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As The Spirit Leads

Posted on Aug 31, 2011

Article by Nadeen Silvera

One look at the tall, be-spectacled and somewhat reserved Elder Whitley White of the Seventh-day Adventist Church at Priestman’s River in Portland would suggest he has been in the faith for ages.  Not so. In fact, if you visited a year and a half ago and asked for him, members would remark: “Elder who?”

His spiritual journey began in the Pentecostal church, and for thirty years he was an ardent member. Little did he know that his quest for truth would lead him into a spiritual revolution. It all started about ten years ago when Whitley refused an invitation from Pastor Thomas White of the Manchioneal District of churches (at the time). As he put it, “years after, there was an emptiness on the inside to fulfill (his) spiritual calling.”  He toyed with the suggested idea of starting his own ministry (church) but decided he would allow God to lead him to the right time and place.

There was Pastor White again.  One day he gave Whitley a lift home from Port Antonio. During the ride, the conversation turned to spiritual things.  Eagerly the seeker shared his burning desire to serve. Pastor noted that it must have been the leading of the Holy Spirit why Whitely did not drive his own vehicle that day and used the opportunity to re-invite him to church, not even recollecting he had done so years before. Of course, Whitley told him he would think about it. They parted ways with an assurance from Pastor White that he and others would be praying for Whitley.

Whitley was pondering the invitation in his heart and praying too and eventually decided he would brave it and go to church one Sabbath. What plausible explanation could he give his proper Pentecostal wife for dressing up like that on a Saturday morning? He dismissed the idea of jeans and t-shirt as he thought he would not feel comfortable in church dressed like that. When she questioned his intent, he told her was going to a “meeting”. After church, Pastor lent him a copy of the Fundamental Beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventists.

Reading this book, which he had to disguise in wrapping paper, opened him up to new truths which he gladly absorbed. “It was like a carpenter driving home a nail into a piece of wood.” Decisions had to be made. What would he tell his wife now? Once again, he decided to leave it up to God’s timing. He did not have long to wait as she accidentally happened upon the ‘hidden’ book and questioned his intent. Not only did he plan to attend church the following Sabbath, but he was going to become a Seventh-day Adventist. She was curious as to why he would make that decision. He made it plain that he felt spiritually led to the biblical truth that the Sabbath must be kept. She was silent at his answer.

After the couple met with Pastor White, Whitley was once more convinced that the Holy Spirit had spoken to him. He was told not to invite his wife to church. If it was God leading, she would come freely. He was more than pleasantly surprised when, one Sabbath morning not long after, she got ready and accompanied him to church. It was at that time that Whitley resolved to make his spiritual transition from the Pentecostal church into the Seventh-day Adventist faith. He felt he had gathered enough biblical proof that this was the right direction to take. A gift of a quarterly from a Sister Hall helped to seal his commitment. Not only was he studying, but his wife too was deep in the quarterly, often days ahead of him.

Despite the opposition he faced, on May 1, 2010, Whitley was baptised at the Windsor Forest Seventh-day Adventist Church. Since then, the Lord has been blessing Elder White’s ministry. His message to those who question the Sabbath is this: “(They) need to go back to the … Bible and try to read within context and … understand that the seventh day Sabbath will last (until) eternity; it is the memorial of creation.”

Elder White was sent to the five churches in the Manchioneal district where he would often preach on Sabbaths. Three months after his baptism, he was selected as evangelist for the “Prepare to Meet Thy God” campaign to be held in Boston, Portland. The first of the thirty-four converts to be baptised was his wife! The growing company in Boston is as a result of that four-week evangelistic campaign led by a former Pentecostal who took a leap of faith, allowing the Spirit of God to lead him.

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