The Charltons

*These updates are from a series of emails I have shared with a small network of friends and family over the past few months.

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07/11/16

Hi friends and family!

 

Melody and I wanted to share an update with you all about some recent developments in our family.

 

Back in February I felt the Lord calling me (Mike) to join a 40-day fast that Lou Engle (of TheCall and Bound4Life) invited believers to participate in from March 1st - April 9th leading up to AzusaNow, the large event that TheCall hosted in California. 

*If you want to know more about AzusaNow visit the website at www.thecall.com/azusa*

Then, The Prayer Furnace (FPF) announced our annual 21-day fast to happen from April 18th - May 8th, which I also planned to participate in. I then knew that God wanted me to join the two fasts together, including the 9 days between them, and enter into a 70-day fast where I alternated weeks between a Daniel Fast (no meats, no sweets) and a liquids only fast. I felt strongly to press in for 3 very specific focuses during this fast:

1) For increased hunger for God

2) For clarity, wisdom, and direction regarding our future (both short and long term)

3) For my children to get gripped by the heart of God

 

The week after the fast was over The Prayer Furnace had the Awaken The Dawn (ATD) conference in Chesapeake from April 18-21. It was an unforgettable time, marked by powerful worship, provoking teaching, and a national and international networking of believers. And then after ATD was over some things began to shift around us.

First, the role that I had fulfilled for the past year and a half as Event Coordinator at FPF was beginning to morph into something different (and is still in flux) following a restructuring by our leadership of various roles and their definitions within the ministry. In this case it is becoming something that I cannot fulfill, and consequently the commission I have been making from running our events and conferences is no longer on the table for me. There's a small chance the role could return to what it was and I could do it again, but it is a very small chance. So that was the first change, for part of my job description at the ministry as well as our finances.

The second change was in regards to the Furnace Academy of the Arts (FAA) that I founded. A lot of families often take a break from music lessons during the Summer, but nearly all of my students are not proceeding with lessons through the Summer (some said they would and now aren't, so that is difficult). There is the prospect of a good amount of income through FAA in the Fall, with old students starting back and new students starting up, but it always has some significant unknowns: students that may or may not register for the classes/lessons I'm offering, I might receive a small stipend through FAA since I'm a Director but we're not sure how much, etc.

The third change has been a decrease in ministry partners supporting us financially. After 2 years we have grown to learn well the ebbs and flows of serving in a realm of ministry that is funded primarily by ministry partners, and we completely understand that life and circumstances change for many people and will often affect us financially as a result. However, all of these things combined have cut our income by 65%.

 

So as of now we are doing several things:

- We wanted to make sure all of you are aware of our current situation and know that right now it is a complete unknown as to whether we will continue in full-time vocational ministry or if I will return to the marketplace in the fall, so please press in for us in prayer and intercession.

- We are meeting with the leadership of FPF and other sage counselors to receive Godly counsel and insight.

- We are praying and asking God for wisdom and to make the path clear: to open doors that no man can shut and shut doors that no man can open.

- I have done some due diligence and put out several applications for both short-term and long-term work, for both part-time and full-time positions, believing that God will either open or shut those doors.

 

We are not sure what the Lord is doing right now - He could be inviting me back into the marketplace, He might be testing our faith for a season - but whatever it is we know that God will provide, it will be amazing, and we are excited for whatever it means! And while it is a little painful to wait on God (much of me just wants to go out and find an immediate solution ), we are beyond grateful that we have not given into worry or anxiety about any of this, and that His word promises that "they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31).

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08/08/16

Greetings from the Charltons!

 

We're excited to share with you all the next step in this storyline.
As Melody and I were reflecting on the details of our circumstances, on Sunday July 10th we decided to fast together for that next week, July 11-17, in expectation (as the initial shift in this season begun with a fast) that we'd further awaken our hearts to hunger, greater sense His presence, and receive direction and more clarity for this season. What happened next was amazing!

