Someone You Should Know: Leslie Widmer

In our Someone You Should Know series, we interview Faith members to help us get to know them, see how God is working in their lives, and make new connections within our community. In this episode we get to know Leslie Widmer.

Meet today's podcast guest: Leslie Widmer

• Automated Transcription

• Seth Weber 0:00
  Today on faith matters. Leslie Weber joins us for an episode of someone you should know.
  
  Seth Weber 0:11
  I'm Seth Weber, and you're listening to faith matters, a podcast designed to help you think biblically in matters of the Christian faith and update you on matters of faith, Bible, church.
  
  Leslie Widmer 0:22
  You Well, thanks for joining me. Leslie, well, it's a pleasure to be here.
  
  Leslie Widmer 0:50
  Start by telling us about where you grew up in your childhood. I was born in Boise, Idaho. I spent my first nine years of my life in Boise, and that was a huge season in my family's life, because my parents were new believers, okay? Generation believers. Well, so, so growing up in Boise, I have a lot of memories about that and going to church, and you know, that was really huge for my family. So, but then we moved to Spokane when I was nine, okay, so this has been home. Well, tell us some, tell us some fun memories from your childhood. Okay, well, there were six of us, six kids, so lots of we had actually horses. So it was fun. We'd ride horses. And I think my favorite memories, though, because I'm a winter person, was sledding. We were wild. It was so fun. And then we come in, warm up, and go back out. And now I see why my mom was so great about having snacks, letting get it, making sure our clothes got dry so we could get back out there six kids. You want them outside. So it was so fun, really fun. My mom was a great mom, homemaker. Really made it wonderful. Tell us about education. Where'd you go to? High school? I went to meet high school. Go Panthers and
  
  Leslie Widmer 2:03
  that was a fine experience. And then after high school, I worked for one year at a jewelry store. And then I met Tim, and we got married. I was 19. Okay, so I went. So then I did do Bible school later. Okay, at England Empire school, of the Bible. Very good, very good. How did you come to know Jesus? Oh, well, like I said, my parents were first generation Christians. They were very zealous. So we heard about Jesus all the time. And I just remember I had a spiritual sensitivity since I was just I was sensitive that way. One particular thing that happened that really made me realize God is real, is I had felt bad for a man that had come visiting our church. He was an older man, and he had a he was he just wasn't. He was unkempt, and I just felt like, who's gonna care for him? And he wasn't well. And so that night, when my mom was tucking me in, I said, I'm worried about Mr. Gardner. Was his name. I could remember it still, and I was like, six years old, and she said, if that, if God put that on your heart, then you need to pray for him. So I just started praying for him. And a months, few months later, my mom said, Are you still praying for him? And I said, Yes. And she said, God is taking care of him. They found a home for him, and there he was going to be in this care facility. And she said, God hears our prayer. And I was like, I am in on prayer. I am in on God. But I mean, really, what a great way for me to have a real experience of understanding who God was. And obviously, lots of growing has gone on since then. Actually, yes, I think when you come to know the Lord at that young age, it's hard to understand all that you have received. And so it's just beautiful as you get older, and God allows you to go through things that show that you need him in other ways, and your your patterns the way you really need him, and you have a tendency to want to sin or do your own thing. It's just he's so gracious, but it was so beautiful as a child how he showed me that. And prayer has always been huge in my walk with the Lord. Wonderful, wonderful. What a beautiful story. So tell us about how you met Tim and that story there. Okay, we I grew up going to fourth Memorial Church, and then when I was in like sixth grade, my dad, we had had a Sunday school bus ministry in the olden days to fourth Memorial and my dad, we lived outside of Meade, and my dad felt like the Children in Need needed their own church. So on my mom's 40th birthday, he bought a church, wow. And we started this little church in Mead. He was a lay pastor there for like, seven years, and Brian and Lonnie Levi Houser, my parents led them to the Lord, and Brian was his assistant helper, and he ran Sunday school, and it was awesome. So they did that. But so then when I graduated from high school, my dad said you probably need to go where there's a more of a college group, a group your age. So we I went back to fourth, and Tim was actually leading that group, and that's we reconnected then, because I'd known the Webers growing up, but he was.
  
