Welcome to the Hope Unlocked Podcast. I'm Kristen Kurtz, your host. I pray this episode is like a holy IV of hope for your soul. Please help me welcome Dion White to the show. I'm so excited to have her here today. Gosh, how long has it been since we first connected? I think back in 2020.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, then years, maybe nine. Six, seven years. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's wild. So she is a fellow, I don't even know, like fiery one. I feel like I'm fiery. She's fiery. And she's walked a really beautiful road and has had beautiful things happen and some not so beautiful things happen in her life. And yet she's still here. She's still helping others, setting them free. So I'm so excited to have you here today to share more about you and then also what you're up to these days with the Lord. So a little bit about yourself before we get into that.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much. And I'm really happy to be here with you. And just hello to everybody who is listening. I'm Dion White, as Kristen said, and I'm a wife and a mother. I have two beautiful adult-grown children. My husband and I have been married 28 years, and that's been a journey in itself, but God's been so faithful through that. I'm an ordained minister, an author, an artist, creative at heart. And more recently now I've started coaching women and helping them with their stories as an author coach and getting their books published. So it's a new season, and I'm really thankful for that.
SPEAKER_00It's amazing. So do you ever look at or when you speak out what you're up to? Do you ever get kind of surprised by that? Do you ever have kind of like, wow, Lord, like I get to do these things?
SPEAKER_01100%. 100%. I just because I think we don't ever really see ourselves as God sees us. But it's that like you've come into who God created you to be. And it's a long season of growing and preparation. And then I look back like even 10 years before now and going, like, I definitely was not ready for where I am now. So God knew what he was doing when I had answers to prayers from him that were like, no, not yet, kind of thing, you know. And so I'm like, oh, I see why now. You know, I've grown into who he's called me to be. It's not my identity because I'm his daughter, but I we are called to use our gifts and to step into what he's created us to be. And so I do look at that and go, wow, I just couldn't do this without him. And you know, he is the component that is the creative one. He is the speaker, the preacher, the writer in me. And I get to be that conduit for him and that partner with him of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00So good. So take
us back to Dion, who was the younger creative, like, you know, back maybe, I don't know, in your teens, 20s, like what did that look like for you? Did you have a feeling that you'd be doing these things? Was it on your planner that you'd be, you know, like it was the no not yet, but is this something that you've had like on your trajectory for a long time?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I grew up in a Catholic home. So I didn't really have like early revelation experience with Jesus as my savior. And so I grew up in a very loving, great home. My mom was a creative, so like the creative arts and things were important in our home, but my dad was really kind of serious. He was the lawyer, the businessman, you know, and so there was an interesting dynamic in the house. I was kind of a free spirit because I was an artist at heart from a young age, and my mom did actually recognize that gift in me, and she tried to cultivate that. So I was a little different from the other children. I was the fifth of five, and I was kind of that one that they couldn't fully tame, so to speak. And my dad, being such an intellectual, didn't fully understand the creative mind or like the artist kind of person. And so that was kind of difficult growing up, but I always had a propensity towards painting and creating, writing, drama, something in the creative arts. And I had teachers that when I was young in elementary school that recognized that too. So it was cultivated and called out at a young age, but I was in the world, and so I sought worldly things with my art as a teenager. I spent a lot of time in the art room in high school. It was my favorite thing to do, and I wanted to go to art school and university in Illinois. Well, actually, I wanted to go to the Chicago Art Institute, and that never happened, but I did want to go into art and design because I just always had a love for it. Um, and so life things happened, things changed. I never went down that road. And I actually look at it as a protection from God because I would have gone into a very, very liberal world with the arts. And instead, in a few years after that, I had an encounter with God. And so then my art became Jesus-centered, like the gospel centered, the message of hope, the message of life and light and inspiration. And so I look at that back now, going, thank God he didn't answer my prayer to go to university, because who knows where I would have been today. I don't know and what my art would have been like. But yeah, so I just it was a little hard though, because I write about this in my first book, The Art of Freedom, that my dad, when he asked me what I wanted to do when I was growing up, and I said, I want to be an artist. And he says, We can't do that, you'll starve. And I think we've all heard that if you've been an artist, starving artist, right? Yeah. And that really kind of discouraged me. So it set me into a rebellion in my teen years. And that's when I got into a little bit of trouble with worldly things, the wrong people, the wrong things. And but God had his hand on me. I always had a knowing of God. I even remember when I was a little girl, I would talk to God because my mom was such a woman of faith, even though we were Catholic, not like the fiery ones like we are, the burning ones, but just a real faithful woman. And she modeled prayer. And so there was the seed of that early too. And so I just think, you know, even though my dad discouraged me and wanted better for me, I later found out that was a generational thing because he kind of did the same thing, and his dad said, You can't do that. You need to get a real career and provide for your family kind of thing. Okay. So he was living out the generational pattern, and then I had to break free from that, which I did. The Lord brought me out of that, those generational patterns and into a place where he reminded me that you know, an artist isn't my identity, but being a creative is part of his identity, and that's what he made me, and I needed to embrace that.
