacts what we had with our churches and different things. I began talking and casting the vision and I asked these guys, I said, "I need your money to help make this happen, but more than that I need your expertise because I really don't know how to do this but it is important to what we need to do. So if you can't come to Mozambique, come alongside us even in the States to mentor us and to give us the skills we need to make this successful."

HANS FINZEL: So you decided upon eggs. How did you decide that you would buy 4000 layers and start into the egg business?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Right. I was working with some guys in Mozambique with __________ actually, who helped us think through what is the best market in Mozambique and the easiest to do in comparison to other types of businesses. It's all- it has a huge risk but what would be the best option. And the market for eggs in Mozambique is huge. There will be no competition for eggs for years to come because there's just not enough people doing it at this point. So the market is good. The fact that eggs is the perfect food and it not only helps the poorest of the poor but even hotels and restaurants would purchase eggs from us which has proven to be true. We have a very local market, then we have more upscale market. And so with all of those things involved and our stateside mentors in business we decided to launch.

HANS FINZEL: And we are thankful that there was a generous donor who put the seed money, the original $250,000 to get going. And then you began to learn didn't you? Tell us about the learning curve because again you're missionary trained, you're not a businessman. What kind of learning curve did you go through there?

RODGER SCHMIDT: The learning curve was we started with no base knowledge at all. So we started from zero about what does it mean to do business in Africa. We had to learn how to register a business. We had to learn about paying social security and the taxes and how to do all of that. That was the first part. The second area was about actually agriculture and what does it take to care for hens and layers and get them to the point of laying eggs and keeping them healthy and alive was- is a big task. And then how to sell and how to engage the local market and to be competitive with pricing and-- You know, we've been in business for a year and when I think about all that we've had to learn in 12 months it's pretty amazing.

HANS FINZEL: So describe your business as it is today. What's it like?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Yes, if you were to come to Mozovos today you would see two and half- what is it in English? Acres, I'm sorry. Acres. We do hectares in Mozambique, sorry. Land that is beautifully manicured. We have a hen house that's- once again I'm thinking in meters but it's 10-meters by 100-meters and half of it is being utilized right now with cages that are three tiered high and with the- a water system and a feed trough. And everything's there for them and they drop an egg and it rolls out to the front and we pick them up and package them up and send them out to our customers.

HANS FINZEL: And you have 4000 of these layers right now?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Yes we do.

HANS FINZEL: And now let's go over to the men because this ministry's not really about eggs, it's really about men. And you have nine men that you are sending through your three-year program. Describe how this program works.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Sure. What we have with what we're calling the International Internship and Mission-- it's international because we actually have young men from outside of Mozambique who have already participated and we have two Americans who are coming to join us in two weeks to become part of this. And we live in community together. We actually live in the same house. We eat together. We work together at Mozovos and we study together. And, you know, so every aspect of life that you would think about is part of what we do. So, that's- the basis of what we do is inviting them to come and live in our home.

HANS FINZEL: By the way, how does your wife feel? You have a lovely wife and two boys, how's your family reacted to having nine men move in with them?

RODGER SCHMIDT: You know, this was a big question for us because my wife was actually the biggest champion of us doing this. But my wife is also the most introverted person I know who needs her quiet alone time.

HANS FINZEL: And she grew up where?

RODGER SCHMIDT: In Kansas City, Missouri.

HANS FINZEL: Yes, a farm grower, just out in the middle.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Oh no, she's a city girl if you can call Kansas City a city.

HANS FINZEL: Okay. But I remember she drove me around in your four by four through the streets of Maputo and she told me when she landed in Mozambique she didn't know how to drive a stick shift or off of a freeway and there's nothing but dirt. I'm just so proud of how she has adapted to that environment. And then she said, "Hey let's have nine young African men come live with us."

