Stories That Move
When we create videos for our clients, there's often an incredibly rich narrative that we can't include in the final cut. Being behind the scenes, we're fortunate to hear the depth and full context behind each story.
So in this podcast, we want to pull back the curtain and allow you to experience the extraordinary stories of extraordinary people we've been honored to connect with.
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Stories That Move
Todd and Cindy Shinabarger | Navigating Life's Transitions
Join us for an inspiring episode featuring Todd and Cindy Schoenbarger, who redefine what it means to transition into retirement. With a compelling narrative around their journey into "Life 2.0," they showcase how a new phase of life can be filled with purpose, growth, and innovation. From their well-established careers in IT and engineering, the Schoenbargers made a conscious decision to seek deeper meaning beyond the corporate world. Influenced by the thought-provoking book "Halftime," Todd began to search for significance over success, prompting both Todd and Cindy to reevaluate their paths and set intentional goals for the next chapter.
In this engaging conversation, we explore their planning process, emphasizing the necessity of intentionality in navigating life’s transitions. From developing a strategic document outlining their aspirations to pursuing volunteer opportunities with Operation Mobilization, they illustrate how purpose-driven living can foster incredible impacts. Their innovation in elder care, especially during the pandemic, highlights the power of creativity born from personal experience and passion.
Mentorship plays a pivotal role in their story, where they share the importance of fostering relationships and seeking guidance from others who can inspire and support growth. Todd and Cindy reflect on how their journey encourages listeners to consider their own legacies and the impact they wish to leave behind.
This episode provides a rich tapestry of insights into navigating life’s transitions with intention, fostering a spirit of service, and embracing the continual journey of growth. Don’t miss out on this heartfelt discussion that invites everyone to reflect on their purposes, aspirations, and the legacy they wish to create! Tune in and be inspired to craft your own "Life 2.0."
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I think Aristotle said a life unexamined is not worth living, and I really think that it's so easy to just let life happen to you. I really do think intentionality is key. If you don't plan it, you know. It's like the old saying you know, not making a decision is a decision, and so if you don't plan for things, things are just going to happen, and so that will be your plan.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to another episode of Stories that Move. I'm Matt Duhl, and, as always, I'm here with my co-host, mason Geiger, and today's episode is a fun one, and we couldn't be more excited to share this story with you. Through our friends over at Sim Financial Advisors, we met this incredible couple that we had to invite onto our show.
Speaker 3:That's right. We are joined today by Todd and Cindy Schoenbarger, a couple whose story is all about embracing change and finding new purpose. Both Todd and Cindy had incredible careers Todd in IT and Cindy in electronic engineering and manufacturing. They raised a family, managed their careers in finance as well, and were set up for an amazing retirement. But for them, retirement wasn't the end. It was just the beginning of an entirely new chapter.
Speaker 2:No matter where you are in life just starting your career, raising a family or approaching retirement Todd and Cindy's journey is packed with inspiration and practical wisdom. Their story challenges us all to think about what's possible in every phase of life.
Speaker 3:It's an incredible conversation, so let's jump right in. Please welcome Todd and Cindy Schoenbarger to Stories that Move.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to Stories that Move. We back to Stories that Move. We appreciate you joining us today. As always, I'm your host, Matt Duhl, and with me is Mason Geiger, good friend, co-host and business partner. Mason, how are we doing today?
Speaker 3:Really good. It's a snowy Friday afternoon here in Warsaw, Indiana.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and it's one of those unique times that it's not just snowy in Indiana. Absolutely, and it's one of those unique times that it's not just snowy in Indiana. It's snowy quite a few other places, including all the way down to my birthplace of Georgia, where we are connecting with some friends, todd and Cindy Schoenbarger. Todd and Cindy, welcome to Stories that Move, thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thanks for having us.
Speaker 2:We're so excited to have you. So Todd and Cindy were actually part of one of our clients' podcasts not too long ago and our producers who were involved in that heard their story and said hey, we think we found some great people to join us on Stories that Move and they were kind enough to come back to us virtually here to be a part of it. So Todd has had a long career in just the IT world and being a chief information officer, and then Cindy in electronic manufacturing and engineering, but they are currently living out what they call Life 2.0. So we're excited to unpack that with them and hear more about it. I'll let you all take some turns Introduce yourselves. Let us know a little bit about who you are and then what you're up to right now today. Currently.
Speaker 1:Well, I can start. Yeah, so I'm Todd, and yeah, cindy and I spent most of our lives in Northeast Indiana. We met each other at Taylor University and have been married for 42 years now, lived in the Fort Wayne area for most of our married life. We started in Finley, ohio, where I had my first job with Cooper Tire and Rubber Company and then moved over to their Auburn Indiana location very quickly after getting a job there and spent most of our time there, lived out near Leo, raised our kids there, they went to Leo High School and it was a great place for us. And I'm going to let Cindy introduce herself a little bit and then I'll jump in a little bit on how we got where we are today. Then Awesome.
