March has been full of announcements! After months of prayer and planning, Presence Pioneers Media announced the acquisition of another prayer-oriented publishing/media ministry, which will significantly increase our ability to resource the praying Church. We also announced our upcoming Phenomenon ‘26 prayer and revival conference, being hosted by The Greenhouse in May here in Greenville, NC. See below for all the details.

Those who pray for us and give to the ministry enable us to continue this mission. Thank you!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

P.S. Our family was able to take a much-needed week off for a spring break and “staycation” this month. I shared some of those photos below, too.

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

Acquisition of Church Prayer Leaders Network 🔗

This month, Presence Pioneers Media announced that it would be acquiring Church Prayer Leaders Network and Prayershop Publishing. Watch the video or click the button below to read the full announcement.

This merger is an answer to our prayers. It will allow Church Prayer Leaders Network’s mission to continue under the banner of Presence Pioneers Media. And it will increase the impact of Presence Pioneers by reaching more people with more prayer resources than ever before.

Read The Aquisition Announcement

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in March🎙️

• Before, During, and After An Outpouring of God's Spirit [article by Jonathan Friz]

• You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s Prayer Room [article]

• Intimacy with God by Nelson Radford [podcast]

• His Kingdom Come! [article by Jon Graf]

The Greenhouse Worship Night 🙌

phenomenon26.com

Family Update 👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

In March, we had our annual spring "staycation". For fun, we bought a few disposable film cameras and took photos throughout the week. The kids loved the "vintage" look of the photos. I loved being more "analog" and having to wait for the film to be developed before seeing the results. Here are a few of the photos.

I knew that February would be crazy! I had three trips planned, along with one of our daughters’ birthdays, and a move into a new office. It’s been hectic, but really good. As I’ve reflected on the month, I’ve realized that the theme of my travels has been connecting with the “presence pioneers” (leaders of praying churches and ministries) in our region and across the nation. Check out the photos and testimonies below.

It was over 12 years ago that God spoke to me about my calling to serve the “presence pioneers” - those who are pioneering places of God’s manifest presence in their cities. That assignment continues. Firstly, I want to be a presence pioneer, as we host God’s presence in our region through The Greenhouse. I also want to serve other presence-centered leaders and communities around the world, which is what we’re doing through PPM.

Those who pray for us and give to the ministry enable us to continue this mission. Thank you!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Worship Night at The Greenhouse 🙌🏼

Leaders in Eastern North Carolina🤝🏼

One of my “behind the scenes” efforts with Presence Pioneers is our Awake ENC Leaders Cohort. It’s a handful of folks who lead praying churches and houses of prayer here in eastern North Carolina. We gather on Zoom weekly to pray for revival in our region, and some of us meet in person quarterly.

At the beginning of February, we had our quarterly meetup. Four of us from the cohort drove out to a church in Henderson, NC, for dinner. The church was also hosting a 6-hour worship event that evening. I was personally able to stay and lead worship for one of those hours, too.

Presence-Centered Church Conference in Atlanta🔥

The following week, I flew down to Atlanta for a portion of the Presence-Centered Church conference, where Gatecity Church was celebrating 20 years of non-stop 24-hour prayer & worship (insane!).

A glimpse of the worship at the conference in Atlanta:

I had numerous people (mostly pastors) approach me at the event to thank me for the resources that we’re creating through Presence Pioneers Media. It was so encouraging to hear from the folks “on the ground” across our nation who are building communities of prayer and mission, and who are being encouraged by the books, articles, and podcasts we are publishing. I was also able to share about our HouseofPrayerHub.com website during a breakout session with other prayer room leaders.

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

NC Week at David’s Tent DC 🎪

Our family drove up to Washington, DC, to David’s Tent DC (a 24/7 worship tent on the National Mall) to lead two hours of worship during North Carolina week. We wished we could have stayed longer, but one day was all that we could manage with everything else happening in February.

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in January🎙️

• Pastoring the Mixture: Jonathan Edwards and Revival Leadership in a Complicated Season [article by Greg Johnson]

• The Soul, The Song, and The Spirit [article by Matthew Lilley]

• Are we on the Verge of a Transitional Generation? [article by Jonathan Friz]

• The Lord’s Prayer Part 5: Petition [podcast]

• The Lord’s Prayer Part 6: Humility in Prayer [podcast]

• The Lord’s Prayer Part 7: Spiritual Warfare [podcast]

• A Heavenly Blueprint for Revival [book excerpt]

Give to Presence Pioneers

Family Update 👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

Our second-born had her birthday in February! She had a blast celebrating with some of her friends.

