APRIL 2011

LIFE: Love Intentionally Focus on Eternity VOLUME 2 ISSUE 4

In Hebrews 11:6 we learn that “God rewards those who

Tashi and I on Easter Sunday
SNAPSHOT OF THE LAST MONTH
1- 9 – My sister-in-law Tamara spends a week
with us during her spring break
10-13 – John Huber makes his first visit to the
island as our newest member of the ACWR
Team Jamaica
15 - 17 – Travel from Kingston to St. Elizabeth
with Tashi, Cheyenne and two staff members
from the blind school to celebrate Cheyenne’s
18th birthday
21 - 25 – Easter weekend in the country with
Tashi’s family
29 – Travel to MoBay to unload a sea
container, only to discover the customs
paperwork has not been authorized…Erin and I
reroute to St. Elizabeth and pack a truck full of
Tashi’s furniture and haul it to Kingston,
making for a very long 18 hour day on the road
as we circled the island
30 – Worship with our friends at Calabar Deaf
Church, the first time we were able to be there
in over 6 weeks, the day our engagement was
announced
diligently seek Him.” In the Gospels Jesus teaches that the
greatest commandments are to love God and to love your
neighbor as yourself. James writes that pure religion, pure
worship, is centered on serving the helpless, the rejected. In
Colossians 3 Paul encourages a heavenly focus, not earthly.
What is the meaning of LIFE? To be diligent in seeking God, to
live with eyes and ears perceiving the needs of the people
around you and to have your hands and feet ready to serve.
To share the love of Christ. John 10:10 - Abundant life.
This is a newsletter updating you on the happenings of my
journey, as I learn more about what it means to live LIFE!
Tamara Is Back!!!
My sister-in-law, Tamara, was able to spend a week visiting while on
spring break from her school district. It was a welcome change after a
month of work teams and missing family. She arrived late on a Friday night
and we traveled from Kingston up to Mandeville, spending the weekend
and first few days of the week at JDV and Knockpatrick. Later in the week
we made a trip to MoBay to visit the school, and then on Friday we took a
trip to YS Falls (pic below). Two short years ago we were all there
together, along with Matt. It was a sweet memory but one that would have
been sweeter had my brother been able to join his wife. Alas, the realities
of working in the real world. Friday night we journeyed back to Kingston
where Tamara was able to spend some time with some of the students she
knows here, mainly Renice Smith (whom they sponsor) and Jodean
Williams. Our time went by too fast, but it was sweet!
At YS Falls: We all really missed Matt in this picture, as the last time we were all here it was
Summer ’09 when Matt and Tamara first met and God started bringing their lives together.

BLAKE WIDMER
4 Cassia Park Road
Kingston 10, Jamaica, W.I.
876.587.3833 cell • blake.widmer skype
www.blakewidmer.blogspot.com
www.blakesjamaicapics.shutterfly.com
 APRIL 2011
Love Intentionally Focus on Eternity VOLUME 2 ISSUE 4

Cheyenne’s 18th Birthday

If you are new to following my newsletter, Cheyenne is a visually impaired Psalm 29:2
student that I have worked with the last two school years with tutoring and
facilitating her as a set of eyes to read and write for her exams. We are in the Give unto the LORD the
thick of her exams now, both in May and June, so please be praying for her.

April 16th was her 18th birthday, and last year I had promised her we would do
glory due unto his name;
something special. It worked out very well as Tashi and I planned to go to St.
Elizabeth, so on Friday we loaded up the car in Kingston (along with two of worship the LORD in the
Cheyenne’s friends from the Salvation Army School) and headed to St.
Elizabeth. Saturday we spent half the day at the beach (I got fried) and on beauty of holiness.
Sunday I was able to go to Deaf Bible Church in Top Hill, (Tashi’s home
church, where her mom is the glue that holds it together) my first time there Revelations 4:11
since 2006. We arrived back in Kingston pretty late, but it was a fun weekend
and a special memory for Cheyenne. I was also really thankful for her to be Thou art worthy, O Lord, to
able to get to know my in-laws and feel at home with us.
receive glory and honor and
Please pray for Cheyenne, for wisdom and a desire to live in Truth and Light!
power: for thou hast created
all things, and for thy
pleasure they are and were
created.