Speaker 4:All right, I'm Cindy and, as Todd said, we met in college, got married and my career pretty much has been juggling kids and schedules. So as Todd advanced in his career it meant moves or changes in our schedule. So I started out in commercial electronic engineering with RCA in Finley, which was solid state, the wafer fab manufacturing, and then, as he got transferred, I ended up in Fort Wayne at several different facilities there took some time off to have kids, then took some time off when they were in high school again to spend more time with them, and then when they went to college I went back to work. So I've been able to have several different careers, not only in the commercial electronics world but in aerospace and also in automotive, in failure analysis. So I've been blessed with lots of different opportunities.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I spent a little over 20 years with Cooper. Yeah, so I spent a little over 20 years with Cooper, progressed through my career, started as a COBOL programmer and then fairly quickly moved into management, and I spent most of my corporate career doing IT management, not only at Cooper, but I was with Ambassador Steel in Auburn, indiana, for a while and then spent the last nine years of my corporate career at Vera Bradley in Fort Wayne and quite a contrast to heavy manufacturing and automotive supply business. But it was a wonderful experience with the Vera Bradley team and I loved it. Experience with the Vera Bradley team and I loved it. But we now live just south of Atlanta and we volunteer with a faith-based missions organization called Operation Mobilization and really I'd like to just kind of rewind and tell you kind of how we got there and how we landed here in our new Life 2.0, as Matt mentioned.
Speaker 1:So when I was about 40 years old I read a book by Bob Buford. He was a very successful businessman, made a lot of money in the early cable industry and he wrote a book called Halftime and the tagline for that book was moving from success to significance and the book really spoke to me. I don't think I was in midlife crisis, but I was definitely in midlife questioning, you know, is shareholder value really all there is to life? Am I making a difference? Some of those kinds of questions were rattling around in my head and this book really spoke to me and challenged me to say that really is more significant than just climbing the ladder and getting a bigger paycheck or a company car or whatever the perk is. And so that started, cindy and I, on a journey all the way back, you know, 25 years ago now. And so we determined and, by the way, you know, we're kind of the last of the dinosaurs that have pension programs and so that was an opportunity for us to really start planning toward, you know, retiring we don't like that word, but retiring out of the corporate world and really refocusing where we wanted to spend our time and how we wanted to spend our time to do something that really had an impact, and in our case, we wanted it to impact the kingdom of God. We really wanted we're devout believers and we're Jesus followers and we wanted to do something that was that, you know, that was honoring to God and would further the coming of his kingdom here on earth. And so that's really how we how we started down this path back 25 years ago and actually it's interesting because Jerry Yeager and the Sim Financial team have played a significant role in that and coming alongside and partnering with us to help us do the work and the planning, to be able to do this effectively and be able to be assured that we were financially sound to be able to take this step. And so, I guess in about 2014, we started the process of planning in earnest that we were going to step away. We had put in our plan, basically when I turned 55, we were going to try to execute on this, and so I waited a little bit longer. I was 56 by the time that I actually retired, but I waited through the year end so that I could get my year end bonus before stepping away. Smart move, yes, but yeah. So we started that process.
Speaker 1:We were very intentional in how we did it. Cindy likes to say we didn't know what we were doing, and in many ways, that's true, but we both had grown up in the corporate world, and so the first thing we did is we sat down and we wrote a one-page Life 2.0 strategy document, and so we just sat down and said what do we want this to look like? What are we trying to accomplish? What can we give? What's this going to look like for us? And so we wrote that document and then we started to research places that we could try to plug in.
Speaker 1:We actually had a couple in our church who were about 10 years older than us, so they were ahead of us in this process and they had gone through a similar process, so they were sort of a blueprint for us, and so we met with them and learned more about how they were doing their volunteering process in their retirement, and so that was a starting point for us and we contacted several different organizations and we went on what we called a vision trip. This was in the fall of 2015. A vision trip this was in the fall of 2015. I had retired from Vera Bradley in the spring and Cindy retired from Excellus Corporation.
Speaker 4:It's been bought and sold a half a dozen times since then.
Speaker 1:It seems like it's now L3 Harris there in Fort Wayne, but she retired from there in the fall of 2015. And so soon after she retired, we took a trip to the—and we went to the southeast. There were several organizations we went to Samaritan's Purse, we went to Wycliffe Bible Translators, we went to Campus Crusade crew now in Florida, and then Operation Mobilization was our last stop in Tyrone, georgia, on our way home, and we had heard George Verwer speak at a. He's the founder of OM. It's about a almost a 70 yearold organization now. George started it as a teenager actually, he and a couple of other guys, and we had heard him at a missions conference a long time ago and he's a very memorable speaker. And so we decided we wanted to check out OM, to check out OM, and it was very obvious when we came to OM that that was where God was calling us to step into, and so we just this week we celebrated our ninth anniversary with OM in January of 2016.