  Leslie Widmer 5:00
  A little older than I, so I was friends with his sisters. Okay, so then, after Tim and I got married, after I had been out of worked for a year at a jewelry store, we got married, and then we Tim finished school in Spokane, we moved to Sprague, Washington, where he got his first teaching job, which was a month before we had our first child, so that was exciting. Yeah, there was one house to rent, so we moved into that house, and it was a Butte. And
  
  Leslie Widmer 5:29
  so during those years in Sprague, we actually went to the Sprague Community Church. Okay? It was awesome. God was so gracious all these young couples our age, raising kids, starting families. And God knew what He was doing, because he the women out there taught me how to make everything from scratch, wow. And when we went to Venezuela, I had to do all that, and they were so that was really awesome, and they were just really kind with me. The older farming women taught me all these things and how to get organized and how to so it was really awesome. And our church was wonderful. We had all these young couples, because in that time, we had Sean and then we had Aaron. So we had what we thought was our finished family before we went to Venezuela, and then God surprised us with Travis when Sean was 14 and Aaron was 12. So, but then, so then when we were in Sprague, that's when we got to that point where we'd been there six years and had decided it's either stay and move on and find a place where we want to move on and with our family and stay Greg, get a little more grounded in the States, or is it time to go to the mission field? And that's when Dave belch called us okay, tell us about how you ended up on the mission field and then how you ended up back here in Spokane. Wonderful. Okay. As a child, growing up, my parents had missionaries in our house all the time. I had an uncle, my dad's brother, who was a missionary, and we just, we always would send little packages to them and talk about their ministry. And my parents really were mission minded people themselves, and always sharing the gospel very and so that was always part of my mindset. And then when I met Tim, he was a teacher, and I we about six years in, we were like, This is the time because we had two children, then this is the time where they're gonna settle in, or we're gonna It's time. And Dave belch called Tim, asked him if he could meet with him. They were home on a Christmas, winter furlough, and we were living in Sprague. Dave was in Spokane. So they met in Cheney at six, and they had lunch and talked about it, and that was by that next August, we were at Team visit, at their headquarters, getting training, and we were ready. God had us ready to go. He had prepared our hearts. And there was always, there's always room need for need at these missionary schools. So and we spent a year the first year, though, we did spend in Costa Rica learning Spanish, which was good for me, because I thought I was more ready than I was. And God taught me a lot of really life changing lessons there. And I was so thankful. He was so gracious not to make me do that in front of all the people we were gonna work people we were going to work for for the next 10 years. Did you teach there as well? I did not, okay. I actually helped the school as the school hostess. So when the kids, the missionary kids, parents, would come in, I'd make sure everybody had a place to stay, and often to always we had somebody stay with us, which was so fun
  
  Leslie Widmer 8:23
  that 13 years, that was a season of just, it was so wonderful for both of us, because we both our gifts were used. I mean, it was just God was so gracious. It was just the perfect I loved that ministry. It was just awesome
  
  Leslie Widmer 8:40
  and but so then I worked as hostess for the school, took care of the visiting families, and I also would have Bible study in my home with the Venezuelan women. Okay, wow, and it was that was pretty awesome. And I actually had a professor who was a believer, who taught at the college there, who said she helped me teach it, but she didn't have patience for the one on one of going to their homes. And I said, That's right in my wheelhouse. Nice. So she teach, and I would do the one on one, just visiting, checking in, praying with them, seeing just how they were doing. It was, it was. And then we also, when you're at the school, you take a class from their freshman year to their senior year, and just do their birthday parties. You take them on outings. You're just kind of there for them. And so we did two of those classes, and the second time we did it, the freshman to senior was our oldest son, Sean and Michael Belch. So that was fun. Oh, fun. So tell us about how you've been involved at Faith, Bible Church since you guys have been back from the mission. Okay, we've done I've done Sunday school, and we've I did mom life for a couple years. I mentor. Right now, I'm mentoring four younger women in the church. It's really a joy to do that. My desire is that I can help them not waste time, don't waste the years. And I'm just I pray with them. We read Scripture, we just talk about life and where your struggles are, and let's find out what God's Word says. And.
  
