Special Announcement

I wanted to send you a special update and share some major announcements. This is big! You are a crucial part of our ministry, and I wanted to do my best to let you know our plans firsthand. It is with anticipation in our hearts that I share two major transitions in the lives of the Lilley family (and one important small transition at the bottom of the letter) as prayer missionaries…

  1. Matthew is stepping into the role of USA National Director with Burn 24-7!
  2. The Lilley family will be moving to the Raleigh/Durham area!

Since the Boiler Room closed last summer, we have sensed major transitions in our hearts, and after months of prayer, fasting, listening and seeking wise counsel, it became clear the Lord was directing us more towards the middle of the state. As I discussed this new season with my wife, my pastor and Sean Feucht, director of Burn 24-7, we began to see practically and strategically how the Raleigh-Durham area will better serve what God is calling us to do in this season.

We hope to move over the summer, depending on how long it takes to sell our home. Please keep this in your prayers, and we will keep everyone updated. I am beginning to move into my new role with Burn 24-7 immediately and will do so more fully after we get to the Raleigh area.

New Role in Burn 24-7

I am stepping into a newly created role of USA National Director, taking on responsibilities previously handled by Burn 24-7’s founder Sean Feucht. I will now be directly overseeing all the regional directors in the U.S. and helping to connect and equip the worship & prayer furnaces across America. What an honor!


Over the last 2-3 years as Southeast Regional Director, I have been able to take what God is doing at our local furnace in Greenville (Boiler Room/Burn) and see it expand to an entire region. Our southeast region has grown from three cities with Burn 24-7 furnaces to now fourteen cities in the southeast! As I move into the role of National Director with Burn 24-7, I hope to take what God has done in our southeast region and see it multiplied to other regions across the nation. And as worship & prayer infiltrate our nation, we believe what God does in the USA could be a model that is multiplied across the nations of the earth! Malachi 1:11 has been and continues to be our vision – that in “every place” the incense of day & night worship & prayer would rise to Jesus who is worthy of it all!

What about Greenville?

At the last board meeting for Burn Greenville, I turned over the role of Director to Gary Edwards. He will now lead the local furnace in Greenville. The first Burn he hosted back in February was the largest Burn in Greenville ever! God is moving! I will continue to serve as the chair of the board for The Burn Greenville non-profit organization.

This is big move for us. I have been in Greenville since I was four years old. Shepard and I met here, got married here and had our four children here. Some of our parents live here. I know many of you have partnered with us because of our mutual desire to see revival and transformation in the Greenville area. This desire has not changed but simply expanded. God is now inviting us to take what He is doing in Greenville with worship, prayer, unity & mission, and see it multiplied throughout our nation & beyond.

Slight Change In Partnership

Now more than ever we need your ongoing, faithful partnership. Our financial needs are increasing due to a greater cost of living in Raleigh-Durham and an increase in traveling costs with my role in Burn 24-7. God has been so faithful to provide over the years, and you have been so faithful to give. Please pray for provision for the expanding vision!

We will continue to function as full-time missionaries, relying on our partnership team to continue our ministry work. Burn 24-7, like every other major Christian missions organization, requires their staff to be self-funded.

One other adjustment is in the coming months we will start processing our support directly through Burn 24-7 instead of through Global Impact. We will keep you updated on when we make that shift. For now, please continue giving through Global Impact as usual. If you are looking for a good time to make a monthly commitment, increase your current giving or make a special gift, that would be very helpful during this transition.

Please, please, please do not hesitate to ask questions or give us feedback on this transition. It would actually be a little weird to NOT hear back from many of you. 🙂

Thank you again for your prayers and partnership with us as we connect, equip and plant communities of prayer, worship & missions in North Carolina, the Southeast, the USA and beyond!

God bless!

Matthew & Shepard Lilley