As we were praying that night, the Lord spoke clearly to Melody and said, "What's coming next, I will make it happen, it will be easy, and you won't need to seek, ask, and knock for it - just wait on Me." I was tracking with that word all the way up to the waiting part - to quote Inigo Montoya, "I hate waiting." But, at the hearing of that word Melody received immeasurable peace and security, and by proxy so did I! So in faith and great expectancy we started the fast in the strength of that word. 

On the Wednesday of that week, July 13th, my friend Tim took me aside and said that he had a dream with me in it. Tim has a reputation as a "seer" in our community - regularly receiving prophetic revelation from the Lord via visions and dreams - so I was very interested to see what he would say. He said that in the dream a bunch of us at FPF were playing basketball, and as a shot bounced off the backboard I was suddenly in mid-air for the rebound dunking it with one hand with great ease! As I did that in the dream Tim knew everyone on the court was thinking the same thing: "Mike has arthritis, how is this possible?" He later returned to me and told me that he remembered that he shouted something after the slam dunk: "That couldn't have happened even with the best alley-oop in the world!" As he prayed over me in response to the dream he believed the Lord was speaking about healing from arthritis and asked the Lord for it, he used 3 specific phrases I had been saying that week in my prayers, and told me that the one-handed dunk and what he shouted signified a work of the Lord that He will accomplish with great ease. This was shaping up to be, in part, a confirmation of the word Melody had received!

Later that same day my friend (and prophetic pillar in the Kingdom) Michael approached me. He said that he had overhead me the previous week sharing with someone else that I believed myself to be in some sort of shift or possible transition. And he said while he didn't have a word from God on what to do, he said "This is the word of the Lord: I'm going to do it, it's going to be easy, and you won't have to seek it out - just wait on Me." Whoa!!! I hadn't shared Melody's word with anyone, and here it was repeated nearly word for word! I knew the Lord wanted me to hear Him speaking loud and clear.

On Thursday, July 14th, an old friend visited the Prayer Room and we were able to catch up and encourage and edify each other for about two hours. I come to find in our conversation that he has set aside this week to fast to seek God for direction and clarity for the next season for His family. And then later that day I discover that 3 other friends of mine in our community were also fasting that week, also for direction and clarity for the next season. I further began to understand that God was up to something significant.

Then, on that Friday, July 15, I believe that God gave us a sign of His faithfulness to us. On that day our rent was due, and all we had to give towards it was $20 and I was preparing to call our landlord and have that conversation with him. Then, at the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute we received $980, much of it unexpected and anonymous!!! We were able to pay our rent!!! God loves to prove His love and faithfulness in miraculous ways!

So it has been since then that we have strengthened ourselves in the word, the Word, and the prophetic word He spoke to us. We are waiting, and with great excitement, to see what He is going to do.

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09/08/16

Hello friends and family!

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!!!

What an honor it is to serve the Lamb and minister at His footstool. It was a HUGE blessing to receive such clear prophetic confirmation last month of God's sovereignty, provision, and guiding hand over us. It has given us strength and grace to walk in peace and resist anxiousness. So now we want to give you all the next (quick) update in this series of happenings and let you know how to pray for us through everything that's going on. 

Over the course of the summer I applied for 7 full-time and 2 part-time teaching jobs (as I said I would be doing in our update from 07/11), all the while believing that God would open doors if it was His will and shut them if it wasn't. Well, each one of those jobs came back with a definitive closed door. After praying and seeking counsel the way forward right now is to continue in vocational ministry. And what a joy and blessing it is! I am also continuing with the work at the Furnace Academy of the Arts, and I will be taking some days each month to substitute teach in the local schools and spend some weekends mowing grass. The hope is that between those jobs and the support I receive through ministry partners that we will be able to meet our needs each month, and with the exception of rent that is so far looking like it will be the case. 

And that is right now the one setback we have encountered - this month is lining up to be the second in a row that we are unable to pay our rent ($1000/mo). We are blessed to have landlords who are God-fearing and love that we are in ministry, and they have been very gracious towards us during this time, but it is a huge bummer to not be able to honor that financial obligation. So right now our big prayer request is that we would receive our "daily bread" and be able to meet all of our financial needs.

Thank you all SO MUCH for all of your support!!! We would not be able to serve in ministry without you.