SPEAKER_00So, what did that look like for you to step back into the creative aspect that is within you?
SPEAKER_01I began to just paint like in my own time of hobby, like hobby, and and I used it as a therapeutic getaway from the world and from a work, you know, a job that was kind of demanding. And so I I always was doing something, but I never really put like my full effort into it. And I was always writing, but I it was just for me, and it was in my journals and different things like that. But so when people started recognizing that I had a talent, so to speak, they were encouraging me to do more with
it. And so there was years though, Kristen, I was chronically ill, and I remember for those 10 years, I wasn't creating. And one of the this quote I came across, I don't know if you know who it is, but Ray Hughes, have you ever heard of Ray Hughes? So he has a quote that just really rocked me when I read it. He said, Impression without expression leads to depression. And I had realized at that moment, one of the reasons I was depressed and in a chronic ill statement, state of life, was because I wasn't creating, I wasn't expressing what God was giving me. I wasn't releasing those impressions from God because I was saved at this point and living for God. And so I started just small, I started painting again, watercoloring. I would make cards for people, scrapbook, any way I could physically at that time, because I had chronic fatigue at that time and fibromyalgia. And I was just doing what I could do to kind of have a little therapeutic getaway. And when I stepped back into it, it was like God led me to do prophetic art in my own time to bring emotional and physical and mental healing to myself. He used my creative gifts to bring healing and deliverance to me. And I didn't even know at that point what prophetic art even was. And then he taught me through it that you had to recognize the pain, but he wanted me to create or paint the promise. And that was his phrase to me. Because, and I'll just say this: the as people of faith, we don't live by sight, and so we have to remember, we have to live from his word by faith and by the promise. And that means that those things sometimes are not yet seen. So it's detrimental to ignore the pain and not and deny it that it's not a reality because it was a reality for me, but I had to grab a hold of the promises of God and focus on that and create from that place.
Yes. I feel I feel like somebody's listening in today, and I and I've actually talked to quite a few people who have like this creative gift in them, whether it's through writing or painting, or you know, every I feel everybody is creative. Like I wouldn't necessarily call myself a professional painter, but there's very it's a very therapeutic process. What would you say to somebody who is listening in today? And I think one of the main things that I hear is like, well, I just don't have time, or I don't know what to do, or you know, I don't, I'm not good enough. You know, all the lies that come for people, like, what would you say to them to kind of take that step in just to start? You know?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I would, well, first of all, I don't they are lies, but I think they become excuses because we're good procrastinators. And I think one of the things is that we don't do something that we don't have knowledge of. And so if you can identify what you like and what you think you have maybe a skill for or a desire to learn, I would just say sign up for a class, go on a retreat, a creative retreat, something like that, invest in yourself because that's what I did. Invest in a mentor or a coach and get around other people who are creative as well and doing the same thing because in that community of people or at a retreat, you'll be inspired and encouraged. And then when once you start doing it, God's gonna meet you there and you're gonna have encounters with Him and it's gonna just benefit your whole person, spirit, soul, and body. I would just say that like you really need to look at like if you don't have time, what are you spending your time on? Because you could be trying sitting down to write a poem, you could be taking a watercolor booklet with you to the park if your kids are playing. I mean, like, there's just so many ways you can incorporate if you're traveling on a plane, have a travel kit of some kind. Like I take watercolors with me when I go on vacation in a small because I know it's set aside time, undistracted, and I can I can paint if I want to paint on my trips, even. So I think you just have to make the choice to invest in yourself for it because God invested it in you already. And it's an honor to do it for him, and just try not to give in to an excuse, like I don't have time, and look and see, well, what are you spending your time on, really?
SPEAKER_00Right. That's so good. So do you remember like during that time you had, you know, you had you were going through a lot of pain. Do you remember the maybe one of the most impactful paintings that you painted with the Lord as like a prophetic, like visual? Do you remember?
SPEAKER_01Yes, I do. And I was actually in counseling at the time because I was seeing a counselor in addition to the physical pain that gave me limitations to do physical things. I was depressed and I had anxiety and just felt like I had no hope because I wasn't finding anybody to give me hope. I was in church at the time and wasn't really finding any help from my church. They didn't believe that people needed deliverance if they were sick or anything like that. And so I felt really stuck. And so I was in counseling at the time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I had found a lady who actually was spirit-filled to counsel me, and she just began speaking life into me. And I remember during that time, I had gone to, I chose to go to a creative retreat. And it was the first time that I went away and drove myself over 30 minutes away in years because I had so much anxiety and fear around even getting on the interstate. And I remember coming back from that retreat inspired, and I was sitting, I could still see it in my mind's eye. I I was sitting in what would have been our dining room then, but I made it my art studio area, and I was listening to worship music, and I heard the phrase after the rain. And I started painting this flower, okay, like an echinacea flower, right? One of those cone flowers, which by the way, they represent healing. And so, yeah, they're a form of healing. Yeah. Did you know that? So I was painting that, and I just remember moving through emotions of some sadness, feeling pain, some thoughts. And I that's when I heard the Lord say, You can recognize the pain, but I want you to paint the promise. And so in that painting, I ended up painting what looked like rain kind of coming down on it and flowing over it and dropping down. But on the very left side of that painting, I kind of had like a dark shadow look, but it was this progression from dark to light and more like rainbow colors. And so there was life as you progressed through and your eye carried over to the flower blooming, the rain washing, cleansing it. And I don't know. And so I ended up giving that painting to my counselor because I felt that was a result from just how she had helped me come through that time. And so it's called After the Rain. Yeah, I remember it so clearly. Wow. And how how many years ago was this? That was 11 years ago.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Wow. 12. 11. I'm thinking like it's at least 11 years ago now. I'm thinking it's 2026. So yeah, that'd probably be 11 years ago now.