Speaker 1:And I pretty much work full time for OM. I try to take Fridays off. I like to play golf if there's not snow on the ground like there is here today, which is not very often is there snow on the ground. I play golf down here 12 months out of the year, but just not right now. But I basically do for OM what I did in the corporate world all those years and it's just been a blessing for us to be a part of the organization, to know that we're right where God wants us to be in His will, and learning, growing through the process. Yeah, it's been a great experience for us.
Speaker 3:It's amazing, that's awesome. So, cindy, I'm curious, as you're going through this kind of tour of organizations and kind of you know, doing a little test, what was it whenever you went to OM and experienced that? And it's like looking at what you guys had laid out in your you know life 2.0, like, what was that realization like for you and what was that draw to OM?
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's a great question. We did have some constraints because we had some older relatives that we were kind of caretaking for, so we could not move, though two years later we did move. So that was part of our stipulation and we really felt like we had something to offer. But we couldn't be on site. And now this is before COVID, so it was more unusual then. It's not so unusual now, but as we toured and interviewed we were trying to figure out how could we plug in.
Speaker 4:And I know one of the organizations and there was actually four of us we went with another couple, one of the organizations we said could we do some project work? Could we run the projects from Indiana and then come down? We agreed we'd come down every month, one week out of the month, but they're like that doesn't really work for us. Monday we have our meeting about what the volunteers are going to do, and then Tuesday, wednesday, thursday they volunteer, and then Friday we wrap it up, volunteer and then Friday we wrap it up. So that was much more stuffing envelopes, power washing, sidewalks and all that. And while we could do that, that seemed like not the best use of our talents.
Speaker 4:And so when we got to OAM we didn't know about no, but they had been praying for Todd's position to be filled for two years and we had been praying for two years that God be filled for two years and we had been praying for two years that God would show us the right place to be. And so when we walked in it was several hours after. As a leadership team, they had prayed for Todd's position. So we walk in and they hadn't all gotten the word that we were coming and we were at a chili supper that they had and they're kind of very nicely like who are you and what are you doing? And we said we're looking for a place to volunteer. And of course they couldn't believe it and we didn't know the backstory at that time. And so we ended up at the president's house that evening and pretty soon different VPs were coming in, and so it was really obvious what Todd was going to do, because that's the position they needed and he had done that his whole career.
Speaker 4:I wasn't really sure where I was going to fit in, and I remember talking to Andrew Scott, who was the president at the time, and I said I'm not sure. You know building satellites and going to a mission organization, how that's going to fit. And he said you know what I want you to do. What you did in industry, come here and make us better. I don't need anybody wiping baby's noses, I have enough of that going on. So the fact that they had that mindset that we would be able to do projects for them and not just stuff in envelopes, so I think we really felt like that was a good fit for us.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's amazing. I appreciate you both sharing that and I mean, what an amazing story of you. Think about preparing for that next stage of life and retirement and people think like, oh, maybe I'll find a side job or a hobby or something. But I mean, you all found something where you literally moved across the country and now you're giving your lives in that way. That's incredible. How would you say you know? Your careers leading up to the work at Operation Mobilization prepared you. What were some of the things that maybe you didn't even see it at the time but were just kind of those things that were just refining you and preparing you for the work that you do today?
Speaker 1:Well, I think, you know, we kind of grew up together from young marrieds in a really good church. We went to Grebel Missionary Church out in Grebel, indiana, and we were discipled there, we were mentored there, which really helped us to have a different view of. You know, we've never really subscribed to the American dream retirement, you know, of self-indulging and playing golf seven days a week and that kind of thing. I guess there's nothing wrong with that. We don't see that in scripture anywhere and so that's really not where we really felt we should be going and so. But you know, having that spiritual foundation certainly was key for us to even go this direction. That I gained and the international travel that I had done and those kind of things all really have made me who I am today and given me the experience and the capability to step into OM and really contribute. I feel like I've been. It really does. It gives me goosebumps every time I tell that story, or even hearing Cindy tell the story about walking in there and realizing after the fact that they had prayed for someone and God saw fit to put me there to fulfill that need. You know, they had a need, didn't have any budget to fulfill it and I walk in and say, hey, is there something I can do? And so just really cool. You know the other thing that for me, as I said, I play golf.
Speaker 1:I recently was out with a couple of guys who have recently retired and at different times on the golf course, when I was with one or the other and the other wasn't in earshot, I asked both of them what's the worst part about retirement?
Speaker 1:Because they were freshly, you know, within a few months of retiring, were freshly, within a few months of retiring. Both of them immediately, without hesitation. They both said I don't have any purpose in my life. It was just so telling to me that these guys and they were both very successful businessmen prior to retirement and now all of a sudden they wake up in the morning and nobody needs them, they have no responsibility. That's pulling them, that's challenging them and I just think I think that's and we're kind of the tail end of the boomers at our age and I think there's a lot of boomers out there that are really grappling with that of being relevant, having purpose, having something to wake up for in the morning, and for us this has been that perfect fit. I feel very needed and I do feel like I'm contributing, so that's really been significant for me.
