I’m CSPC elder Alex Widmer. Here’s how I’m living deeply. 

“I ran the Boston Marathon in 2024. Two days before the race, I threw up a post on social media asking people to sponsor me- not for me, but to send kids in Zambia to Young Life camp. I’d been drawn to Africa ever since filming a wedding in Tanzania in 2019. Something about the culture, the vastness, the way people worship the same God but experience Him so differently- it just resonated. When Boston came around, combining running with missions made sense. I raised $1,400 in 48 hours. Sent two cabins of kids to hear the Gospel. The whole thing felt almost too easy, and that’s when it hit me: When it’s not about yourself, asking for support is actually simple. I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t know what I was doing. I just took one step forward and said yes. And that small yes planted something in me I couldn’t shake.  When I got back from Boston and started hearing more about Africa -the statistics, the growth, the way God is moving there- I didn’t feel called to something heroic. I just felt curious. And I’ve learned that sometimes curiosity is enough to start. Sometimes obedience is just saying yes to the next small thing. For me, that meant reaching out to Lynne Robinson, who heads up CSPC’s Africa mission team, after a Global Missions night in fall 2024. She invited me to a Young Life Africa celebration in Atlanta that February. There, I met Pascal Dubois from Cote d’Ivoire. I had no idea what I was stepping into.

Pascal is a Young Life leader and CSPC mission partner. French is his first language, and when he speaks English, there’s this incredible clarity- no filler words, no ‘like’ or ‘you know.’ Every sentence lands with weight. As soon as we met in Atlanta, it felt natural right away. A few weeks later, he came to Knoxville and stayed with my parents. We’d sit and talk, and I found myself leaning in- wanting to hear everything about his family, his country, his work spreading Young Life to unreached parts of Cote d’Ivoire. One afternoon before I drove him to the airport, we stopped at Honeybee Coffee. I was pouring out my vision for Petro’s Chili & Chips -our family business- talking about legacy, storytelling, growing something for the next generation. Then I turned it back to him: ‘What do you need, Pascal? What story do you want to tell?’ He looked at me with tears in his eyes. ‘I am tired of the flies-in-the-eyes story.’ You know the one. The narrative where Africa is only poverty and tragedy, where someone from the West has to swoop in and save the day. He said, ‘There are faithful servants in our organization doing humble, quiet work. There are vibrant stories in the rich depth of them showing up day in, day out. I just want to be a better communicator. I want to tell the stories of wonderful people doing wonderful things.’ That wrecked me. Here’s a guy on the other side of the world asking some of the same questions I ask myself: How do I tell the stories that matter? How do I honor the people doing the real work? In Pascal, I saw someone who cared deeply about the people in his life- and who built his leadership around meeting their needs. In that moment, I realized God wasn’t just connecting me to Africa- He was holding up a mirror. Pascal wasn’t just someone I was helping. He was showing me an aspect of Christian leadership I had largely overlooked. God was calling me not just to grow into a better leader, but a more obedient leader.

I’m in leadership in a lot of areas- as a husband, a dad, helping run Petro’s, serving as an elder at CSPC. And honestly, my priorities get out of whack all the time. I do the things I want to do. I live comfortably. I naturally gravitate toward the fun stuff: the exciting projects, the big-picture strategy. But the real priorities? They’re usually not fun. They’re the hard, uncomfortable things: the conversations that need to happen, the people who need my time even when it doesn’t move my agenda forward. Pascal and I connect regularly now, and something he said on a recent call stopped me in my tracks. He’s planting Young Life in different parts of his country- meeting weekly with leaders, gathering everyone monthly. He told me, ‘I pray to the Lord, asking Him: Who is after me? Who will carry this vision when I’m gone?’ He’s in his 40s, already thinking decades down the road. But he said, ‘Until then, I need to share my vision all the time. And the way I do that is by being concerned for what the people I lead and serve are concerned about. I slow down. I listen. I tune out the distractions, and I make their burdens mine.’ And deep down, I think that’s what every Christ-following leader is really after. Often, we don’t envision it that way. We dream of big visions and grand projects. But the real work of Christian leadership is listening to the people on the front lines long enough and closely enough that their burdens become yours. From there, it’s asking: ‘What do you need? How can I help you get there?’ Pascal’s leadership is rooted in humility- in doing mundane, simple things consistently. That’s the Gospel way more than my whiteboard strategies and conference room meetings. Real progress comes through talking to people who are out there and asking what they need. And I’m learning that’s true whether I’m leading at church, at work, or at home.