  Leslie Widmer 10:00
  Let's let's change. So that's what I'm doing right now. We have a small group that we love being involved in small group, and
  
  Leslie Widmer 10:10
  I think that's and I've done missions, things like at women's Bible studies, and I've gone to women's Bible studies, but earlier on, when we first came back, I did a lot of the missionary spotlights for the women's Bible studies and things. So what has God been teaching you lately? God has been teaching me so many things, but I would say the first thing, one of the first things over the last few years he's been teaching me, and then I just finished studying Ephesians on my own.
  
  Leslie Widmer 10:35
  How awesome it is to be part of His church family, his family in the world, but how awesome the church family is.
  
  Leslie Widmer 10:43
  I had a great family. I was married into a really great family, really tight. But you know what? I need God's church family, and I want to give into it as well as I receive from it. And I think that has been really good for me and and God has been teaching me, you need to step out and do what I ask you to do and trust me to help you. Because I'm not always really comfortable doing one on one. I feel like, oh, there's so many people who know so much more than I do, but God has really impressed on my heart. You be obedient. I will supply what you need, and he has been super faithful. Wow, awesome. How can we be praying for you right now?
  
  Leslie Widmer 11:23
  I would love prayer for wisdom as I help these young moms come alongside. I mean, we, Tim and I both. We just love people. We love people. I want people to be encouraged in their faith. I don't want them to look back. I just want them to keep their eye on the prize. And so just pray that I would have wisdom and encourage people in that way, and so I would continue to be faithful in the word and in prayer. Great, great,
  
  Leslie Widmer 11:55
  cats or dogs. Neither pineapple on pizza. Yes, pets never. Favorite book besides the Bible, island of the world, nice. It's the best. Everybody should read it. Favorite band. Well, I'm gonna say favorite artist right now. I just was introduced to Ben Rector, okay? And I'm loving him. I mean, for secular I know it's not always the best, but
  
  Leslie Widmer 12:19
  I'll just put that caveat there. It's okay, okay, God can display His glory through artistic works by non Christians too. Exactly he that gift would be greatly used for the Lord's work if he was walking with Him favorite movie or TV show. Okay, I'm going with my heart warming while you were sleeping. Nice.
  
  Leslie Widmer 12:41
  My son in law hates it, and I love it.
  
  Leslie Widmer 12:44
  Best surprise gift you've ever gotten. This year's Christmas present, hands down, I got a diamond ring. Wow, do diamond rings. But it was, it was sweet. It was a best surprise. Nice. Was there a significant? Was an anniversary or just, just for the heck of it? Well, he actually said to me, you've had an interesting, harder year. And he goes, I just wanted you to know I noticed, and I love you. And I just thought, Oh, that was so sweet. What a good husband. Yes, our daughter started crying too. What would you do with the extra time? If you didn't have to sleep, I would read all night long. What kind of books I like history. I like spy novels. I'm not into science fiction ever. Okay, I like that as much as I like dogs and cats, so, but I am not I love any kind. I'll read books. People give me books, and I'll read it. So nice. Favorite place to eat out in Spokane. Well, I haven't been to wild stage yet, but I think that would be my favorite. Everyone tells me it would you have to, you have to go there. But for now, I would say we love to go to twigs. It's fun because, yeah, it's fun. Well, faith, Bible, church. Leslie is someone you should know. And Thanks for joining us, Leslie. Thank you. You.

Seth Weber

Seth is the Communications Director at Faith Bible Church and loves anything to do with design, video, audio and tech. He and his wife Kaitlyn have four children.

View Resources by Seth Weber