SPEAKER_00Okay. And so I feel like, you know, just even capturing as well that you you took a step to reach out to somebody to get help. To have something.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because it was kind of taboo, right? You don't go to a counselor because if you're a Christian, sometimes I've been told in the past,
like, you don't need counseling, you just need to go to church, you just need, you know, to have more faith, speak in faith.
SPEAKER_00And you shouldn't have anxiety, you shouldn't, shouldn't, shouldn't, shouldn't.
SPEAKER_01A lot of shouldn't. But what I shouldn't have done was listen to those people. And I should have listened to the Lord. And I started asking, I actually asked our pastor's wife at that time, do you know of anybody that I could go to? And she referred me to this lady, and it was just, it was a godsend. She was awesome. And what I really loved about this lady, and I'll just put this out there for people who might be going to look for counseling or therapy, because I think it's so important to talk about things to get it out, was that when she saw me the first time for my first consultation, she said, I don't want to see you forever. You're supposed to get well and whole and move on. So I'm going to say you might come to me seven, eight times, maybe ten at the most, depending on how you do. And so she had this timeline that she thought she could help me and release me back again. And and I it was like seven times. I saw her for like two and a half months at the most. That was those seven times broke up, and that was it. And I I had deliverance coming, healing coming. I had a renewed sense of hope and a renewed sense of my creative gift returning. And so I think it's important you find somebody who sees the end result of you being well and healed, and not somebody who wants to captivate you and make you be their client forever, you know. Right.
SPEAKER_00Yes, that's so good. So, yeah, so if you're listening in today and and this is something that you know you feel prompted to, you know, Dion was was walked through some valleys with somebody who could come alongside her for two and a half months. And in that time, like you had accelerated healing and deliverance, which then propelled you into that next step of what you were called into. Because, like for you and for me, like for those of you who are listening, a lot of times the th the very thing that we're called into, there's gonna be there's gonna be a lot of resistance against it, right? Right. Whether we come whether it comes with different, you know, physical symptoms, or you know, maybe you could talk a little bit more about you know some of the things that you've recognized recognized over time with you know being a minister, being a creative, being an author, speaker, all of the things that those things that you've come into, and even the people you've walked with as well.
What is that resistance looked like? It's is it familiar to you? I mean, how do you push through it?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think everybody has different propensities and like weaknesses, and the enemy knows those weaknesses, and so the battlefield for me was truly in my thoughts, my thought life. So for me, per for instance, I dealt with depression and had depression, and then the Lord delivered me from that. But my husband doesn't know a day of that, he doesn't know what it's like to be like that because the enemy will resist him and come at different ways, right? So I think that's important to understand is it's gonna, it may look different for everybody. And so the resistance would come with trying to silence my voice, making me feel like I didn't have anything to say of worth, or that I would be listened to, or just even almost a physical sensation, like I can't breathe, catching my breath, having fear around if I say it and say things. And so there was fear, there was that feeling of being silenced, and then the physical, if if he didn't, if the enemy didn't triumph in that area, at least for a short time, it would hit something else, and I would be hit with sickness, different sicknesses. I would be particularly like respiratory sicknesses, and I think that's interesting because I use my voice for God, right? And so taking my breath, and so I saw physical ailments come and go. I I would have dreams that would show me kind of some things that the enemy was attacking me at, and then slander of a character, and that's one thing people you know would do, like with accusations or slander to try to assassinate your character. And so the enemy has all these different tactics, and so I've seen it probably like that, where I have been silenced or denied, or flat out told you're not called at all, don't do it, just stop. You need to quit. And so, like some of them have come very forward, like through people, and then there's the mental warfare, the mind warfare, even dream warfare and tormenting of thoughts. And so, and it's really hard. It's really hard. You have to get into the place of just under God's refuge and into the place of peace to hear his thoughts, you know, and surround yourself with people who will pray for you through that. And so that's kind of what it looked like for me. And there was times where I didn't, Kristen, have the motivation to paint or write, and I wanted to isolate myself. And so I felt like the one of the resistance and the tactics that the enemy would use would try to bring me to a place of isolation and exclusion to exclude me, making me feel not like accepted or fitting in somewhere. So I'm not sure if that's what you're asking for, but those are the things that I remember.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And I I feel like, you know, a lot of us, you know, maybe you could talk a little bit more as well. about like the prophetic and just have something some of the the giftings that you carry you know so many
even in the Bible like we're set apart and we also don't fit in as well in in some ways how have you well let's let's maybe share a little bit about your like when did you start to like recognize that you have prophetic gifting because you have a lot of powerful words that you have released and of course it's the very thing again coming against the voice what did that look like for you to have a neighbor waving his voice nice neighborhood I live in what is what does it look like for you to like learn that you had you know this prophetic gifting maybe we'll just start there I feel like I just want to cover that a little bit as well yeah I think it's something to point out is that I myself and I know of many like women I've met heard over the years who have a prophetic who have a prophetic calling on their life especially the real sensitivities to the things of the spirit the atmosphere there that might be a feeler just have the high discernment and things like that.
