April 2021 Newsletter

 

Greetings fellow Jesus Lovers!
This past weekend I was reminded of how the disciples listened and heard everything Jesus told them about how He would die and rise again in three days, but none of them expected what happened because they couldn’t even imagine what He was talking about.  Not only does God often talk in riddles, but humans have a hard time comprehending concepts outside our realm of experience.  We often try to find points of personal experience to reference and compare the concepts to in our mind.  I like to call it, the filing system in our brain.  When things confuse or perplex me, I say things like, “I don’t know where to file that in my brain.”  When we attempt to interpret spiritual revelations and truths with this natural processing system, it almost always results in misinterpretation, error, or “missing the mark” rather than “hitting the nail on the head”.

This is exactly what I experienced in 2019.  I know God has called me to nations and one of those nations is Panama.  In 2015, I experienced a trilogy of burning bush, turn aside moments where I encountered God in three very real, life changing ways.  God used these encounters to give me an assignment in Panama, which I believe is part of my life’s work.  This led me on a journey of several short term trips to Panama where God gave me some amazing confirmations to show me I am on the right track.  This journey also led me to a few conundrums outside of my realm of personal experience.  I prayed and moved forward in faith, believing I received clear enough direction for the next steps.  However, I was missing the most crucial piece, God’s timetable.  I believe God still intends to use me to implement the core concept of the vision I received; however, I now know I misinterpreted when I was to begin this work.  But God in His infinite mercy protected me from obstacles, like a global lockdown, I couldn’t fathom were ahead.

I’m now extremely grateful God told me no and not yet.  Because just like when I planned to go to Mozambique in March 2017, He protected me and made it abundantly clear I was supposed to go in November 2017.  I believe what I planned to do in Panama in October 2019 will happen, but only in God’s timing and He will let me know when the time is right.  My time in Mozambique and the process of getting there were invaluable lessons that prepared me for my inaugural trip to Panama.  And much like how God used the Kingdom Leadership Institute Brazil trips to train me how to do ministry and function as a more mature leader in the nations, God is now using Tanzania to train me and lay building block foundations in my life.

This past year, I’ve gone back to what I know to be true, submitted at a greater level to the leaders God has in my life, allowed God to show me where I’ve misinterpreted what He said to me, as well as allowed Him to reveal new ideas and strategies.  God is so loving and REALLY smart!  I’ve taken this time to focus on writing my testimony in book form.  The rough draft is almost finished and I hope to release the book sometime this year.  My relationship with God has grown deeper and I’ve become more settled.  I’ve learned who I am, more about what God has called me to do, and most importantly what He has NOT called me to do.  I don’t know the future, but I know I can trust God and relax into His timing.

For those who contributed and pledged commitments in 2019, rest assured your funds will be used for future Panama trips (or mission trips to other nations if you give us permission to do so), once the nations begin to open again.  We currently have an open door in Tanzania and plans are underway for a possible trip in June 2021.  I’ll be sending out more information about this trip in future newsletters, but donations are being accepted now for this trip.

​​​​​​​In Christ’s passion for nations,
Stacey White