After exceeding our goal for the #FundPrayer campaign at the end of last year, we hit the ground running! We hosted an incredible New Year’s Eve worship night with The Greenhouse (see photos below), and then reopened our prayer room - now with four hours per week of live worship & prayer.

We have some really exciting developments happening with PPM that I can’t wait to share with you in future newsletters. Multiple book projects are in the works, more resources on David’s Tabernacle are being developed, and a ministry partnership is forming that will help multiply our impact and reach. Stay tuned!

Check out the recent testimony below about how our PPM resources are encouraging leaders and helping churches grow in prayer. Thank you for your partnership with us!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

New Year’s Eve Worship Night🎉

We celebrated the first anniversary of The Greenhouse with a powerful worship night on New Year’s Eve. We gathered in the venue that we use for our prayer room each week, and it was full of hungry worshipers (we had to bring in extra chairs)!

We plan to host more worship nights and special events in 2026 to help funnel more people into our regular local rhythms of prayer and discipleship. We have already had several new visitors in 2026.

Enjoying Prayer & PPM Testimony 🙌🏼

I received the following message recently from a pastor:

Hey Matthew!! Just wanted to say thank you for your story you just sent in your Presence Pioneers newsletter!! It was super encouraging to me as I am stepping out to build a prayer room at our church… I wanted to share with you that I will be leading our congregation through your Enjoying Prayer book starting this Sunday as I begin the teaching arm of our prayer room! I’m excited for them to go through it. Thank you so much for all you do for the prayer movement. You’ve been a huge blessing and encouragement to me!

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in January🎙️

• Revival is Family: Small is the New Big [article by Thai Lam]

• The Final Fulfillment of Jesus' Prayer in John 17 [book excerpt from Jonathan Friz]

• The Lord's Prayer Part 1: The Father's Heart [podcast]

• The Lord's Prayer Part 2: Our Identity as Sons of God [podcast]

• The Lord's Prayer Part 3: Start and End with Worship [podcast]

• God said, “Are You Willing?” [article by Matthew Lilley]

Upcoming Events & Itinerary✈️

February 6 - TAM Center, Henderson, NC

February 11-12 - Gatecity Church - Atlanta, GA

February 26 - David’s Tent DC - Washington, DC

March 6 - The Greenhouse Worship Night - Greenville, NC

As a reminder, we need $30,000 by the end of the year to help us move toward these goals and plans. You can partner with us as we build day-and-night prayer and worship by giving at fundprayer.com.

What’s Coming in 2026 for The Greenhouse?

Local prayer and discipleship in eastern North Carolina

• Prayer Room Expansion. Our goal is to at least double our prayer room hours in 2026 from three to six weekly hours of live worship and prayer. We aim to grow our prayer room volunteer team to 15, including two volunteer staff (in addition to the Lilleys).

• Worship Nights. We are planning monthly Greenhouse Worship Nights in 2026 to invite the body of Christ in the region into a time of extended prophetic worship, equipping from the Word, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Our first event will be New Year’s Eve.

• Regional Events. We are planning two major gatherings in 2026: the Phenomenon regional prayer & revival conference in the spring and the Back to Eden homestead & worship festival in the fall.

• Leadership Roundtables. Our eastern North Carolina cohort of house of prayer leaders is gathering quarterly for in-person leaders’ roundtable events and weekly for Zoom prayer calls.

• Local Church Community. We are planning Greenhouse community nights to invite visitors to join us in fellowship with our local church community.

Sow Into Our 2026 Vision

What’s Coming in 2026 for Presence Pioneers Media?

Equipping the global Church in worship, prayer, and missions through books, podcasts, videos, courses, and articles.

• Matthew Lilley Books & Courses. I am personally working to release additional published resources in 2026 to supplement my David’s Tabernacle book (E-course? Study guide? Kids book?) and a prayer curriculum from the Gospel of Luke.

• Book Publishing. PPM will be publishing Brad Stroup’s hilarious and wild memoir, Take Nothing With You, about his missionary journey to Africa. We have a few other specific book publishing projects in the works, and we are also discussing partnerships with other publishing ministries to expand our reach and capacity. Stay tuned!

