The Charltons

Hey friends and family!

 

We are so excited to start this blog to keep you updated and in-the-know with our happenings in Fredericksburg. Here we will share our story as it unfolds –  where we’re going, what we’re doing, and testimonies of God’s activity in and through us! To start, let's go back in time just a little bit...

 

Since our marriage in December of 2009 the LORD has led us through a lot of wonderful things, and we really want to be sure to give the whole picture of where we’ve been and we’re going. Most noteworthy to us by far has been the blessing of the LORD to steward three beautiful children:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each of our little ones is inspiring, unique, and completely a joy to call our own — in truth, we could write many letters all about them!

 

Second most notable to us during these years has been our involvement with the Livingstone House of Prayer in Newport News. The Livingstone House of Prayer (LHOP) was a community of singers, musicians, worship leaders, and intercessors who were united by a radical love for Jesus, zeal for the courts of the LORD, and an urgency to contend for revival in the world. Its primary ministry focus was corporate intercession, utilizing the Harp and Bowl model of prayer and worship patterned after the Tabernacle of David (1 Chronicles 13, Revelation 5:8-14). The years we spent living and serving in this ministry were dear and precious to us, and highly impactful for our family. At LHOP we learned how to raise up our family into the ministry of the Kingdom of God – exercising works of justice, preaching the gospel unto the world, and living in fervent prayer and worship unto the LORD. It was a lifestyle we wanted to throw ourselves into completely! At the time, however, it was clear that God had another wonderful but different season for us to experience, and we had to put the planning for full-time ministry on the shelf.

So, after Mike graduated from Old Dominion University with a degree in Music Education he received a position as director of Orchestra and Guitar at a Middle School in Williamsburg, where he taught from 2010 through June of this year. We also bought our first home in Hampton in May of 2011 and started attending Grace Church in Newport News in September of the same year. During our time at Grace Church, Mike served in several capacities in the worship ministry, including a season as the Worship Leader, and Melody also served for the past year as supervisor of the nursery. Our time living in Hampton, working for the Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools, and serving at Grace Church has been incredible! We’ve made life-long friends, brought the light and love of God into the public schools, and joined with believers on the Peninsula of Hampton Roads to minister the love and grace of the gospel of Christ.

But after over four years of waiting on God, we are stepping into a new and exciting season as full-time staff with the Fredericksburg Prayer Furnace in Fredericksburg, VA!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fredericksburg Prayer Furnace (www.theprayerfurnace.org) is a missional community of believers serving the greater Fredericksburg region and beyond as a House of Prayer and Missions Base. Their ministry focuses include maintaining an expression of day and night prayer and worship, instructing and sending a generation of missionaries and revivalists who will proclaim Jesus in every sphere of culture around the world, and conducting evangelistic outreach, missions, and various ministries of mercy to the poor and oppressed locally and abroad. So in this new season we are joining this amazing community as intercessors, singers, musicians, and worship leaders in the House of Prayer. In addition to the ministry of 24/7 worship and prayer, we are also partnering to launch the Furnace Academy of the Arts, with a mission to offer excellent, Christ-centered instruction in the arts to equip worshipers and messengers to most effectively exalt and testify to Jesus. Mike will have the opportunity to train singers and musicians both in the House of Prayer and in the community!

 

It is clear through the testimony of the scriptures and the history of the church that prayer is what changes the spiritual atmosphere over cities and regions! So for us, what it means to minister full-time as “Intercessory Missionaries” is three-fold, and that is to devote our time and attention: 1) in worship unto the worthiness and beauty of Jesus Christ; 2) in intercession for the Spirit of God to move in the heavenly realm to bring justice, deliverance, healing, and righteousness to our lands; and 3) in missional and evangelistic outreach to our community and to the nations.

 

We are so excited for this new season and what the LORD is going to do in and through us!

Blessings upon blessings on you all!

And in the words of Bach and Handel, “Soli Deo Gloria!” – GLORY TO GOD ALONE!

 

Mike, Melody, William, Keegan, and Evlyn