SPEAKER_01I noticed that there's a pattern that we fight a lot of mental warfare and maybe something like depression. And I think about Elijah in the Bible when the spirit of Jezebel that not even the spirit of Jezebel the Jezebel queen the person Jezebel you know threatened him that she would kill him. And one of the things I teach people is like look she didn't even go to him herself she sent word she sent a message so the enemy's weapon was words and by that spirit of death assassination it carries that with it. And so it sent him into that place of despair and depression and I can relate to that and I think a lot of people who are prophetic have had to fight that in one way or another or come into a season of what we might reference the cave or despair and feeling lost or hopeless when that's part of the warfare against a prophetic person. And it is true you do feel different because you're more in tune with the things of the spirit you have a very close relationship hopefully with the Holy Spirit. So you're seeing things symbols maybe numbers things that speak to you. I know Kristen like words even words for you phrases like the Holy Spirit speaks to us that way and there's people who don't pay attention or have that awareness. And so our life is kind of like prophetic and it we almost like live it in a way like something that's gonna happen in the spirit we might be living it in the natural before it even happens in the natural and so I feel like with my journey I was telling the story yesterday because I'm actually helping start a prophetic community at our church which I'm super excited about because it's gonna be a house a place for prophetics to come those who don't feel like they have found a place to belong and we're gonna train up and activate people to build a prophetic community. And so I was telling this story yesterday about how I've always been an encourager all of my life I wanted to be a cheerleader was never built for it so I didn't make a cheer squad I became a basketball player instead but I always was a cheerleader I was always wanting to champion people and encourage people and so that was always kind of part of me. And then when I came more into the freedom of the spirit being delivered and healed getting dreams and things like that coming out of a religious system and walking into my calling more as a woman and you know in ministry and things like that I I realized I was actually prophetic. Like I was encouraging people and speaking things of encouragement, edifying them and I'm like okay oh I think I'm prophetic when I started realizing even that the call required consecration and purity things that God was asking of me to let go and give up in life and just went through this season of consecration I had dreams that like I'm really I'm really careful about who I tell this to because sometimes you know people might not believe it or whatever. But I had dreams of a particular season when it was coming into my calling in a greater way where I saw like a coal touch my lips and we know that that's purifying the lips to deliver a message right or I see a scepter. And so God was showing me things like hey this is who you're supposed to be I'm calling you into this and that's why you're going through this and that's what you have fought against people trying to stop you because of your calling and so it's it's a real thing for prophetics to find other prophetic people but we all need each other in the body the fivefold ministry and if you can find some people who are gifted like you like I call it the same spiritual DNA kind of like you and I have it helps because we then understand each other and we learn you know we have a language that we can speak to each other that we might not be able to speak to a pastor even or a neighbor but we could still be the light we could still encourage people in the marketplace and be prophetic in everyday life and that's just kind of what it evolved into and I would receive words from the Lord when I was in worship and intercession particularly and that's when I started realizing this is so much bigger than just a little bit of an encouraging gift. This is to help the body of Christ you know come back into alignment with God come into a place of consecration and purity to prepare the bride to prepare the way for the return of the Lord. And so those are there's been different seasons of heavier things like that and then quieter seasons too and so I it's so important for us to find people who are like minded like spirited and like like DNA so to speak.
SPEAKER_00Yeah absolutely because then honestly like because then I don't know about you but you'd be like am I just crazy and then you start talking to different people and they're like yeah I'm having similar dreams I'm getting similar words I'm and then you're like wow you know it's when I first started finding more people I was like oh my gosh like this is this is amazing like this is wonderful.
SPEAKER_01So I want to I want to I just want to declare something even right now it's something the Lord gave me yesterday when I was having this conversation was that I just want to make a declaration that prophetic prodigals are coming home because I think they've been scattered and I really believe the Lord wants to lead them to a place of community and family. And I believe that he's beginning to open the eyes of leaders and pastors and places they're open more to the prophetic but because that the prophetic has been under attack a lot of places are shutting it down again. But I want to make the opposite declaration because I literally heard the Lord say prophetic prodigals are coming home. And so I believe that there's prophetic people listening to this today that God is going to lead you to a place a community a group somewhere where you can feel like you have found your people and you can you know belong and have community and be built up and activated to go use it for the goodness of the world and the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00Yeah thank you for that I feel like that is a now word for sure because and especially the timing of you just having this meeting yesterday is this community that's being built is that an in-person and an online type of community or what does that look like?