A PRAISE REPORT

Wonderful week with my sister-in-law,

Tamara, as she visited over her school’s spring
break

We signed a 1 year lease for the little two

bedroom apartment on Ziadie Avenue

It became clear and seemed right to both of us

that we should have the wedding ceremony at
her home church in the country

A short but very sweet couple of days with

Top: Tashi, me, Cheyenne, Pauline, Abeena and Kim
Left: Cheyenne cuts her 18th birthday cake that Tashi baked for her John Huber as he made his inaugural visit as
Right: Cheyenne with Tashi and I our new “Team Jamaica” liaison for ACWR

BLAKE WIDMER
US Address:
9036 Northridge Lane
Battle Ground, IN 47920
 APRIL 2011
Love Intentionally Focus on Eternity VOLUME 2 ISSUE 4

Easter with the In-Laws

Easter weekend proved to be a very special time. Tashi and I arrived in St.
Elizabeth on the morning of Good Friday, and along with her mom and brother
went to their little church in the countryside for a morning worship service. Andre
Witter, a current CCCD student and a young man gripped by Truth, shared with us
an analogy of Christ’s body being broken for us, His blood being poured for us,
and the glory that awaits us in Heaven. Friday evening we traveled to Little Ochie,
our favorite seaside eatery. Saturday morning Tashi’s brother Jordan woke me up PRAYER REQUESTS:
way too early for a morning jog, but it was a blessing to enjoy the crips, peaceful  Pray for Cheyenne’s exams, on
morning air. After that we went to church to work on a project, pouring a concrete May 4/5/9/11/19/20 and June 2nd
lid for a septic pit. The young men working put me to shame, but it felt good to
 We have decided that our wedding
work together. Saturday afternoon I got to meet my/Tashi’s niece, Martina, for the ceremony will be at her home
first time and bonded during a trip to the beach! Sunday we celebrated Christ’s church, but the reception venue is
resurrection by worshipping again at church, and then enjoyed a family meal yet to be determined
afterwards. Monday morning Jordan talked 3 friends into running with us, and
 We have signed a 1 year lease and
after an exhausting run they spontaneously broke into a lively Bible study… I
Tashi has moved in to our new little
continually give God thanks for the family I have been blessed with!
apartment, pray for her as she
settles in and makes it home
 Pray for our team as we sort
through opportunities that God
presents and doors He opens
 Preparation for June work
teams…crazy to think that June is
almost here!
 Rain…its that time of year again,
and although the situation is not
nearly as dire as it was last year
during the drought, we still need
At church working on a septic pit lid…pictured is Tashi’s brother, Jordan Bent and Webster Clarke rain all over the island
 Decision regarding a vehicle for our
team…recently it was announced
that the government is cutting the
import / duty tax on vehicles, so as
we resume our search, pray that we
find a qualifying vehicle that will
be reliable and cost-effective
 Pray for the possibility of a men’s
Bible study that some young Deaf
men in Tashi’s home area have
expressed a desire to start

Family pictures, including Aunt Jasmine and Niece Martina…I am blessed!

BLAKE WIDMER
4 Cassia Park Road
Kingston 10, Jamaica, W.I.
876.587.3833 cell • blake.widmer skype
blakewidmer.blogspot.com
 BLAKE WIDMER
Work Team Coordinator Serving Through: Serving With:
4 Cassia Park Road
Kingston 10, Jamaica, W.I.
876.587.3833 Cell • Blake.Widmer Skype
blakewidmer@gmail.com
BLOG: BlakeWidmer.blogspot.com
PICS: BlakesJamaicaPics.shutterfly.com

Our Newest Teammate

John Huber is more than Chad’s uncle and more than my buddy,
Andrew’s, dad. He is a humble man, gifted with an ear that is quick to
listen and a heart that is easy to trust. After serving with the ACWR work
elsewhere in the Caribbean, he has felt led to and been given the
opportunity to fill a vital role within our “Team Jamaica.”

Upon visiting with an evaluation / support group that visited last

November, John gradually become more involved and now is officially
serving as our point person in liaison to the broader ACWR Caribbean
Committee. In mid-April he made a quick 3 day trip to the island to visit
with, learn from and encourage us regarding the vision to which we’ve
been called. On his way to the airport on the 13th we were able to meet up
with Tashi while she was on her lunch break, and over coffee the three of
us were able to start the beginning of what, Lord willing, may be a Tashi and I were able to catch some time with John and then drop
growing relationship as we all work together in the fields ready for him off for his flight back to the States.
harvest.