When Pascal and I talk, I realize he’s teaching me way more than I could ever teach him. We FaceTime on WhatsApp -him six hours ahead, me sitting outside one of our Petro’s locations- and we just talk. When we first started, I didn’t even know if I’d get charged some crazy international bill. I didn’t care. I just called because I had access, and he answered because he had access. That’s when it hit me: We’re so close to the things we want to be part of, we just have to say yes. Open the email. Hit reply. Text someone and ask, ‘What do I do to get involved?’ The answer is simpler than we think. We just have to get out of our own way and take one baby step forward. That’s all I did. I took one step- use running in Boston to raise money for kids in Zambia. Then another step- sharing my curiosity about Africa with someone deeply connected to God’s work there. Another step- go to Atlanta. Another step- follow up with Pascal. And all of that led to the step of me reaching out on WhatsApp, and suddenly I’m talking to Pascal about what God is doing in Cote d’Ivoire while he’s asking how he can pray for me. It’s a two-way street of prayer and encouragement. And my life is richer for it. I don’t have some heroic story. I’m not doing anything crazy. I’m just saying yes. And through these conversations, God is prompting me to ask: Who is the treasure in front of me that I need to make a priority? And will I be obedient to that call? At work, it’s not the products we sell or the four walls of our buildings- it’s the people in them. At home, it’s not about an easy evening and Netflix. It’s about who needs me. God has made me a husband, a boss, a friend, an elder- who are the people around me in those contexts who need something from me? Am I aware enough to give it? Will I make their burdens mine? Also really important: Whatever’s inside my heart when they tap into me is what they’re going to get. So if I’m not spending time listening to the Lord, it’ll be really hard to extend patience, gratitude, any of the fruit of the Spirit. I can’t afford not to be in Scripture, because when people need me, whatever’s inside me is what they’re getting.

A few weeks ago, I said yes again to something I never saw coming. A guy from Young Life Africa called and said they’re organizing a trip to Cape Town in May to run the Cape Town Marathon. (It’s about to become one of the major marathons, the first on the African continent.) He asked if I wanted to recruit a team of 15 runners to train together, raise $50,000 to send kids in Africa to camp, and run the race together. My passport’s been expired since 2020. I haven’t traveled internationally since 2019. I’ve got four kids. I help run the family business. But I talked to my wife, prayed about it, and said yes. I love running. I love travel. I love storytelling and getting people excited about something bigger than themselves. Why wouldn’t I use the things I’m already wired to love to help kids hear the Gospel? The fun isn’t in the sacrifice- it’s in the obedience. It’s in doing what you love in a way that points people to Jesus. So what about you? If you like the nursery, volunteer in the nursery. If you like youth ministry, go there. If you like global missions and travel, there are outlets for that. The beauty of a big church like CSPC is there are infinite ways to serve. You just have to ask: What do I love? Then go find it. I promise someone will gladly follow up on your interest. But be ready: Just like in my relationship with Pascal, there’s a good chance God will grow you spiritually in ways you never imagined. In Cape Town this May, our team will celebrate together. Not because of anything we did, but because God allowed us to be part of giving kids a chance to hear the Gospel. Getting there just means putting one foot in front of the other and talking to people who love us. That’s not hard. That’s a blessing. And that’s what I’m chasing now in my life and leadership- not resume values, but eulogy values. The things people say at funerals about how you made them feel, how you pointed them to Jesus. That’s the aroma of Christ. That’s the point. And I just want to tap into that. I bet you do, too. The good news is- God grows our obedience through ordinary faithfulness, and saying yes is easier than we think. It usually starts with one small step.”