SPEAKER_01Right now it is in person and it's it's much needed where we live and just to tell people where we live we live in Lancaster County Pennsylvania which is a huge population of Amish and Mennonite people traditional you know hundreds of years of families are here and there are people hungry for God hungry for this move the spirit and so that's happening here but right now this is going to be an in-person thing with our church. So but it we're gonna be equipped to go out and so unfortunately it's not online right now.
SPEAKER_00Yes. So if anybody's listening just we'll just pause for a second if anybody's listening and happens to live nearby you what might be the best way for them to touch base with you and hear more about it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah so they can reach out to me through my contact form on my website which is dion white ministries it's my full name altogether dot com.deonwhite ministries dot com. Yeah and if you live local you want to find out where I go to church or if you could be a part of that just message me and I'll I'll connect you with the right people to do that.
SPEAKER_00Okay sounds good because I was like we got to make sure that they know how to get in touch with you if they're listening one more about this. Okay so I'm just thinking back to Elijah and and some of us who've maybe had some cave time seasons which I actually think are, you know, God can take us to a quiet place for for a time as well just to be removed from the noise that the world is very noisy. There's a lot of voices there's a lot of things happening right now right what what did it look like maybe in
a season that you've been kind of in that cave time to come out how did you how did you come out?
SPEAKER_01What did it look like for you to use your voice on a on a broader level yeah well let's see I think I want to just go to what was the most recent experience we've talked about was last year. So I was doing things for like 10 years straight of certain things in ministry and art and mentoring and God had relocated us here three years ago we're going on our fourth year of being here and there were like I was telling you earlier Kristen there was some things that just didn't work out there were broken relationships some disappointments feeling like did we really hear you God is was this what we were supposed to do and of course he was so kind to remind me of all the confirmations and the ways he called us here and showing me even now the the goodness of him and the blessings of how of being here and so I had to throw that thought out yes we heard him yes we're supposed to be here but things happen right so he put us we had to separate from some people and a ministry and we were just feeling lost. And so we we went into this time of retreat particularly myself and the Lord said that he was putting us in a reset season and he was resetting a lot of things going to realign our path and put us on a new path and just restore us in a greater way from some things that had happened. And so I kind of went on a sabbatical early 2025 and I that's not uncommon for me because I get off social media once in a while and take a sabbatical and you know shut out the noise and just kind of re-regroup and but it's never for very long but about a couple months into the sabbatical I'd been sitting with the Lord and I started feeling this really really heavy sense of death and this grief. And I thought what is happening this is very odd and I began to feel very isolated and I realized my sabbatical probably came to an end and I was supposed to kind of re-emerge that the Lord had led me to that place. But the enemy started really coming against me and he kept me isolated and he began to start making me feel like I had lost my purpose. I didn't know what I was doing just seeking direction for being here that kind of thing and like what I had to say like I said earlier what didn't matter what was the point who was going to listen and my eyes were on the natural I'm gonna just say that because things weren't like materializing like I thought. And then the Lord took me into that place and said no you have to look at this in the spirit you're being reset but then the enemy came and capitalized on that isolation season and he kept me there for a while and I started praying about like what was happening. I didn't really know and I just felt like a chapter was closing and there was a redirection with that reset of what I was going to do but I didn't know what that looked like. And so I even talked to my doctor about it like I don't know what's going on. I'm not on antidepressants. I didn't get medication or anything I just kept showing up with the Lord and sitting with God. And so how did I re-emerge from that? Well before I tell you that I I wanted to say I know that it was about this time last year I was really probably at the lowest of the season and then Charlie Kirk was assassinated. And I know like I told you that people have different opinions and thoughts about him but this was more than just about this person who people called a podcaster an activist or whatever. I looked at him at it in a as a different person. But when that happened his voice was silenced in the natural and that really hit me spiritually that shook me and really gripped me to my core I felt that in the spirit and I felt this fire rise up in me that said that said I said I have to do something and it was I'll try to summarize the story I was just grieving. I was like this is this is unbelievable this is a spiritual assassination I I'm just like I know people might not understand that there are people who might not understand that but he was a voice of truth he was a voice and a of for God he led people to God he was he was just uh he was a person who was for all things good and like it was about being representative representative of the Christian faith and he was taken out and I thought that could be any one of us we don't have the platform he did but it could be any one of us if we had similar views or things to say right and so I was just really rocked by that and I felt like even deeper into that hole that the enemy was surrounding me in people are like oh just come out of it you know shake it off you know and people are moving on and then people are dishonoring him and his wife and I was like Christian I don't understand this is this is unbelievable what's happening but at the same time his voice was multiplied through people around the world his death brought multiplication and that's what happened to me like a fire rose up in me and I said I got to speak up I can't let the enemy keep me silent anymore. I've been silent for six months and I said I can't let him do that anymore and I said I don't know what I'm gonna say but when I re-emerge I'm gonna say something because the Lord said open your mouth and speak because I had to break it I had to break that off of my voice and I repented for agreeing even with that in that season that I agreed to the silence you know and so it was the day of his memorial I I came back and I started to speak up and God began to give me just a fire to do something and I that's when I thought what am I going to do? How am I going to do this? Should I go try to register people to vote? Should I join turning point you know like it's just have all these thoughts and I'm like I'm already a good citizen I vote I teach my kids to do these things and they make their own choices but it was just like what can I do to make a difference how can I multiply this because we're supposed to be multipliers for the kingdom make disciples right say that again say that again we're supposed to be multipliers for the kingdom we were we were to make disciples and that looks different ways and that's when God began to show me I needed to step into the author coaching which people had been asking me to do for some time. Oh they had they had for years I'd been asking people how do you write a book can you help me write my manuscript and
