Sharing stories of impact.
Starting Well by Praying Well
Happy September and happy beginning of a new Fellows year! This is always an exciting time for our Fellows and everyone involved in the program, but it also a time that requires a lot of prayer. We want to cover every aspect of this program in prayer as it would not exist if not for God’s provision and grace.
By Moriah Sharpe and Addie Southwick, 2018-2019 Fellows
Happy September and happy beginning of a new Fellows year! This is always an exciting time for our Fellows and everyone involved in the program, but it also a time that requires a lot of prayer. We want to cover every aspect of this program in prayer as it would not exist if not for God’s provision and grace. This year is all about starting well, so we pray that our Fellows would start well, starting at the very beginning of this year. Please pray for them as they transition into a new season of life in a new city. Pray that they would be open to what the Lord teaches them this year, however He chooses to teach them. Pray that their insecurities, unknowns, and uncertainties going into this new year would be washed over with immeasurable peace. Pray that they would learn to love this city and its people, each other and those surrounding them, and most of all our God truly and deeply.
We also ask that you join us in praying for every additional part of the Fellows. Please pray for our wonderful host families, both new and returning. We are so thankful for these families who are willing to open up their homes and lives to our Fellows, and we pray for them as they adjust to these new members of their families. Pray for comfort in the uncomfortable and depth in relationships as these families graciously invite our Fellows into their lives, and as the Fellows welcome them into theirs.
Please pray for our Fellows’ internship placements, that they would benefit from the experience and learn to integrate their faith and their work. Pray too for our Fellows’ employers, who have provided these internships, that they would benefit as well from this year. We ask God for growth in knowledge and grace for the Fellows and their coworkers during their time together in the workplace.
We lift up our three partner churches: Uptown Church, Christ Central Church, and Hope Community Church. They have been faithful supporters of our Fellows year in and year out, supplying all aspects of our program from host families to employers to mentors. Pray that they would greet our Fellows with open arms and provide a source of community. Pray that our Fellows would value their time worshipping at their churches and learn from the blessings and challenges that come with settling into a new church and making new community.
Please pray for our mentors, who commit to spending time walking through life with our Fellows. Pray that these mentor-mentee relationships would be fruitful and life-giving to both the Fellow and their mentor. Pray that these mentors would be ears that hear and lips that speak words of wisdom, and that they would guide our Fellows well on this part of their faith journeys.
Finally, please pray for our Fellows board. They are the architects behind the scenes making sure everything runs smoothly, or with as little turbulence as possible. They work hard each year to match our Fellows to host families, internships, and mentors, and we are grateful for everything they do. Pray for them as they continue to keep our program going, providing our Fellows with valuable resources to prepare them to start well. Pray that they would continue to follow God’s guidance with our program and that they would know that all their work truly does make a difference in our Fellows’ lives.
Nine months is both a very long time and altogether too short; pray that everyone involved with our program would treasure each moment and enjoy what God has given them in the Charlotte Fellows program.
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
– 1 John 5:14-15
Does the Gospel Matter at Work?
We are almost filled up on spots for women for the 2018-2019 year, and we are looking for more men to experience the Charlotte Fellows program! To focus in on our male applicants, we asked three men connected with the Fellows program how they have been transformed by the Gospel in their work. Enjoy!
We are almost filled up on spots for women for the 2018-2019 year, and we are looking for more men to experience the Charlotte Fellows program! To focus in on our male applicants, we asked three men connected with the Fellows program how they have been transformed by the Gospel in their work. Enjoy!
When we see our lives and capabilities as gifts, we are freed to give them back and serve. The Fellows Program helped me see this and just how much the Gospel enables me to care and work for my community. To do this, I have to recognize the gifts that I have to offer and then understand the community’s needs.
Having now spent time in the secular workforce, I’ve found that it's all too easy to get swept away by the money-making power of the marketplace and instead pursue my own dreams and ambitions. Keeping the Gospel at the forefront of my mind allows me to remember Christ’s grace when sinful longings arise and gives me the desire to look outside myself, the desire to serve others where God places me.
Bobby MacNaughton
Land Acquisition and Development at LGI Homes
Charlotte Fellow ‘15
When I moved to Charlotte from New York in January 2017, I felt called and challenged by the Lord to start my own investment and small business advisory firm. Everyone, including my family and closest friends, had a lot of questions about my business plan, potential advisory clients, and future investments. I had very few answers, but I knew God had given me specific gifts to connect with others, analyze a wide range of investments, and advise leaders on ways to grow their businesses. I just had to step out and trust Him.
The biggest area of growth for me was learning to trust Him fully in the results and outcomes of my time and work. This happened particularly when a number of perceived good investment opportunities did not pan out. In many cases, He is teaching me the value of patience, surrender, and joy in Him versus the temporary satisfaction of finding a deal or closing one. Other times, He saves me from bad deals or partnerships. God’s word gives me peace in this work journey as it says in Ephesians 2: “We are God’s handiwork." God has a plan for our work that he has prepared in advance for us to do.
Matt Hultquist
Founder of Hillandale Advisors, Charlotte
Member at Hope Community Church
Through the Fellows program, I interned at Brookstone Schools as their IT support. After the program ended, my boss offered me to come on full-time as the first afterschool manager and build out their afterschool programming from the ground up. It has been one of the hardest tasks that I have faced. The job had so much visibility and potential for public error. I had never realized how I had centered my life around hiding my faults and presenting a good face. There was no place to hide. Either I had to carry the weight of burying my failures or come clean with my mistakes and move past them. “Walk face forward into your failure” was the phrase that kept resonating in my head.
The Gospel had already taught me that I needed to come clean with Christ each day and let His grace renew me. My job has become a practice ground to go through those steps in real life and see that grace “happen to me" in the flesh. After a couple years of admitting fault, asking for forgiveness, and receiving grace in the workplace, this practice now flows backwards into my relationship with Christ and allows me to experience His grace in a way that seems far more real.
Eric Maust
Afterschool Manager at Brookstone Schools
Charlotte Fellow ‘16
Are you a young professional looking to reconnect your work with your faith? You can find out next steps for the Charlotte Fellows program by reaching out to our director, Connice Dyar, at connicedyar@mac.com.
You can also reach out to Matt Hultquist at matt@hillandaleadvisors.com or Eric Maust eric.maust@brookstoneschools.org.