Speaker 4:And I think I would say my career taught me to pretty much bloom where I was planted. So each time I had to make a change was really a new environment. It was all in electronic manufacturing but very different areas and I would just have to jump in and learn that particular area. So it taught me tenacity. And when I came to OM, they put me in charge of aquaponics project the sustainability project because I was an engineer, had a science background Well, I majored in physics.
Speaker 4:So I told them that has nothing to do with plants. But the irony of the whole thing was you know the scientific process still works and the variables that you're, you know controlling or you're monitoring or whatever. So I quick took a couple of online courses in aquaponics and hydroponics and ran and toured a facility and tried to get myself shored up the best I could before I came down and I worked on that project for six years pretty much full time. So I really I think having those challenges in industry just taught me how to persevere and, honestly, each time that I ended up at a different facility it was amazing. It was like a patchwork of how the things in the past had actually helped me understand that job even better, so it made me much more well-rounded.
Speaker 2:So we connect with you know a lot of young business leaders, entrepreneurs. What would your encouragement be to them? Because, again, as I'm listening to your story, what strikes me is you all didn't fall into this. There was planning, there was thought behind this. You worked with Jerry and the team at Sim to prepare you for this. So yeah, with some of that in mind, what would you encourage the young entrepreneur who may be at that they're kind of starting their career, but maybe a little bit into their career and just kind of just thinking through those next steps of their life, their life?
Speaker 3:2.0.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think Aristotle said a life unexamined is not worth living, and I really think that it's so easy to just let life happen to you and all of a sudden you wake up and you're 60, 65, 70 years old and you're like where did the time go? And so I just really think, I really do think intentionality is key. And so I just really think I really do think intentionality is key If you don't plan it, you know it's like the old saying you know, not making a decision is a decision, and so if you don't plan for things, things are just going to happen, and so that will be your plan. No plan will be your plan. And so for us, it really was pretty second nature for us when we were younger. We we did an annual getaway where Cindy and I would would would get away for a weekend, and part of that process was we would do a budget for the year and we would, and then we would work through. You know what are our goals for our kids this year? Those kind of things. And so I give Cindy a lot of the credit for that, because she was a very proactive mom and a great, great mom. She had a lot of great ways in which she, you know, taught our kids to become self-sufficient over the course of our time of investing in them.
Speaker 1:I just think intentionality and planning is key, and there were things that we planned that didn't happen, because life does happen to you. Just like Cindy said, my mom needed our help and our care. I had an aunt who needed our help and our care, so those were variables that we had to bake into the plan as we got to that point. We didn't know that when we were 30 years old that we were going to be caregivers, but that reality became part of the plan as we. So it has to be flexible, but having something that you're marching toward makes all the difference in the world because it gives you a target. Target and for Cindy and I, I think it really unified us to make sure that we both knew where we were going. And it wasn't a surprise when, all of a sudden, I walk in one night and say I'm going to retire tomorrow without ever saying anything. I mean, those kinds of things just don't happen in our relationship. So I just think intentionality and planning is key.
Speaker 4:And I would add yes, all that. And I would add flexibility, and just because it's hard doesn't mean it's not the way you should go. The tenacity of just figuring out a way to get it done, and sometimes you definitely have to think outside the box. But I would also say that you have a realistic view and if you need to make a change, or the project I worked on for six years, we ended up being able to grow everything and anything in all different kinds of systems, so everything was possible, but it was not profitable and if you're working for a mission organization and you're working on a sustainability project, you can't, uh, expect people in other countries to be throwing money into it.
Speaker 4:So it has to be sustainable and I'll give them credit. I went in and said we can do this, but it's not sustainable and they pulled the plug on it, which a lot of organizations would continue to force. That and it really for this particular situation, we were able to transition to creating a product that was not in the market and actually developed a product and sold it on Amazon and Home Depot and ended up selling that portion of the ministry off. So I think being able to be realistic and say, hey, this isn't working, and get counsel for some people, I think there's a lot of wisdom out there and sometimes you don't want to, you really don't want to hear it right If it's not going to work, but you need to be able to be very realistic about it.
Speaker 2:Cindy, I see on your LinkedIn one of your titles you have is entrepreneurial inventor. Is that part of that product? Thanks honey, Did you say thanks honey.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1:She may not have known she had a LinkedIn profile.
Speaker 4:No, not me. That was our invention going forward, and then, during the pandemic, I created what's called SafeHug Windows, which is a very medically safe insert that you put into a window instead of the screen and you're able to actually hold hands and talk to the person on the other side. My mother was in a dementia ward at the time and my dad had not been able to see her for 56 days, and with dementia, you can't go on one side of the window and there on the other they don't understand why you're not coming in, and it's heartbreaking. I tried it one time and I'm like Dad, you can't go over there. So it just came to me and you were talking about how things prepare you.