• 200 Podcast Episodes. PPM will continue producing our Presence Pioneers Podcast, and we are on track to hit episode 200 (!!) in 2026.

Give Now Towards Our 2026 Goals

To hear more about what God’s doing through PPM, check out this 2025 Recap (including our plans for 2026) that I recorded with my PPM partner Jonathan Friz:

In every November newsletter, I take a look back at the year and give thanks to the Lord for all that He did in and through our ministry labors. As you read through the infographics below, whisper a “thank you, Lord” wherever you are for His faithfulness and grace. And thank you to our Presence Pioneers partners who give and pray for us. Your partnership is vital for us to continue serving the prayer and worship movement both locally and globally.

Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Presence Pioneers 2025 Recap🔥

Presence Pioneers exists to connect, equip, and plant presence-centered communities such as houses of prayer and praying churches.

Support our Work with Presence Pioneers

The Greenhouse 2025 Recap🌱

The Greenhouse is our local prayer room, house church, and equipping ministry here in the Greenville, NC area.

Help Us Build The Greenhouse

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in November🎙️

• The Power of Thanksgiving [article by Matthew Lilley]

• Hosting the Presence of Jesus [podcast]

• “I Have a Different Perspective” [article by Jonathan Friz]

• The Convergence of Prayer and Missions [podcast]

• The Oxen Are Stumbling: Man-Made Efforts vs. The Word of God [book excerpt from Graham Truscott]

November Travels ✈️

In November, both my wife, Shepard, and I travelled to minister. I taught and led worship at the Heart of David conference in San Diego, while Shepard led worship at a women’s retreat here in North Carolina.

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

Recently, I spoke with a campus ministry leader from a university. She was sharing how something has shifted this semester. Unbelievers are literally showing up at their door to ask for Bibles. These college students are totally unchurched, but they are open to the Gospel and curious about Jesus. Their campus ministry is not doing anything different, but God is just drawing the students like never before. This minister thanked us for our prayer ministry and urged us to keep praying. She said that it was working! There’s no other explanation for what is happening.

Whether we see it or not, God hears our prayers! It makes a difference. This is why we do what we do. This is why we’re building the Greenhouse as a presence-centered church and prayer room for East NC. This is why we’re creating resources, media, and connect points for prayer communities through Presence Pioneers Media. And this is why we so appreciate those of you who partner with us in this vital ministry. Please continue giving to Presence Pioneers so we can connect, equip, and plant presence-centered communities.

In this month’s newsletter, I share about our family’s trip to Washington, D.C., for Communion America, an opportunity to sow books in Ecuador, the launch of new prayer rooms in eastern NC, and our latest resources from PPM. Check it all out below!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Washington DC & Communion America🍷

Our family joined Awaken the Dawn and many other ministries for the Communion America event on the National Mall in DC. This included 50+ tents of non-stop worship (one for each state) and a nationwide pot-luck + communion service. This was likely the largest communion table in history - over a mile long!

While at Communion America, I was introduced to a lady who is doing similar ministry in the nation of Ecuador. Their ministry is full of those who are hungry for God’s presence, prayer, and revival. However, they have a limited amount of teaching and resources. We were able to send them ten copies of my book, David’s Tabernacle, in Spanish. We hope to send them more and maybe even visit them, as funds allow.

Give to Presence Pioneers

New Prayer Rooms in ENC 🙏

Along with the Greenhouse, which we planted here in Greenville in January, at least three other prayer rooms have launched in eastern NC within the last year - two in Wilmington and one in Jacksonville!

We have a loose cohort of leaders in eastern North Carolina who are pursuing day and night prayer and worship in our various cities. We’ve been gathering virtually to pray every week for the last few years, and we believe these new prayer rooms are being birthed as we unite together and intercede. And if God is awakening prayer here, we know it’s because He wants to pour out His Spirit and bring forth His kingdom!

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in October🎙️

• The Purpose and Pitfalls of Fasting [article by Matt Schneider]

• This is the Will of God: Pray. Sing. Rejoice. [article by Matthew Lilley]

• Report: Over 600 10 Day Prayer Gatherings Around the World [article by Jonathan Friz]

• The Convergence of Ministry Expressions Is Increasing [article by Gerald Murphy]

• For Pastors & Leaders: How to Launch & Lead Presence-Centered Communities

In this month’s newsletter, I share testimonies from our local house of prayer, photos from our second annual Back to Eden festival, and new articles published through Presence Pioneers Media. Check out all the goodness below!

