Always Give God Your Yes
A conversation between Brittany Stokes (guest) and Devaughn Williamson (host).
Say Yes to God: A Story of Faithful Obedience
What does it truly look like to say yes to God when you don’t have all the answers? For Brittany Stokes, it meant walking away from corporate America, pressing through desert seasons of uncertainty, and launching a world-changing nonprofit focused on transforming orphan care at a global level. Her story is a powerful reminder that faithful obedience not clever strategy or certainty is what moves the heart of God and changes the world around us for His glory.
A Life Built on Trust in God
Brittany describes herself first and foremost as a servant of the Lord. While she is also a wife, a mom, a CEO, a friend, and a business owner, she knows that she is nothing without the Lord. That foundation shapes not only how she lives, but how she sees the world around her.
She and her husband, Kyron, approach their life and calling as a shared mission. While they may operate in different roles and have different careers, their direction and purpose is unified by trust in God. Brittany reiterates that her first ministry is and will always be her home.
Seed-Sowing, Serving Others, and the Holy Spirit’s Whisper
Brittany started off working in corporate America. Here, her life was high-speed and focused on brand management. She reflects now that while this season in corporate America provided financially, she felt depleted from Kingdom purpose. It is in the moments of stillness that the Holy Spirit in your life begins to speak and for Brittany, He kept whispering the name “Project Orphans” .
Bible verses like Isaiah 1:17 - “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow”, ignited passion in Brittany and led her to start serving others by pouring into ministries already focused on this mission.
For five years, Project Orphans existed solely as a way to serve others and sow into other ministries. Brittany poured into nonprofits, supported their missions, stayed committed to serving God, and seed-sowing without building something of her own.
Seed-Sowing Seasons Are Never Wasted
Looking back, Brittany sees those years of serving others as a season of preparation and learning. Gad has a purpose for your life be he often refines you before he releases you. Those years of serving God by serving others built a kind of faith in God that wouldn’t rely on immediate results or on other people.
Obedience to God Over Strategy
Eventually, Brittany stepped into what she felt God was asking her to do in putting legs to Project Orphan, even without having everything figured out. That decision led to the launch of Project Orphans as an NGO in Uganda. They started with serving at-risk youth with the help of local police and grew into schools, hospitals, community centers, and more.
Brittany’s posture in starting and growing Project Orphans was never about having the right plans or strategies in place: it was about obedience to God, even when faced with unknowns. To truly walk in faithful obedience, Brittany shares that you really need to work your faith muscles and do this often.
Working Your Faith Muscles
When asked about moments she has had to work her faith muscles, she had a few examples to share:
After a successful fundraising gala, she felt God ask her to immediately ask for support again, this time for a special needs center. This didn’t make sense to Brittany, but God’s faithfulness showed up for her and strengthened her faith.
When opening the Tulsa Girls’ Home, she even faced backlash from the local community and the news. In these moments, neither outcome was guaranteed, but Brittany knew she needed to but trust in God ccarried her through to see Him be faithful to His calling for her.
Give Your Life to God: The Posture of Surrender
At the end of the day, Brittany’s story isn’t just about building an organization. Her story is about giving your life to God, posturing yourself in surrender and a willingness to love and serve God and His people. This acts as a reminder that our purpose should never be something we control or perfect, but something we step into out of faithful obedience.
Often, our most meaningful impact doesn’t come from having a clear plan, but from being willing to say yes to God, again and again, even when it doesn’t make sense.
Here’s Brittany’s advice to listeners:
Be okay with inconveniences and God changing your worldview.
Stay open to God and your calling
Stay available to God
Don’t get so busy that you miss the needs right in front of you.
Be interruptible.
Strengthen Your Faith: Key Takeaways from Brittany’s Story
God’s faithfulness is not always revealed in the easy seasons but in the desert ones. Here’s how Brittany’s journey can help you strengthen your faith and step boldly into your calling:
Say yes to God before you have all the answers - obedience to God precedes clarity
Seed-sowing seasons are never wasted - God uses them to shape and prepare you
Your calling is bigger than your comfort - embrace the unknowns
God’s faithfulness shows up every time you step out in trust in God
Serving others is often the path to discovering your calling
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Romans 12:1 says. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
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God promises if we, trust Him, He will direct us in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”
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Abraham is the perfect example of faithful obedience without clarity. “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” - Hebrews 11:8
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Isaiah 1:17 gives clear instruction to defend the oppressed, care for the fatherless and the widow. Galatians 5:13 adds, "…use your freedom to serve one another in love.”
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James 1:27 says “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...” Also, Psalm 68:5 says, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”
If Brittany’s story inspired you, consider sharing it with someone who needs encouragement. And I encourage you to partner with Faith Ignite to help bring more stories of hope to the world. Together, we can spread messages of God's faithfulness to those who need it most.
Devaughn Williamson President, Faith Ignite Inc