It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone. On May 16th, the Charlotte Fellows class of 2025 officially graduated. We had a special evening with fellows and their families along with many of our volunteers. After dinner was served, a blessing was said over each fellow by someone significant in their time as a fellow. It was a joy to celebrate all God has done and is doing through these young adults.
It’s tradition for our fellows to spend some of their final weeks in the program reflecting on God’s faithfulness throughout the past 9 months. A few days before the banquet, the fellows shared some of these reflections with each other. They were asked to consider how God showed up in the good and the hard times, how he stretched them, the people he used to love and challenge them, and how this year will impact their next steps. Included below are a few snippets from these reflections. Enjoy seeing what God has done! (And thank you to so many of you that support this ministry in various ways. You are God’s hands and feet.)
It has been such a gift to get involved with the Charlotte Fellows program this year as the Program Coordinator. I loved my experience as a fellow and it’s been a different kind of gift to be on the other side of things and watch God work in the lives of this year’s class.
On Thursday nights, as part of our weekly schedule, we have roundtable. Roundtable is where we get to sit with different people and hear their stories; how God is working in, around, and through them. These individuals and couples often take us back to their childhood up to the present day and share highlights, struggles, themes, and lessons learned. These have truly been some of my favorite nights of the year. I am learning a lot about how we don’t know people until we have heard their stories and I am learning to never make assumptions of what someone's story is.
A big truth that is nestled into much of the content of the Charlotte Fellows program is that we get to honor God through our work and vocation - regardless of what that work is.
The wonderful thing about God is that he knows exactly what we need, not what we think we need. This is evident in my gracious host family, the Murchisons. Prior to moving to Charlotte, I was so excited to meet them, and I felt so hopeful about this family that I would be living with for the next 9 months. A little intro to my host family: Fred and Katy (parents), Ivy (14) and Ella (12). Rounding it out with 2 pets, we have their dog, Lolli (She and I are pals) and their cat, Raven. (We are… still warming up to each other).
Michaela Payne, a Fellow in the ‘20-’21 class, dives into what it really means to be a person “of faith” — something we as believers hear quite frequently. What does this mean to you? How do we begin to take the steps to be known as those who wear that title? Take a moment to hear from Michaela on how we can delight in a daily faith.
Do you have questions about what life looks like as a fellow? Contact us by filling out the form below, and learn more about the Charlotte Fellows!