Thank you for giving to Presence Pioneers and praying for us so that we can continue this ministry locally (The Greenhouse) and globally (Presence Pioneers Media).

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

The Greenhouse Worship Room Testimonies🌱

The Greenhouse is our local community here in Pitt County, NC, that includes our house church and our house of prayer (The Worship Room). We got this text from a young adult who visited the Worship Room recently before moving back to her hometown:

Another one of our Worship Room volunteers had this to say about his time in the prayer room:

The Greenhouse is one of the few ministries in our area with a vision to build a prayer room featuring live worship. Our goal is 20-25+ hours every week. We need your support to undertake this pioneering work here in eastern NC. Please partner with us!

Give to Presence Pioneers

Back to Eden Festival 2025 🚜

Our second year of the Back to Eden festival was beautiful! September 26-27, there were twelve homesteading classes/workshops, ten hours of worship & prayer, local vendors, and over 125 registrants from across our region.

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in September🎙️

• From Pastor to Pioneer [article by Matt Schneider]

• The Purpose and Power of Intercessory Prayer [article by Matthew Lilley]

• Sell Everything! The Door to a Life of Adventure [article by Jonathan Friz]

• Four Ways That Prayer Fuels Missions [article by Matthew Lilley]

Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

We hit a significant milestone in the Lilley household in September. Our oldest daughter turned 16! Wow… how the time flies!

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

Presence Pioneers Media has been on fire this year! If you’re not subscribed to our PPM Substack yet, you need to be. We’re releasing amazing articles every Monday and incredible podcast episodes every Wednesday. We also just published our fourth book of the year (see below for details). Praise God! PPM is a nonprofit media ministry that exists to resource the body of Christ with books, podcasts, e-courses, films, and music to see God’s kingdom come to earth through prayer, worship, and missions.

Our local community, The Greenhouse, is continuing to build our Worship Room as a place of day and night prayer and worship here in Pitt County, NC. We have had some incredible times in God’s presence, our School of Prayer has been strong, and we know God is hearing our intercession! New people are getting involved, and we believe God will provide for our vision for a house of prayer with 20-25+ hours of live worship and prayer. We are praying for more worship leaders, finances, and a dedicated facility for this purpose.

I depend on your support to continue this full-time work with both our global ministry through PPM and our local ministry with The Greenhouse. Thank you for giving to Presence Pioneers and praying for us!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Give to Presence Pioneers

Our FOURTH Book Published in 2025! 📚

Presence Pioneers Media published our fourth book of 2025 - To Weep With Those Who Weep by Weslea Pierson. To hear more about this project, check out this podcast we recorded:

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in August🎙️

• I Clean House Before I Visit [article by Jonathan Friz]

• Justin Rizzo on Lessons Learned from 10,000 Hours of Worship Leading [podcast]

• The Gift of Tears by Weslea Pierson [article]

• How To Structure Churches Around God’s Manifest Presence [article by Billy Humphrey]

• Five Verses About Exposing Sin That Get Taken Out Of Context [article]

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

Back to Eden Festival 2025

A Christian Homesteading & Worship Festival

On September 26-27, The Greenhouse will host our second annual Back to Eden festival here in Greenville, NC. The event will feature homesteading classes/workshops, local vendors, and twelve hours of worship and prayer over the course of the two days!

Learn More about Back to Eden

Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

This month I took the kids to the Winterville NC Watermelon Festival. Fun rides, vendors, ice cream, and free watermelon!

I want to focus this month’s newsletter on what God is doing at The Greenhouse here in Pitt County, North Carolina. My wife, Shepard, and I planted the Greenhouse at the beginning of 2025 (as part of the Presence Pioneers’ mission to “connect, equip, and plant presence-centered communities” ), and God has been moving!