so I just didn't know how I was going to do it. And so long story short we were sitting in a theater and I saw the preview for the movie The Great Awakening and in that movie they showed the Liberty Bell. There's so much backstory to this like we don't have time for it all but the Liberty Bell is part of my history I live near Philadelphia now like not too far. It's just kind of crazy and I saw the Liberty Bell and I just got chills all over me when I was watching that trailer for that movie. And I started to cry and I heard the Lord say that's what you're gonna call it like my coaching group you're gonna call it Liberty writers because you carry Liberty and I just was like it was such this resolve and I just had this confidence and courage and fire rise up and I was like yes that's right I love it. And I'm like this was in a movie theater that you got it was in a it was actually in a local like live theater we were going to see a show and they this that same theater produced movies and they produced the Great Awakening and so it was just wild and if anybody hasn't seen that movie I highly suggest it it's amazing.
SPEAKER_00It's so good.
SPEAKER_01So good and it was just this you carry liberty and it doesn't it wasn't necessarily about like the patriotic political thing of government or our nation it was about the liberty of God the liberty we have in Christ right those in Christ are set free. And he reminded me Dion you carry liberty your book your first book was the art of freedom like and so like we forget these things sometimes when we get into a place of warfare and so it was just that's what started it all like the fire the God reminding me and then him showing me that there was a time coming I was going to be delivered from the season I was in and it was like clockwork and hope returned and it was like boom multiplication acceleration it was unbelievable. I I just I sit here and I just was like I don't even recognize the person like I was last year at this time unbelievable what God has done.
SPEAKER_00Yeah and it's amazing to like I like to like remember reminded I call it reminded to remember so to have that moment of just you know as you're recalling today like what what it looked like and we were talking before we got started you know what it looked like a year ago and to take those moments and see like he literally walked you through this and through not only through but out of it. So when when was it that you were in that theater like December.
SPEAKER_01Just December so that's December it was December like 18th I think we went to see that show locally and then they they rolled they played the trailer in that show.
SPEAKER_00So what is Liberty writers and then what did it look like for you to because I think you know I want to just kind of capture I'm an ideator I get a lot of ideas and it's like okay Lord that's a lot like how do we do this and especially if you get something that maybe you've never done before like this was a new thing for you right yeah maybe the first question that we often will say is well how right so what did that how process look like for you and how did you walk this out to eventually deliver this to others to then deliver them into their next step.
SPEAKER_01Yeah so the the how okay I asked that question how do I do this I was asking that for a long time how do I coach these women I didn't it was kind of like I used to like mentor women on one-to-one basis and I was there was more demand and so I was like how do I do this I need to do this in group form and so I have I've run other groups before for my book groups and and prayer groups and things so I knew how to gather and facilitate for group and I'm like okay so this is going to just have to be a group somehow but I wanted to create a course for people to go through to learn how to write a manuscript and they would get live coaching with me throughout the course as well through the program. And so when I decided to do Liberty Writers Collective I was kind of refining all of it in my thoughts with the Holy Spirit writing things down but I just felt like I don't know I don't know really how to materialize this. And so I saw this ad come up to join a business coaching collective and it was a Christian business coaching collective and the it was talking to people like me are you a leader a minister somebody who has a mentor an idea have you launched things before and they maybe not have done what you wanted to are you changing directions are you in a reset so there were keywords that like spoke to me and so I took this workshop from this from this business coach. It was all an All ladies coaching group. And I took the workshop for five days. And I thought they were asking, like, what's your idea? What would what do you think? And so I was juggling between two ideas, but the main thing was I need to materialize this author coaching thing, you know. And and so I ended up signing up for the business coaching. So I all this this year I invested in business having a business coach to be able to learn how to make a course and promote it and I you know identify who your people are and and you know all of those things. And so that I invested in myself and it was a it was a risky thing because I didn't know like if this was going to pay off financially, even and I was but God kept saying, do it, just jump. Just take that, yeah. He would say, just jump. And it was a step of faith because I was tired of where I was and I needed guidance to where I was going to. And so because of that, I was able to get my curriculum and my workshop and the program launched by April 1st of last this past this year. It was this year. And so I have different different ways that people could come into it, but it was just this heart to not just teach people how to write a manuscript, but to unlock their voice to help them cultivate the craft of writing, their message, and then release it and for the glory of God. And then also within it, I really developed the whole author. We deal with spirit soul and their craft of writing. So you're not going to come into me and not get away with me challenging your thoughts and doubts, fears. And so I coach the whole author, really. And so I just invested in myself in business coaching. And that business coach was pretty, she's a stickler. And so they put they push you, you know. But a coach is supposed to push you, right? Right. If you have a goal and they keep you accountable for the things, and so I was able to do it. But honestly, the Lord just came through because I was somewhat technically challenged, or at least I thought I was.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01But I've developed a whole course online through a program. I had to relearn a whole software. And honestly, a year ago, with the my way my mind was, I felt so locked up and silenced. I couldn't think, Kristen, I couldn't even create. Like it's a miracle, really, that I was able to do what I did. And I just I feel like myself again doing what I'm doing, creating content and coaching people for the kingdom of God, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well good.