RODGER SCHMIDT: Absolutely. She's the most courageous woman I know. My wife is amazing. And to be honest with you it has been the biggest surprise for us. The living in community with these nine guys has been wonderful. My wife- they all call her mom, she treats them like her sons 'cause they really are. We really do love these nine young men as if they were our own biological children. And that's the level of relationship that has developed over the last 18 months. We deeply care about them and they care about us. Even today while I'm in the States they're checking in on her and they're making sure that she has all that she needs and they just care for her.

HANS FINZEL: What are the ages of your sons?

RODGER SCHMIDT: I have a 16-year-old son and a 13-year-old son.

HANS FINZEL: And how have they reacted to these men coming into their space?

RODGER SCHMIDT: It's been crazy. They absolutely love it. They immediately received nine older brothers. 'Cause the age of our interns is between 18 and 26 so they're young, energetic. The language skills that my children have received from living with these guys has been amazing. They speak way more Portuguese and way more Xichangana, which is the African dialect, than I do just because they live with these guys. It's just been wonderful.

HANS FINZEL: Now your goal in them living together is really life on life. It reminds me of what Paul said in one of his epistles: "The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, put into practice." Tell us how that's worked out because it's really not just classroom, it's life on life.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Right. That- part of that verse we talk, about seeing in me is the most wonderful part because we wanted to create an environment not just where we're giving them information. So we invited them to come live with us to mobilize them into ministry while they're young and to empower them and help them do that. And the only way we can truly deal with those questions of leadership and ministry is for us to live together because I am their pastor, I am their father figure, I am their friend, I am their doctor sometimes, which is a whole other show. Lots of things. But because we live together they are watching me and they're watching my wife and our family and our marriage and how I lead and when I am too hard or when I've- make a mistake they see it all and I can't hide it. And that's difficult for us because it's real but that is the reason why we do it.

HANS FINZEL: Absolutely. These are nine very fortunate men I think to be able to live with you. What an amazing opportunity.

RODGER SCHMIDT: We love it.

HANS FINZEL: It's so great. I applaud you for that. There's not a lot of people who would be willing to take that kind of risk. In case you're just joining us this is Hans Finzel, president of WorldVenture and you're listening to Missions on the Frontline. Our website is WorldVenture.com. And I'm speaking today with Rodger Schmidt who is a WorldVenture missionary in Mozambique, East Africa. I'd like to talk, Rodger, about the four values that really drive your internship. Again, the name of your company is Mozovos. And Mos is for Mozambique, ovos is the Portuguese word for eggs. So Portuguese eggs. You've created a business. You have 4000 layers who are laying eggs. But the reason you have the business is so they have jobs now but also what's the end product after three years?

RODGER SCHMIDT: The end product is that we will have mobilized these young men into a life of mission. So they can not only be trained in business and have money in their pocket to start their own business, but as well they will have had three years of ministry experience. They will have been involved in every aspect of starting a new church. And we do that actually dealing in four different elements.

HANS FINZEL: Yes, let's break down these four pieces or four values that really drive your ministry. Number one is soul care. What's that about?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Yes, we want to help these guys care for their heart. You know, in our own ministry, I mean I've shared this before, I've failed in that myself and that's where this particular aspect of our ministry came from was from our own failure. You know, as American theologically-trained, all kinds of resource, an amazing mission behind us to help us be healthy in caring for ourselves and I didn't do that very well. I didn't take advantage of that. And here we're trying to mobilize and train young people in Africa who have no resources. I thought, "What are the odds of them crashing and burning?" Very high. Very high. So the first thing that we have to do is help them care for their heart and we do that through all kinds of readings, reflection. We meet together in small group. We ask very hard questions of each other and they're learning to ask them of themselves, which has been really fun to see. And holding me accountable because it's very, very important that not what we do but who we are.

HANS FINZEL: You know, a sidebar about marriage 'cause you mentioned something while I was talking to you the other day. None of these men are married but they all want to be married. What's the dynamic on them getting married?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Yes. Well, there's lots of dynamics about getting married. Most Mozambican young men don't get married.

HANS FINZEL: And why is that?

RODGER SCHMIDT: One, it's expensive.

HANS FINZEL: And they don't have jobs, they can't take care of a family.