In May of last year, God spoke to me: “prayer room, living room, classroom.” This has been the Greenhouse DNA since the beginning. Here’s what that looks like at the moment:

Prayer Room - We have a vision and plan to grow our Worship Room to 20+ hours per week of live worship and prayer (currently at 2 hours), and we want to help catalyze expressions of 24/7 prayer across eastern North Carolina. We currently have 11 people committed to helping us grow the Worship Room, and we plan to expand our hours this fall. Here’s a snippet of worship from this past Tuesday night at the Worship Room:

Living Room - We have a simple expression of the local church in our home in Farmville, NC, with a desire to cultivate a thriving spiritual family around God’s presence! In recent months, we have been studying the Sermon on the Mount.

Classroom - We launched the School of Prayer here on Tuesday nights in June, and we will begin our second year of the Rooted homeschool co-op this fall. We want to equip and train believers and the next generation!

This is a lot for us to steward as a small community, but we are committed to building what God has given us, especially after our recent conference (see below). Please keep us in your prayers, and give to Presence Pioneers as the Lord leads you, to help us during this pioneering phase of The Greenhouse.

Thank you!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Give to Presence Pioneers

Culture of Prayer Conference 🙏

This month, we hosted the Culture of Prayer conference, with special guest Brad Stroup. We had an amazing time! Some people were introduced to the concept of 24/7 prayer for the first time. Others were freshly stirred about it after the times of worship, stories, and Bible teaching from Brad. The week after our conference, our Greenhouse Worship Room gatherings experienced a notable increase in attendance, as people were eager to engage in corporate prayer like never before!

Part of the purpose of Brad’s visit was also to provide private consultation to my wife, Shepard, and me in our leadership of the Greenhouse. Our private meetings provided us with a wealth of encouragement, clarity, insights, and courage to pursue the vision God has placed in our hearts.

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in July🎙️

• The Tent of David is Now Open [article by Matthew Lilley]

• God Healed My Son Through Communion [article by Marcus Windle]

• The Value of Spontaneous and Creative Worship [podcast with David Vallier]

• Should Christians Bless Israel To Receive God's Blessing? [article by Jonathan Friz]

• Raising Up The Next Generation of Worshipers [podcast with Kelanie Webb]

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

We didn’t have everyone’s mailing address, so if you didn’t get a copy in the mail, you can download it below.

Download Our Summer Newsletter!

For those who don’t want to download the PDF, you can read through the special newsletter content below.

Presence Pioneers Media 🌏

PPM produces biblical resources to help the body of Christ to pursue intimacy with God and revival through prayer, worship and missions including books, podcasts, e-courses, films and music. We are on track to publish five books in 2025, and we are publishing weekly articles and podcast episodes.

The Greenhouse 📍

The Greenhouse is a new spiritual family in Pitt County, North Carolina with a mission to minister to the Lord, equip believers, and pursue the Great Commission. We are currently hosting weekly hours of worship & prayer at our “Worship Room” and discipling a house church on Sundays.

Give to Presence Pioneers

Building Day & Night Worship & Prayer for Revival 🔥

In 2013 God spoke to me to connect, equip, and plant communities centered on God’s presence.

• We are connecting communities in east NC with our Awake ENC Leaders Cohort and nationally with our HouseofPrayerHub.com website.

• We are equipping hundreds of presence-centered communities through our PPM resources.

• We are planting as we build the The Greenhouse locally and inspire other leaders to launch praying communities in their cities around the world.

Thank you for your prayers and support in these efforts.

-Matthew Lilley

#FundPrayer and Fuel Revival

"The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history." - Andrew Murray

As we mobilize prayer to fuel revival and the Great Commission, we are in need of an additional $3000/month in partnership to keep our ministry strong and growing in its impact.

Will you partner with us today?

Checks can be mailed to Presence Pioneers, PO BOx 170, Farmville, NC 27828 or give online below.

Give Online Now

Here’s some of what we’ve been up to in May:

• Equipping the nations to flow with the Holy Spirit in worship (see below)

• Fundraising to meet our 2025 Presence Pioneers budget

• Preparing for our Culture of Prayer Conference in July

• Leading weekly gatherings for The Greenhouse here in Pitt County NC (see below)

• Recording podcast interviews for our next Presence Pioneers Podcast season

Thank you for your prayers and support as we seek to connect, equip, and plant presence-centered communities for a revival that touches the nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Matthew Lilley
Director & Founder of Presence Pioneers

Equipping the Nations To Flow in Worship 🌏

This past month, Presence Pioneers Media re-released my old Spirit-Led Worship Leading video course for free. I was not expecting what happened.