Speaker 4:Well, I used to work in the hybrid industry, and so we'd put our hands in these chambers and do some work and I thought why couldn't we do that and then go in through the screen so you don't have to in place of the screen, so you don't have to in place of the screen, so you don't have to modify the building at all? And you actually gave the gift of touch. So it was very humbling the people crying telling me how amazing it was because they were actually able to hold hands, feed their loved ones, and they didn't even realize there was a window there anymore. And so that's where I think pulling together the different areas of my career were very helpful. Then I was able to actually make the windows in our basement and cast the polyurethane and all that kind of stuff to get it done, because during COVID you couldn't get those supplies. So that's the inventor part.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow, wow, todd you married up man. Don't we all though?
Speaker 1:You're right, I definitely married up. She is the brains of the outfit. Her middle name should be Tenacious I mean, she is nothing if not tenacious and this really was an amazing act of love on her part. And then we ended up, and I don't know that we made any money. I don't think we lost much money, if any, but we ended up selling these into various senior living communities in seven states. I think we sold about 80 of these windows in seven different states, most of them here in the southeast. We hand-delivered Many of them. The two of us loaded up the car and went on the road to take these out and show them how to install them and so forth. She built every one of them with her hands in our, in our basement. So pretty amazing.
Speaker 3:As you're thinking through it, I'm like hearing this story in life 2.0, what are some like moments like that of like where God, like you've just seen him show up, either, like just in your lives, the work that you're doing through om, um, yeah. So what are some of those like key stories that have really like impacted you in this next phase of your life?
Speaker 4:well, I back on the safe hug windows. Um, I was actually bagging nutrients for the other project, which is called go grow planters, and I got the news that that they were not going to open the facility for another month or two. And as I have my hands in a chamber filling with hydroponic nutrients, it came to me so clearly like why couldn't we do this, and why couldn't we do this in a window that they don't have to modify? We could do this quickly, and so it was just, I think, a gift from God, because I was like, oh, my goodness. So I ended up going out into our workroom and, because of the hydroponic project, I had some plexiglass left over and I cut that.
Speaker 4:And then one thing led to another and I ended up for the prototype, using pantyhose over a pegboard to get some sort of a you know kind of mock up, some sort of a hearing screen kind of a thing.
Speaker 4:I mean, we obviously improved it much since then and I ended up using you know like plumber toilet flanges for the armholes and anyway, it was completely cobbled up, but it was done within a day and I decided I was going to go over and talk to the director, because I decided if I tried to explain it it probably wouldn't go well and I had already measured the window so I knew it would fit. So I had it in the car and she said I tried to explain it to her. And I said I have it if you want to see it. And she said I absolutely do. And so we put it in. And that was the first time my parents, even though it wasn't really like HEPA filter and all that we ended up getting much better. But you know, from going from the idea across my mind like Thursday to Friday having it installed, yeah, that's a God thing. And I had everything I needed to put together a prototype.
Speaker 3:And I can just only imagine the energy of whenever you have that creative idea or spark that just feels like yeah, that excitement that comes from those moments. I can picture it. It's just so cool and so beautiful. Love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, todd, how about you? Any stories, any things that pop out for you?
Speaker 1:Well, you know, the first thing that comes to my mind is just being a part of this organization that is doing such awesome stuff all around the world. There's a part of me, and you know we went to a missionary church prior to coming down here, so we've had a focus on worldwide missions in our lives for many years, but this has been a completely. I mean the things that we've learned and grown to appreciate about the job that we have ahead of us to reach the world, but also the amazing things that God is about in this world. It's just been wonderful. I mean, not long after we came to OM, we took a trip to.
Speaker 1:Om has a ship ministry, so it now has two ships that go from port to port and they distribute Christian materials and they do outreach. We actually went and visited one of the ships when it was in Ghana, africa. This was in the fall of 2016. And just to see this ship 400 people and like the average age of the crew is like 19 years old these are a bunch of kids running this ship and 60 countries represented on this ship and just doing tremendous work, living in a tremendous community together, and these lines of people waiting on the quay for five hours to get into the ship. It's an amazing ministry that we just love and that's just. It's just one of the examples. But and then you know, hearing of hearing just amazing things that God's doing around the world through the ministries of Operation Mobilization, it's just been, it's been humbling for us to be able to be part of it. And Cindy and I have said, although we've invested a lot of time and effort in this, we feel like we've gotten more than we've given just being a part of this. And again, it's that you wake up every morning realizing there's work to be done, and I have a place in doing that.
Speaker 1:Colossians 3.23 is a key verse for me. It's, you know, do everything as unto God and not unto men, and so I try to take that seriously. I had that verse posted on my computer monitor in the corporate world for years, and so I've always tried to kind of live that. Don't always live up to it, but you know, it's one of those things that just I just feel blessed to be a part. You know, I just turned 65, and so I'm starting to think about what does the future hold for me, and I've had people ask me at OM about that.