SPEAKER_00And on the other side of that, like, what has been the result for the people that were able to step into it? Because I like to say, like, your yes has generational implications. So the people that were were in essence waiting on your yes to do this, because you had a choice. You could have not taken the risk and had somebody come alongside you. Because I'm just gonna put a little plug-in that coaches need coaches, just saying yes. So you invested in a coach as a coach. I did. On the flip side of that, you you launched this. What have you seen? Like testimonial, like you don't have to share names or anything, but you know, maybe some people who've come into what you've released, what did that look like for them to experience?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I have ladies at all different levels,
some who've never written a single thing before, maybe journaled. And then I have women who have who came in that had their manuscripts written, but they didn't have a clue what to do with them. They didn't have them properly formatted, and so it would have never been accepted as a publishing file. And so I had ladies that are working through pain and past experiences of writing from say childhood. And so I'm walking this out with different types of women, but helping them with a safe space to process, to encourage them, to really, yeah, just champion them and their stories. And so right now I have, I'm trying to think how many women I have that are I have thinking like seven that are in the process of writing their manuscripts. And I know I have two that have finished their manuscripts already and they're preparing for editing and self-publishing. And so I'm like their doula, okay, like the book coach doula kind of thing. So I'm like, I want to see this baby birth. Like, let's go, let's see that book manifest because when you get it in your hands, you're gonna just you're gonna say, I can't believe I did this. God Lord, how did you like put this in me to do? It's gonna be an incredible feeling, like having a baby. Yeah, something a newborn, of something in your hand. And so, so I have them at all different levels, and then I have another group that is a monthly like membership group. And these are for people who aren't writing maybe their manuscript yet, but they're discovering am I called to write? Do I have a message? Am I getting comfortable with my voice? And it's a little bit more of a nurturing, not an intensive, immersive, like I'm writing my book kind of place. So I have two different kinds of places that people can kind of find as they come in. And I had some of these women that, you know, are coming in and I'm just so honored because their stories are incredible. And I'm just like, wow, I get to help them write that. Then they're gonna help other people. And then I have the other women who have so much knowledge and they're writing, you know, from their knowledge of their career, health, and wellness. And so it's just it's been really amazing. And I've had them tell me, thank you for creating this space because I didn't know what to do. Yeah, isn't that amazing? It is amazing. I mean, I give, of course, glory to God, but yeah, he had my yes for that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so incredible. Well, you have some book babies. I know you mentioned the book babies. Do you would you mind sharing again the names of your books? And then I think you maybe have a new book baby coming, but have you is that when is that coming? Can you tell us a little bit about it?