About 1/3 of all the course registrants were from nations outside of the United States! We had students register from Singapore, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Canada, Australia, Mexico, India, Switzerland, Uganda, New Zealand, and Thailand!

The course is focused on helping worship leaders, singers, and musicians move beyond just singing songs and learning to flow with the Holy Spirit in worship. Your support for Presence Pioneers through prayer and financial giving enables us to reach the nations with these resources. Let prophetic songs and prayer arise in every nation of the earth!

Give to Support Our Ministry

The Greenhouse Worship Room ⛪

Ever since the Opendoor Church prayer room in downtown Greenville closed a year ago, we have been longing for space to (re)build a prayer/worship room here in Pitt County NC. Over the last year, we have been hosting prayer/worship events, meeting in homes, and moving around on Tuesday nights to anywhere we could find space to minister to the Lord.

In the last month, God has started to open up public space to host the Greenhouse Worship Room! We are excited to start building out our weekly prayer & worship schedule over the summer. We hope to one day have a dedicated facility for day and night prayer, but for now, we are very grateful for the shared space to gather and pray more during the week.

A glimpse into the Worship Room:

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in May🎙️

• Is There A Man to Stand In The Gap? [article]

• Always-Answered Prayer by Jonathan Friz - part 3 & part 4 [articles]

• Stewarding the Prophetic Promises [podcast]

• Spirit-Led Worship Leading [course]

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

The big news for April was our Phenomenon 2025 gathering. I shared an extensive recap with photos shortly after the event, and the testimonies have continued to come in even since I posted that update. Praise God!

Below you will find some wonderful testimonies of how God is using our Presence Pioneers Media books and articles to help people in their relationship with the Lord, along with photos from Resurrection Sunday at the Greenhouse.

In the coming months, I will be focused on growing our weekly prayer sets at The Greenhouse Worship Room here in the Greenville, NC area, along with continuing to produce our weekly content with PPM. Additionally, I will need to do some additional partnership development for Presence Pioneers to ensure sustainability with our ministry.

If you’ve considered partnering financially to help us continue our efforts to build praying communities globally (Presence Pioneers) and locally (The Greenhouse in eastern NC), now would be a fantastic time to give to help us continue our mission to connect, equip, and plant presence-centered communities for revival that touches the nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you!

Matthew Lilley
Director & Founder of Presence Pioneers

Give to Presence Pioneers

Enjoying Prayer Testimony 🙌🏼

I received an amazing report from a friend whose brother recently returned to Jesus. One of the keys to his renewed faith was the practice of prayer, which was helped (in part) by reading my book Enjoying Prayer!

Resurrection Sunday at The Greenhouse ⛪

Substack Article Testimony 🙌🏼

Some leaders of a house of prayer here in North Carolina recently sent me an encouraging text about how my recent article in the PPM newsletter was ministering to their community. Praise God!

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in April🎙️

• The Power of God’s Presence by Graham Truscott [book]

• Unrelenting Prayer by Jason Hubbard [article]

• The Secret of Always Answered Prayer (Part 2) by Jonathan Friz [article]

• Exploring Psalm 132: The Heart of Presence Pioneering [podcast]

• David's Vow and God's Covenant: Part 2 of the Psalm 132 Deep Dive [podcast]

• When Is God Rebuilding the Tabernacle of David? By Graham Truscott [article]

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

Here in eastern North Carolina, the trees are budding, the grass is growing, the pollen is coating every surface, and the bugs are out in full force. This means one thing: springtime is here!

Likewise, we see many things “budding” in our life and ministry. We’re now three months into The Greenhouse (see video below). Next weekend is Phenomenon 2025, the largest gathering we have hosted in years. And in April, we will publish our third book in 2025 through Presence Pioneers Media. God is moving in so many ways!

Here’ a recent testimony from someone who follows our media & resources online:

"I've benefited from your ministry tremendously over the past 2 years. Your podcasts and blog articles are like a map to navigate an important work God's doing and help locate one's place within it. Keep going."

Thank you for your prayers and financial support.

Matthew Lilley
Director & Founder of Presence Pioneers

Give to Presence Pioneers

A Glimpse of Tuesday Nights at The Greenhouse 🙏🏼

It’s now been three months since we officially launched The Greenhouse. A handful of us have been meeting on Sundays for our weekly service at rotating homes here in Farmville, NC. We also gather on Tuesday nights for the Worship Room (prayer) in a classroom at a nearby church building. It’s been sweet and deep. We’re locked into the vision of gradually building a prayer room and making disciples right here where God has planted us.