Speaker 1:From my perspective, as long as our situation is such, our health holds out and we're able to contribute, I want to be a part of this. It'll probably look different. I've got a young man who's a part of my staff now that I'm trying to groom to really step up and step into the leadership role so that I can maybe become more of a trusted advisor and kind of not be on the clock all the time like I am now. But I mean, I just don't see a reason. I just don't see a reason to step away and I think I would miss it and I think I would be in that same boat as those guys I talked about on the golf course where I would wake up in the morning and say what do I need to do today?
Speaker 1:I don't have any. We have five grandchildren. We love to pour into them and I take that role seriously as well. But just being a part of something that's bigger than yourself. And even if you're not a Christ follower, if you're in this world, you're built to have a purpose in life, and so you need to find that, even after you've made your money and you can relax a little bit, you still need to have something to get you up in the morning, and so that would be my encouragement to those who come beyond you know another thing that I thought of a little bit ago I had some really excellent mentors in my life in the corporate world and in church and so forth. I just think it's very easy, especially for men, to try to do life alone. Yeah, and I think it's important to have others speak into your life and to have some accountability with others, and I just think all those things are really positive and will keep you moving forward and keep you on target to help you be who you need to be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, you read my mind there and where I wanted to go and just chatting about mentors for a second, because, yeah, I think you're exactly right. Because, yeah, I think you're exactly right. It's just so easy to fall into doing life alone and I think some of just the nature of our technology and the way things just keep us in devices and leaning on those things versus interactive, how would you encourage people again maybe some of our younger listeners to lean into mentorship and how do they even seek that out? What does that? What would you say? That looks like.
Speaker 1:Well, it's funny when I was a, when I was a young young man, probably, um, probably late twenties, um, maybe, maybe just after we'd had kids we were in a. We were in a uh, a Sunday school class and that Sunday school teacher was an older gentleman and he proactively came to a dozen or so guys that were in the class and he said I want to mentor you, I want you to be part of a group that we're going to meet on Saturday mornings because you guys are the future leaders of this church and I want to speak into you. And it was huge. I didn't seek that out. I had a mature man who saw something in me and he sought me out to do that.
Speaker 1:But I think, as a young person, you know who is successful. You see, those folks. I mean, I had a great boss when I was at Cooper, the very best boss I've ever had. In fact, I played golf with him this summer. I hadn't seen him in a long time and we reconnected and played golf. He just made a huge difference in my life. He taught me how to be a manager and how to be a leader, and I just think, again, it's an intentionality thing, it's planning for those things and it's seeking those kinds of relationships out. Those folks are there and sometimes you just have to ask. Sometimes they'll ask you. In my case I was fortunate I had some guys who proactively sought me out and took me under their wing. But I think you can do the same thing as the mentee to find those folks to speak into your life.
Speaker 4:I was an assigned mentor both at Lockheed Martin and at ITT, where I'd get most of them guys I think all guys young engineers or co-ops coming in and engineers aren't necessarily known for their personal skills and we would really work on that and I would tell them to go as you're in the meeting, especially some of them that were a little bit shyer. A lot of dynamic things happen in meetings and I would take them with me and I would say notice how this person responds to people, Notice how that person which do you think, is most effective? Which do you think? And I remember at Lockheed Martin we had a co-op brilliant guy, super obnoxious. They weren't going to have him back Because nobody could.
Speaker 4:Really he hadn't earned the right to be heard and didn't realize it, and so I said let me take a crack at him. And really I just told him we're going to go to meetings and I don't want you to talk. You know nobody wants to hear you right now. And I told him no, we've got to work on this or you're not going to be employable. And so I think, even if you don't have specifically a mentor or you don't have anyone, you are in situations where you can observe and say you know what, I don't want to be. Like that I've noticed that that guy is, it's not effective and he's killing his team. So there's a little bit of self-awareness that can happen there and you can in some ways kind of coach yourself into who you want to be in an organization.
Speaker 1:Another thing that I've preached to my folks through the years is I have a saying he who reads leads. And I just think reading and it doesn't. I mean, yeah, management books or self-improvement books, those are all great things, but just being just reading, it does something to us. It makes us learners, it broadens our horizons, it makes us, it just makes us more well-rounded, and so I just think that's another thing, that's a proactive thing, that you can do that for yourself. I just went into Goodreads and set my goals for 2025. I'm going to read 30 books this year and so that's. And I read a lot of things for pleasure, mostly for pleasure. Now, I don't I, you know, I still read some some improvement, you know, improvement type books and and spiritual growth books and that kind of thing. But I love a good, good novel, I love a good history book, but I just think that makes a huge difference. It does something to you and it just broadens your perspective, I think.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it all goes back to that intentionality. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love to just hearing you both just talk about OM. I had no idea how expansive that organization is. Can we kind of rewind a little bit here and just give us that like 10,000 foot view of the ministry, all the different like reaches and outreaches that you guys have?
Speaker 4:All that talk, I want to say one thing and then you can explain the details. But only 10% of OM is US.
Speaker 3:Oh, wow.
