Equipping

The year after they arrived, Bay Area launched a serving initiative called “Fish and Loaves,” and the Wieduwilts signed up to serve in Student Ministry*. There, they met people like Michelle Goodacre, then a volunteer (and now a member of the BASM staff team). As they continued to grow a heart for students in BASM, Jake’s time in the Coast Guard grew short. He began looking for educational opportunities and next steps, wondering what could be next. The community that Jake and Sarah had built proved crucial to encourage and equip them in this season, and Jake began pursuing a degree from Liberty University, while continuing to serve in BASM and discern next steps.

*in yet another fun connection, Fish and Loaves is also when I started serving at Bay Area –also in Student Ministry – and where I met the Wieduwilts!

Jake soon joined Bay Area’s staff as an intern, working with Brian Hopper on missional communities and also assisting with local and global outreach. That opportunity led to the next one - an invitation to raise support to go through Bay

After ordination right here at Bay Area in June 2018, the Wieduwilts remained a part of the Bay Area family, joining the Easton campus where Jake was the Student Ministry Pastor and Sarah led worship. Jake had actually

Area’s two-year residency program. Jake and Sarah raised support, and in early 2017 Jake joined the residency alongside Joseph, now Bay Area’s partner in India. Together, these two men studied and prepared to pastor and lead. Jake focused his residency toward student ministry, while also learning to preach, disciple and shepherd others. He learned this all within the context of Bay Area, soaking in Bay Area’s culture and values from the start. helped launch Easton’s student ministry during his residency, and now, he got to build on that foundation. Beginning in early 2020, Jake served as Easton’s interim Campus Pastor, where he remained until mid-2021.

During that season, God laid the groundwork for a thriving church and thriving student ministry in Easton (in what is now Eastpoint Church), and built a foundation for ministry and a heart for students and for Bay Area.

After Sam Cassese took the reins at Bay Area Easton / Eastpoint Church, the Wieduwilts headed to Generation Church in Clayton, North Carolina where Jake served as their Discipleship Pastor, overseeing adult discipleship as well as children’s and student

While in North Carolina, both Jake and Sarah began to serve as substitute teachers in the schools in their area. It reconnected their hearts with

Meanwhile, Bay Area had been searching for a Student Pastor for almost a year. So when Jake texted Brian Hopper’s wife Suzi about ministries. He also had the opportunity to mentor and train local student ministry pastors in the area. Jake grew as a leader, learning to shepherd adults, serving team members, and a small staff. More importantly, he learned a lot about himself, including his passion for relationships. “Something I learned in Clayton is that I care more about relationships than the tasks of ministry,” Jake shared. The experience in Clayton would prepare Jake to lead and serve BASM’s staff, community group leaders, parents, and students even more effectively. their passion for students. In Jake’s words, “The questions and the way we were able to engage students when we were subbing - students are looking for hope, looking for love and not finding it in its fullest form. We saw how hopeless it was. And the Lord started to do a work in my heart.” a piece of furniture he was building, it started a conversation between Brian and Jake. A conversation led to a second, and to interviews, candidate visits, and now, what Jake calls a homecoming: “Bay Area feels like home because of the people.”

There are so many little dots to connect that I couldn’t possibly fit them in this story - you’re getting just the highlights here. From a neighborly acquaintance to serving in BASM, to Bay Area’s residency, to Easton and North Carolina, and now making a home back here at Bay Area, God has prepared and planned each step to bring us a Student Ministry Pastor who’s “grown up here” so to speak. At the same time, his experiences away from Annapolis have prepared him to return here, to partner with parents, to build leaders, and to point students to the hope of the gospel. Jake is excited to build on the solid foundation of Bay Area Student Ministry, to develop leaders, and to continue to grow roots here in this community.

So when you see them around town - whether at Bay Area or out in the neighborhood - be sure to say hi to Jake, Sarah, Parker, Jude and pup Neptune. I’m grateful that God’s providence brought them home to Bay Area for this season - and I can’t wait to see what God has planned in the months and years ahead for the Wieduwilts, for Bay Area, and for our students. If we have anything to learn from the story of Esther and the story of the Wieduwilts - we know that God’s plans are good and just right to prepare us for what’s ahead.