I wiggled my toes uncomfortably at the edge of the platform. The late autumn New England breeze could be felt high among the trees as my fingers clasped the harness that connected me to the rope. I was not one typically scared of heights. However, as I stood high above my team in the forests of Connecticut, I hesitated.

Two months earlier, I had taken a jump off of a small cliff into the waters of Tenkiller Lake. My lack of experience showed as I did not get my legs back underneath me as quickly as I should, and the result was a fractured bone that still was healing. The experience played like a recording over and over in my mind as I stood between the limbs.

I was helping lead an outreach team as we built trust and dreamed for the future. The ropes course in Connecticut was part of our service trip where we served and planned together for our work. I could feel the weight of my responsibility and my very recent failure as my teammates below began to offer encouragement and surprise as fear began to paralyze me. The more I thought about it, the stiffer I became. I just couldn’t experience the pain of jumping into another unknown.

Our brains rewire themselves when we concentrate on pain. The more we think about pain, the more anxiety and stress it creates. We begin to redefine the way our mind recognizes the intensity or threat of it. I truly believe God gave us the ability to experience pain so we could make wiser choices about our safety, health, and well-being. However, when we hyperfocus on it, it arrests our thoughts and imagination. Fear and avoidance can begin to hold us hostage.

We need a new imagination.

We need something new to see, dream, and think about.

We need vision.

Proverbs 29:18 reminds us that we need vision. The word vision here is a mental picture, a dream. It’s a future picture revealed to us about what could be.

Even so, what is fascinating is that without vision, we suffer.

The leadership at Stonecroft took to our knees in prayer, asking for a holy imagination. We wanted a picture of what could be, something we could work towards and dream towards that would give us hope and courage. It did not come in the form of anything new, but rather a return to our simple vision of seeing every woman reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.

We want to be clear about our call of evangelism – the work of prayer and the work of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus. We want to get back to trusting in and relying on the Holy Spirit as we engage in the sacred work of sharing the Gospel. We do it together, with clarity, focus, and tenacity.

That is why we have taken this last season to listen, repent, dream, simplify and clarify. We are laying the groundwork of deep prayer and good process that we hope will create the structure needed for Stonecroft to see her best years ahead of her.

Our audacious goal is clear. We want to see a Stonecroft initiative in every U.S. zip code in the next 10 years. This means women who are praying evangelistically, leading Bible studies with seekers, and hosting outreach events in approximately 40,000 locations across the country. We are not stopping there. We are dreaming of Stonecroft initiatives in 60 countries around the world. We are boldly asking God to open doors for us to reach women in places where we used to be, but also have never been. God can do it!

We accomplish that vision by mobilizing women to pray and proclaim the Gospel. In your apartment complex, farm town, neighborhood, retirement community or Zoom room. Every woman should feel confident and equipped to be able to discern where God might be leading her to share her faith. We want her to know she is not doing it alone. Stonecroft is a tribe of women praying for her and cheering her on.

The last few months, we have embraced the hard work of being clear about our mission, vision, and values. Our first organizational value, “Leading with Love”, means that we say our best yes to the things that drive our mission forward. It also means we say our “no” and “not yet” to things that distract us from fulfilling our unique calling in the body of Christ. Our changes are offered out of a commitment to loving both our current volunteers and the leaders yet to come. It means we adopt processes and policies that reflect integrity and good stewardship, honoring our standing as an organization and also the amazing generosity of the leaders that support us.

My heart is to fiercely serve a ministry that continues to flourish. That we erupt with stories of hope and boldness as we see women take their first, second, one hundredth faithful step in their community to share the Gospel. As we see women in every US zip code, and across the world, begin to pray evangelistically or start an outreach group, I want to look back in ten years and say, “Look what the Lord has done!” Can you imagine?

It requires change, and change can feel scary. Simplifying, clarifying, improving process all can inspire fear. You may be standing terrified on that platform too. I get it.

To Stonecroft nation, to my fierce tribe of wonderful and courageous women, I am inviting you in 2025 to “see” this vision with me. Every zip code. 60 countries. Every woman with an opportunity to hear that Jesus loves her.

This is not a jump into the unknown. This is us holding hands together and taking the leap, into a glorious, God-inspired future. It is us going after the mission with our whole hearts, unafraid. For the love of Jesus and the love of the lost. Let’s go!