Speaker 4:So the thing that I love the most and Todd can get into the nitty-gritty, but is the fact that it is so international and it's not the US sending people In some cases, yes, but it's using nationals, people that live there, and so we have been able to host people from all over the world. I mean, when we started there, I was having to go to the map all the time because I didn't know where these countries were. But we were able to go to the international leaders meeting in Thailand and to find out that there's a big world out there outside of the US is really amazing. And OM has actually spawned 200 mission organizations. So I have come out of OM, so it's just a neat organization. Todd can explain more, but I wanted to get that in it's amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so OM's in 147 countries. I think We've got about 6,000 people and about 10% of that 6,000 are Americans, including the people working here in the States, but also overseas missionaries as well. But, like Cindy said, we've really focused in on same culture and near culture to be most effective, to be able to find folks that are in the in-country or have a close connection, to be able to really come alongside people and really understand people most effectively. We have all kinds of different ministries, from humanitarian aid all the way to church planting. You know we have programs to broadcasting audio and video into closed countries that you know, where people can't really hear the gospel. It really is of the box.
Speaker 1:George Verwer sometimes he was accused of being a crazy man. I want to buy a ship. I want to put people on a ship and sail around the world and share Jesus at ports, those kinds of things. So it's amazing. I mean we have a huge sports ministry. We have a whole group of folks who are artists of various ilks. We have break dancers and hip-hop artists and all kinds of people that utilize art to reach people, to make a connection.
Speaker 1:We have a surf ministry in Portugal where they hold church on the beach after they've surfed, and so it's just really fun to be a part of an organization that really encourages innovation and kind of. You know, there's much more of a openness. There's much more of a openness, you know, there's not a lot of boundaries around what can be used, as long as it's being used for the furtherance of the kingdom. It's just, it's a fun place to be a part of, and that was one thing that Cindy and I recognized right away, even here at our office here in Georgia. Hugely international, I mean, you hear all kinds of accents we have these times when we're in worship services where we do these, everybody prays out loud at the same time and you hear different languages being spoken and it's a glimpse at what I think the throne room is going to be like someday, with every tribe and every tongue before the throne. So it is. In some ways it's a little piece of heaven right here in central Georgia.
Speaker 4:They actually really focus on whatever you've been gifted with and your passion figure out a way to use it. Crossfit in Russia, trekking in Nepal they've got so many very unusual things. Interest groups I remember one of the first meetings we were there. They were talking about their hip-hop ministry. I was like whoever heard of a hip-hop ministry? But you know, they go into the middle of a street and start blaring the music and doing hip-hop and it is a wonderful way to reach other people. So, yeah, the recognizing that God has gifted us all differently and in order to go further to kingdom, you don't have to give up on your passion, you just take it with you or your job. We're big into a movement called Scatter, which is do your job, just do it somewhere else where there's least reach people, and yeah, so anyway, it encourages you to follow your passion.
Speaker 2:I love that. Well, and, like I said to you before we started recording, growing up in Georgia, my brother and I came down to Operation Mobilization and volunteered as kids with our parents and then our youth group, and that's over 30 years ago, and so so many things to me. One, an organization that's been around and thriving for that long. But even as a kid I remember a couple of things really vividly. One was that international perspective that you were both talking about of just having that and again, even if you're not a faith-based person, what it means to get outside of your sphere, your neighborhood, and just recognize other people, other cultures. And I think through OM had the chance to meet some people who were stateside at the time, who spoke those different languages. They looked different than me and that led to me, you know, doing international travel later on, and so I just think, um, yeah, what a huge impact. And I also remember the innovation. I just remembered the creativity that was, that was around, that.
Speaker 2:So absolutely love that. Uh, really appreciate you. You both sharing that that's that's really cool.
Speaker 3:And as we kind of start to wind things down here. I'd love what does life 3.0 look like for you guys, as you start to look at legacy and what is that legacy that you hope to leave?
Speaker 4:Well, I'll start. I don't know, todd's probably like oh, don't talk about that. But you know, for a long time God has put a passion in my heart for elder care and it's one of those things. If you had asked me when I was in my 30s, you know, do you want to be a part of elder care? I'd be absolutely not. But I've seen both of our moms go through dementia. My 88-year-old father lives with us and is a great guy. But I really understand the challenges of that age and the loneliness, and I have spent more and more time working with the seniors at our church and a walking track, because I really feel like people that age older people need to get out, they need to have, they're lonely, they need to have a purpose, and so Darrell Bock.
Speaker 1:We're that age now, beth Dombkowski. I know, darrell Bock, it's not them, it's us, beth.
Speaker 4:Dombkowski, I'm not 65 yet, but anyhow.
Speaker 4:So you know, in my heart I had and again, this might be one of those God things, but really thought of a new type of senior living and I've, you know, pitched it a few times.
