JANUARY 2013

The Great Exchange

VOLUME 4 ISSUE 1

Clarke, a Deaf man from Tashis hometown, has for years grown and roasted his own coffee. With the help of a few creative minds (JOC, Ben Beukema and Erin) has come a legitimate brand in a true coffee bag, sealed and labeled! Introducing Top Hill Coffee Roasters, Bold and Organic whole bean coffee!

Paul, in Romans 1 and 2, often reserved his harshest words for Jewish leaders, who did not grasp the spirit of the law but rather put their confidence in the physical law. Too often, we as humans, become proud in well-doing and lose sight of humility. Paul says we exchange the truth for a lie and thinking ourselves wise, we become fools. The Jews of the time exchanged a spiritual circumcision for a physical one. At times I realize I do the same thing. And yet the irony of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ exchanged himself for the propitiation of our sins! If not for the GREAT EXCHANGE, we would be unqualified without grace and consumed without mercy. He humbled himself to the cross!

Team Dorm Refreshing for 2013

Our school was originally all terrazzo tile flooring, for one key reasonits extremely durable. But after a couple decades of being cleaned, polished and recleaned without actually stripping the layers of wax, what you end up with is tile wherever you have heavy foot traffic, and thick, black grime everywhere else. Well, it was time for a change and after being thrown around at first by the heavy duty floor buffing machine, I learned the hang of it and it sure looked new! We also changed the old kitchen countertop with a concrete and tiled counter.

SNAPSHOTS OF THE LAST MONTH Jan 1-2 New Years in Top Hill and a trip to Treasure Beach 3-4 Arrive home and get settled 5-6 Lazy weekend full of sleeping! 7 Back to school for a new term 8 Travel to MV to meet with New Hope Childrens Home and discuss ACWRs partnership and future projects 10 Begin interpreting for a theatrical play called Imagine that will open in April and feature Deaf cast members, including Jordan 12 Another weekend in Kingston, how odd! 13-18 Prep for dentist and Gridley teams 20-25 Dr. Buz and the Sartells 25 Brad and Amber, Josh and Jenn arrive 26 Roger and the Gridley crew arrive 27 Trip to Port Royal and Devon House, yum 28-31 Team week! 1 Trip to Ochie and Dunns Rivernot as exciting as one may think, but still relaxing. My highlight was getting Kyle Walders $20 back from a crafty salesmanIm so Jamaican! 2 Sad to see the Gridley team leave but so thankful that BrAmber wasnt on the departing plane. More to come in February about our four days together!

Before, during and after shots

BLAKE AND TASHI WIDMER

49 Ziadie Avenue, Apt 2 Kingston 20, Jamaica, W.I. 876.587.3833 cell blake.widmer skype www.blakewidmer.blogspot.com www.blakesjamaicapics.shutterfly.com

The Great Exchange

Gridley and Big Rog
Every January for a long time, Gridley has brought a team to the Kingston campus. I believe it was originally led by Terry and Bev Miller (Semajs longtime sponsors) and then Roger Stoller took over for Terry a few years back. Having been my fifth time hosting this group, Ive not only come to understand better how to host them but also grown to love and appreciate them even more. It doesnt matter that each time half the group is new, they are a huge blessing to our campus, our kids and always a boost to our spirit!

Rom 8:24-27 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. So the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit.
A PRAISE REPORT A blessed time with the Gridley team. Each year they deepen relationships with staff and students, and become more effective in ministry. A lot of work gets done too, which we are thankful for, but most importantly that God is made known in each of our hearts and minds.

Clockwise from top left: Hands in Praise saying thank you. Big Rog and Little Jamie, our newest and youngest student. Cabinet Crew! They made beautiful custom cabinets for our living skills. Harvey Kaeb with new sponsor student, Vanessa Henry. Bus trip with Rushedie and Anesa, love them! Brian Huber writing back and forth with the kids. Harvey and Judy Kaeb family.

Although its been a very busy start to the year, Tashi and I continue to learn how to balance life and ministry and marriage and God has proven himself faithfulwe are loving it all!

BLAKE WIDMER
US Address: 9036 Northridge Lane Battle Ground, IN 47920

The Great Exchange

Great Memories with BrAmber
Last year Brad Widmer and Amber Rassi came on the January team with Gridley, and this year we got BrAmber Widmer! I loved having them here and witnessing their incredible love for us and the kids. Brad was so willing to do whatever needed to be done and he continues to make great effort in communicating with Tashi and the students. Heres hoping it will become an annual thing! PRAYER REQUESTS: For Tashi and the rest of her family, for peace and comfort during the passing of her grandma (Paulines mother), Etta Gayle. Funeral services will be held on February 17th. Ministry evaluation and team meetings with the Jamaica Operations Committee of ACWR, on island Feb 12-19th. We are also thankful Lynn and Leonda Stieglitz will be joining the team! Tashis GOBS group (Girls Only Bible Study) will be taking a fun outing to the beach on Feb 23, pray for deepened relationships and making good memories Semaj is doing well in school but feels compelled to search for a different school that would provide more opportunities for growth and development outside of the classroom. Support for her current term is still lacking. Pray for direction and wise decisions. Pray for Carlyle Gabiddon. He recently spent a couple weeks with us, and we desire to see him grow in faith and also recognize he desires to grow professionally. We believe God is working in and through him. Pray for direction. Pray for our team as we make decisions and begin a more formal and committed relationship with New Hope Childrens Home

Above: Meeting Aleyah, their twin sponsor child! Below: Tiling our gift shop

Above: Brad and his tricks! Giddy house is tilted ;) Below: Loving on orphans at New Hope

Above Left: Putting to good use the skills learned from Uncle Den at Leman Cabinets! I was so proud to be Brads brother when all the other guys are raving about his craftsmanship Right: Amber and Jenn put their amazing and creative stylistic touch to our backboard! It was great to have Josh and Jenn around too.

BLAKE AND TASHI WIDMER

49 Ziadie Avenue, Apt 2 Kingston 20, Jamaica, W.I. 876.587.3833 cell blake.widmer skype blakewidmer.blogspot.com

BLAKE AND TASHI WIDMER 49 Ziadie Avenue, Apt 2 Kingston 20, Jamaica, W.I. 876.587.3833 Cell Blake.Widmer Skype blakewidmer@gmail.com BLOG: BlakeWidmer.blogspot.com PICS: BlakesJamaicaPics.shutterfly.com Serving Through: Serving With:

Brothers at First, Brothers at Last!

Back in 2005 we hosted the Hands in Praise team from CCCD Kingston. I was just coming off a summer where I had made two trips to Jamaica and was trying to learn as much JSL as possible. Little did I know that a few years down the road I would be living life alongside of them. Nor did I know that the young man who stayed with me one night, Carlyle, would become my brother not just for a week, but for a lifetime. The past couple of weeks has been a joy to have him around. Pray for his future and direction from the Lord!

Left to right: 2005 when we met, picking carrots in Top Hill and Port Royal with the Gridley team