SPEAKER_01I love you. You're so sweet. So before I even tell you the names of my books, I never saw myself as a writer. Never. I wrote, I prayed, journaled, you know, I wrote poetry, but I think because of some of the early seeds of the lack and doubt of creativity that was sown in me, I never saw myself as a writer and I never saw myself as intellectually smart enough to even figure it out. But I invested in an author coach when I was writing my first book because I didn't know how to write a manuscript. So I invested in a coach again. And so it's so important. And I learned through that experience and became certified even to coach, right? So that was really important. And I remember when I was writing my first book, writing my first book, I'll say it like in quote, air quotes, because I did not know I was writing my book. I was documenting my encounters I had with God and my revelations and things I was getting. And I was sitting at my kitchen island and I never forget I was writing, and the Lord said, You're writing your book. And I laughed at him. I laughed out loud because I thought that's funny. Yeah. Sometimes I don't write, I'm not, I'm not an author. I don't write books. Yeah. Yeah. And he said, No, you're writing your book. And I thought, oh, I better take this seriously. And so it was like he deposited that in me to show me I'm an author. Because remember, he calls things that are not yet as though they are. And so I wasn't a published author yet, but I was an author. I was writing for him, right? And so that was my first book, The Art of Freedom. And it's primarily kind of my story mixed with prayers, empowerments, and journaling prompts. And it's my story of restoration and forgiveness and healing, deliverance, and really my story of transformation. And if you're a creative, you'll probably love the book because I talk about my creative journey with God, like I was sharing about with Kristen and how God brought me through depression, anxiety, delivered me from pharmaceutical drugs, and just put me on a path of health and wholeness. And so that's my first book. And then the second book I wrote was in 2023. It's just a smaller book, it's a topical book, and it's called 15 Keys to Recover from a Jezebelic attack. And it's my real reflections, my stories of the resistance, the hardship, the warfare. And God gave me the strategy to write for people how to be restored after going through spiritual warfare. And so one thing you have to know about that is that it affects our spirit, our soul, and our body. So you have to restore your heart, you have to restore your soul, you have to restore your body after you go through those warfare attacks. And if you are a prophet or you've been prophetic in any way and you're activated that way, walking in that, you probably have experienced some of the things that I write about. And I have heard incredible just testimonies from people who have read that book and saying, thank you for writing that. I felt like I was reading my story, and I've mentored multiple women and even men over the years through that book and just restoring hope and life to them again. And then my most recent book, baby, it is out. It is my children's book. So I'm so excited about my children's book called Little Bird Flies. And even though I'm an artist, I did not illustrate it, but I collaborated with an illustrator for symbols, colors, the character, everything. And that was derived from a poem that God gave me after my mom passed away in 2017. So that book was waiting for eight years to be birthed to find the right person to partner with to bring it to life. And now it's he's flying. Little bird is flying.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And I I mean, just think that that lie that you could have carried, you know, and flown forward with is I'm not an author. Yep. Just imagine, you know, and I think I'm not smart enough. That was the other one. There's so many.
SPEAKER_01I'm not smart. There's so many.
SPEAKER_00So many that that think that I mean it if you think about it, like it is an undertaking to publish a book. It it's an undertaking to take time to write and to get words out, especially if you, you know, I feel like, especially if you didn't do well maybe in English when you're in school, or somebody said something to you about, oh, this isn't good enough, or your grammar isn't right. But I've heard so many stories of you know, people that have like had that in their childhood, and then they're the ones that are writing multiple books. They're just like out there overcoming. I love the underdogs. Like the underdogs are my favorite. So if you're hearing this today, I feel like Dion, if you wouldn't mind just, you know, as we we do this today, for the one as I mentioned before, like would you just maybe speak a word over that one, like to encourage them or any other wisdom that you'd want to give them in relation, especially to writing paint, you know, anything that you're you want to just speak over them today?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Well, I just feel like for that one, whoever that is, that now is the time, because there is a window of grace that we are in to take advantage of the outpouring that is happening in the earth. And if you just partner with the Holy Spirit and give him your yes, you will be amazed at how he shows up and collaborates with you, co-creates with you, because he's wants to do that with you. And for those who have been had negative words, those negative word seeds spoken over them. I just want to even speak life over you instead. I speak life and life abundantly, that God actually has a purpose and a plan for you, like in Jeremiah 29, 11, with a hope and a future. Listen, I was hopeless last year. I felt hopeless, but I knew there was still hope because I knew the person of hope. And so I just declare that there is hope. That, and I just call forth even the dormant gift in you, the pla the things that you have wondered or you've kept in your heart. I just call that forth today in Jesus' name to be released. And that if you have felt muzzled and if you have felt silenced, I just say open your mouth and speak because that's what the Lord told me to do. Just speak it out. Give God your yes, because now is the time. There is such an incredible window of grace right now to build with God and do with God right now.
SPEAKER_00So good. Thank you, Dion. Wow. You are welcome. So would you be again just willing to tell us how to get in touch with you and where can they find out more about what you're up to and how they can get involved?
SPEAKER_01Sure. If you just go to my website, Dion White Ministries.com. It's kind of a hub. There is a link to the Liberty Writers Collective course on there. There is a contact form. You can contact me if you want to email me. There's my book links on there. I have my prophetic blog from years there, words of encouragement, hope, dreams, all different kinds of things. You can read how I write, get used to my voice a little bit, know how I sound. And then also you can follow me on Facebook at Dion White, and then I have a blue verified check mark on there so you'll know it's me. But yeah, that's probably the easiest way, Dion White Ministries.com. That's great.
SPEAKER_00Well, I'll I'll link everything in the show notes. If you guys are driving, please don't, you know, write or typing, subscribing. You can head to the show notes if you didn't catch that. So definitely touch face with her. And I am going to close with a hope unlocked anchoring verse. It's may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. And that's Romans 15, 13. So thank you, Dionne, for being a brave voice who's setting so many free. I will be back with another episode next week. Thanks so much.
SPEAKER_01Bye. Thanks, Kristen.