RODGER SCHMIDT: They can't take care of a family. And the culture demands that they're landowners. Before they get married they have to have their own place to live to bring in a wife. And that's very, very difficult to do. So what typically happens, a baby shows up, they move in with the- the young girl moves in with the family of the young man and that becomes a family. That is the reality. And these guys are- desperately want to be married and they want to be married to the right person.

HANS FINZEL: They want to do it right.

RODGER SCHMIDT: They do want to do it right. But, the pool of young women that meet those qualifications are very, very difficult to find.

HANS FINZEL: Wow, that's amazing. Now the second plank of your program, the second building block is practical leadership. And I like what you said. You told me the other day that every John Maxwell book ever written on leadership has been translated into Portuguese and is all over Mozambique. And I love John Maxwell but that's book knowledge. You're talking about practical leadership. Tell us about that piece.

RODGER SCHMIDT: And that- a lot of that goes back to this life together as well. Because unashamedly I am- not I, but we as a ministry are putting leadership and how leadership is done in servant leadership and what Jesus had to say about leadership and how he lived his life and how he engaged the community and engaged the disciples and how he interacted with the church is completely contrary to the culture in which we are living. And we're saying, we want to create a different model, we want to be different kinds of leaders and you need to choose today what kind of leader you need to be. Because when you are older and when you have, as we say in Mozambique the big belly, which is a sign of authority and power, it will be too late for you to decide. And you need to choose today how you're going to serve your community, how you're going to serve the church and the body of Christ. So we talk a lot about that. We do talk about the literature. We read lots of literature but because we live together and we meet together in a small group, and we hold those mirrors up even to their own pastors who are our dear friends who sent them to the internship, we're holding their own pastors up and saying, if this is what the bible said and this is what Jesus, how he lived his life and how he led, what is the impact of that in the world in which we live today? And if that is true, what decisions do we need to make today to be a different kind of leader?

HANS FINZEL: Wow, amazing. Fantastic. Ministry experience, the next building block or value of your ministry. Tell us a good story to illustrate how they're getting practical ministry experience.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Well, the easy answer to that is that they planted two churches. You know, we as American missionaries, historically that has been our job and from day one we said we will not be involved in church planting, that will be something that these interns will do. And, matter of fact, we're not even going to call it church planting. When we started the work we actually told them you're not even allowed to invite anybody to church, we're not ever going to invite anybody to church. Because philosophically we believe that if we live in the community and walk amongst people as Jesus did, engaging them with a purpose, people will begin to invite themselves to be involved in your life. And that is just what has happened. And these young- these guys have- they do everything from preaching. We do all of our exegetical work together to house visits to budget planting- planning. And they do everything that is needed to do ministry and our job is to mentor them as they do.

HANS FINZEL: That's amazing. Let's talk about the fourth building block, the value of sustainable future.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Yes, that goes back to what we've already talked about a little bit which is that we want to help them sustain their life for a lifetime of missional living regardless of their profession. We know that all nine of these guys or the others that come through, not all of them are going to be pastors, not all of them are going to be missionaries. Some of them may be working in an egg farm or some of them may be working in a bank sometime in their future. But it is about mobilizing them to a life of mission. And so that's where Mosovos why it started, to not only sustain our ministry but to give them the kills and the cash in their pocket and the chance and the opportunity for a different life and a different future.

HANS FINZEL: Now, you're here in the States right now to raise some money to double your capacity so you can be fully profitable and fully sustainable. Right?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Absolutely.

HANS FINZEL: And how much money do you need right now to double to 8000 layers?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Yes, we need $75,000 and that--

HANS FINZEL: What will that go toward?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Yes, that's specifically for buying of birds, buying of cages and facilitating the expansion project.

HANS FINZEL: And I know you described your facility. You really have capacity to do this. You're not going to have to hire more people, you're running at about half capacity and this would give you full capacity.

RODGER SCHMIDT: This would give us full capacity. We don't have to hire any more employees, we don't have to build any more buildings. No more water, no electricity, it's just about getting the birds and the cages in.