Speaker 4:I don't know that I have the passion right this minute with helping with dad to do it, but really a type of community which would be called a care support community. And it would be a gated community, but gated for a different reason and I really just noticed that mixed cognitive couples, you know where one has dementia and one doesn't. The caregivers are just exhausted. You know they need help, but the first thing we do is always separate them and we're going to be running out of caregivers as we boomers get older and older. So that idea has been for the last several years percolating in my mind. So it may have something to do with that, but probably a little bit more in the elder care area, and then also spending more time with the grandkids. So they're into sports and they're, you know all that and we can see some of it live and some of it we can't, but we really also want to pour into them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the first thing that comes to my mind is our grandkids, and really I think it's because our oldest is now 12 years old. We know that the clock is ticking, she's, she's growing quickly and just seems like you know yesterday that she was our, our first grandchild, and and now she's 12 years old, and so they're all you know, we, we know that we have a limited years old and so they're all you know we. We know that we have a limited, limited time to really speak into their lives. And you know we, we know, just like I love my grandparents and and respected them, you know, until until their death. So I, I don't it's, it's not like that will change for them, but just the fact that they will grow up and they'll have their own lives and they'll be preoccupied with other things. So that clock is ticking and we love our grandkids just significantly poured into me, and so I kind of use him as my, as my template to try to be really um intentional with my grandkids, um and we do.
Speaker 4:We take them away, all of them away, once a year for a week and we plan a camp and we have matching shirts, and there's camp, and we have matching shirts, and there's a theme, and we have activities and crafts and it's like a regular camp. So we do and they love it. And then I make a book every year for each of them. So we do try to be intentional about like, okay, what's our theme, what are we going to do? And then we give away awards, each, each person, at the end of the week Something we've seen special about that kid they get an award.
Speaker 3:So anyway, it's amazing how long have you guys been doing the camp.
Speaker 4:Six years, five years you guys have like an official name for it with your shirts.
Speaker 3:It's called Cousin Camp, cousin Camp.
Speaker 1:Because our daughter has two kids and our son has three kids, and so the cousins all get together. That's amazing, and this was the first year that we had all five of them. The youngest is three years old, so this was her inaugural year as part of Cousin Camp so she's a big kid now.
Speaker 1:It was great, so awesome. I guess the other thing for me as I step into this next phase I alluded to it earlier is really moving more into an advisory role. I do want to be part of OM. I still think I have things to give, I think I have more to contribute, I think I can be part of the solution, but I want to do that a little bit differently, to be able to more strategically use the time so that we can do a little bit more. We recently purchased a house back up north near our daughter's house, so that we could be a little bit more, a little closer to our grandkids and be a little bit more engaged. So we're probably going to be up there a little bit more and and and spending a little bit more time with family than than we have.
Speaker 1:Um, but I really do want to still be a part of what God is doing in in this world and and I don't uh, you and I think he's put me squarely here at OM and I've had a couple of times, we've had a couple of rough times in the last 18 months and I've said is it time, lord?
Speaker 1:And he has. I don't hear his voice, but it's all but his voice saying no, it's not. You know, do your just persevere, do what you can do, and let me deal with the rest of it. And I've heard that loud and clear on a couple of different occasions. And so that's what I want to do, that's what I need to do, that's what I'm, that's what I want to do, that's what I need to do, that's what I'm called to do. And so, um, as long, like I said, as long as health and and all those kinds of things hold out, that's that's my plan, um, and I think that's our plan to, to try to, to try to be um, be obedient to, to where he's leading and and, uh, just keep our shoulder to the plow.
Speaker 2:Love it, love it. So for our listeners that may want to connect with you or some of the work that's happening at Operation Mobilization, what's a good place for them to connect? Is it Todd your LinkedIn? Is there a website? What would you recommend for people to reach out?
Speaker 1:Is there a website. What would you recommend for people to reach out? Well, certainly, omusaorg is the website and there's all kinds of opportunities. You can go on there to look at volunteer opportunities. You can look at opportunities that we have for young people to go to the ship for a year or more, long-term opportunities around the world, all those kinds of things. Yeah, if you want to look me up on LinkedIn, there aren't very many Todd Schoenbargers on LinkedIn, so you'll find me if you search for me, and I would be happy to connect with anyone that wants to brainstorm. I mean, my email address is toddschnebager at omorg, so first name, last name at omorg, so if somebody wants to email me, they can do that as well. We would certainly be happy to speak to anybody, that's, if we struck a chord with somebody and they want to bend our ear for a little bit, we'd be happy to help out.
Speaker 2:Awesome, awesome. Well, thank you so much. You two have been so, so amazing, so generous with your time. Really appreciate the way that you all live just very purposeful, meaningful lives. So thank you for sharing your time with us today. And, hey, enjoy that snow day down in Georgia. Don't let anyone in Indiana, you know give you anything about one inch of snow, not meaning anything, because I know it's important and I know it's dangerous, so be careful, have fun.
Speaker 4:All right. Yeah, it's dangerous, so be careful, have fun All right, yeah, thanks, guys Awesome.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well to all of our listeners and viewers. Thank you for joining us today on Stories that Move. We look forward to seeing you next time. Thanks, thank you for joining us for this episode of Stories that Move brought to you by Dream On Studios.
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