HANS FINZEL: And then you're fully sustainable. So it's an investment in these nine men and their future. If you want to learn more about that project, please go to this website, mozovos.com. That's M-O-Z-O-V-O-S.com. And that's your blog where they can download literature, they can see more aspects and pictures of these nine men.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Absolutely.

HANS FINZEL: Yes.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Invite you to come and take a look and check it out.

HANS FINZEL: Speaking of inviting people to come, I think that's kind of the last thing I wanted to touch on that we need more expertise not only in investment to help you increase your capacity, but you're looking for more business people to come alongside as mentors, aren't you?

RODGER SCHMIDT: We totally are.

HANS FINZEL: And describe what that would look like for a person that might be listening, they have some free time, they could go make some trips.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Sure. It can take several forms. Because of the technology of the world in which we live in today, you know, first of all if you could come and visit and see what we're doing firsthand and meet these guys. One, I'm not convinced you'd ever come back to the United States because it's a wonderful, wonderful environment. But come visit, come see what we're doing. We need experts in accounting, experts in business, experts in leadership. Anything that you can think of in the Christian world and the church world and the business world, we're looking to receive some help in that area.

HANS FINZEL: And if you want to contact Rodger directly, you can write us at frontline@worldventure.com and we will forward that e-mail onto Rodger and he can talk to you directly about a possible visit. If you want to donate, go to WorldVenture.com and under giving you can find Rodger Schmidt and his project. These young men right now as we are sitting here in Colorado are back there in Mozambique and what are they doing today?

RODGER SCHMIDT: What are they doing today? Well, most likely they went out early this morning to do the morning feeding of the birds, to collect eggs, to remove what comes out of chickens after they've eaten. And package up eggs and send our delivery guy out for the day. After that they come home and they do their soul care assignments and their readings and get ready for their small group. Prepare- we prepare sermons together in group as well so everybody does all their bible study together. So getting ready for ministry. Just all kinds of stuff. Doing laundry, taking care of house--

HANS FINZEL: I have a stupid question being a none farmer. Does a hen lay an egg once a day or once a week or how often?

RODGER SCHMIDT: Yes, well if we lived in a perfect world, which we don't, a hen would lay one egg every day. But we are enjoying about 80 to 90-- no, I'm sorry 80 to 85%, which is really good.

HANS FINZEL: That's good. Because you were at a point where you were only below 50% and you've learned to get a lot more productivity. So you're at about 80T to 85% and the ideal is an egg a day.

RODGER SCHMIDT: That would be amazing.

HANS FINZEL: Well, Rodger, thank you for your vision. We appreciate what you're trying to do there in Mozambique and it's just exciting.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Thanks for having me Hans, appreciate it.

HANS FINZEL: I love the passion that you have. I love the way that you're a learning spirit. I mean you went out there theologically trained, but you're fast becoming a successful businessperson.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Hope to be.

HANS FINZEL: And the most exciting thing is, again, a reminder this is not about eggs or about hens, it's about those nine men. And I applaud you that you have said, "I'm not going to try to reach hundreds of people, I'm going to pour myself into nine men who will have a sustainable occupation, they will have a way to create a job and a business for themselves." And really we're talking about being tent makers aren't we?

RODGER SCHMIDT: We are, totally.

HANS FINZEL: Back to the old biblical model that the apostle Paul. You know, he said, "I wish I didn't have to make tents, I wish I could preach full time. But I'm okay with that and that way I don't have to be dependent on the west or anybody else." So thanks again for being with us.

RODGER SCHMIDT: Great to be here, thanks Hans.

HANS FINZEL: Thanks for listening today. This has been Missions on the Frontline. We're here to expand your vision and make you aware of new and exciting ways you can be involved in missions around the world. I'd love to hear from you. Write me at frontline@worldventure.com. And be sure and visit our website, worldventure.com for more information and the latest news and updates. This has been Hans Finzel, president of WorldVenture. See you next week on Missions on the Frontline.