Join Us For Phenomenon 2025 🔥

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in March🎙️

• Ministry and Church Leadership Are Not The Same Thing [article]

• R.A. Martinez and Jason Hubbard on The Antioch Blueprint [podcast]

• Jesus and the Posture of Influence by Milan Homola [article]

• Dr. Faith Wokoma on Pioneering Leadership and Your Unique Assignment [podcast]

• The Secret of Always Answered Prayer by Jonathan Friz [article]

Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

• Attending the National House of Prayer Leaders summit in Dallas, TX

• Publishing Jonathan Friz’s new book Jesus Gets What He Prays For through Presence Pioneers Media

• Hosting a 6-hour Greenhouse Worship Room event in Greenville, NC

• Hosting a local night of worship and testimonies with Robin & Claire Dillamore of the Worship 24/7 UK Network

Check out the photos and links below for more! Thank you for your prayers and support as we connect, equip, and plant presence-centered, prayer-based communities.

Matthew Lilley
Director & Founder of Presence Pioneers

National House of Prayer Leaders Summit 🙏🏼

This month I attended the National House of Prayer Leaders summit in Dallas, Texas, where 100+ leaders from 30+ different prayer rooms came together for multiple days of training, prayer, ministry, and connection.

While at the summit, I ran into several leaders who mentioned how my books, the podcast and our Presence Pioneers Substack articles have been an encouragement and blessing to them. This was confirmation to me that we are “hitting the mark” with our resources - strengthening presence-centered communities across America and beyond.

The Greenhouse Worship Room - February 1 🙌🏼

One of our new rhythms for The Greenhouse Worship Room is to gather on the 1st Saturday of the month for extended hours of non-stop worship & prayer, followed by a Bible teaching and meal together. On Saturday, February 1 we had a small and sweet gathering at a Christian study center near East Carolina University.

One highlight for me was having our team praying and prophesying to a young student who’s father had recently been diagnosed with cancer.

After five hours of non-stop worship, we all found ourselves singing the refrains of Revelation 4-5, where the angels in heaven are singing “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “Worthy is the Lamb!”. Here is a video clip from Instagram of those final moments:

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Phenomenon 2025

Join us for a special weekend of united worship and prayer in a tent here in Greenville, NC April 4-6. Check out the video below and register now at phenomenon2025.com!

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in February🎙️

• The Baby and the Bathwater: Sifting Through IHOPKC Teachings & Practices [article]

• If You Don't Quit You Win: 3 Keys to Persistent Prayer [podcast]

• Insights on Worship from Ray Hughes [article]

• Jesus Gets What He Prays For: John 17 Unity with Jonathan Friz [podcast]

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Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

Do you have some new rhythms for the new year? Maybe a Bible reading plan or exercise routine?

For the Lilley’s, January has been all about getting back into regular rhythms of life and ministry. A new homeschool semester began for my wife and four kids, with the Rooted co-op starting back up in February. The Greenhouse, our new little seedling of a local church community, is gathering regularly on Sunday afternoons for home church services, and we’re hosting the Worship Room for our region to pray and worship on Tuesday nights and 2nd Saturdays of the month.

Presence Pioneers Media is pumping out fresh articles on Mondays and podcast episodes on Wednesdays. we just published the first of five book projects that will be coming out in 2025.

Rhythms. Working and resting. Feasting and fasting. Prayer and mission. In and out. Let’s do this in 2025!

Check out the testimonies, photos, and videos below 👇🏼

Matthew Lilley
Director & Founder of Presence Pioneers

6 Hours of Worship on New Year’s Eve 🎉

Here’s what we were doing around 12:01 am on New Year’s Day:

The video clip is the final song after six hours of non-stop worship and prayer for a Greenhouse Worship Room gathering here in Greenville, NC. It was amazing! A few hundred worshipers came through over the course of the event, representing a variety of churches, races, and ages. What a beautiful way to bring in 2025!

Testimonies about David’s Tabernacle 🙏🏼

100 copies of my Spanish David’s Tabernacle book recently landed in Guatemala and are being distributed to pastors and leaders there. The same ministry network has also taken some English copies to their ministry work in Scotland. Praise God!

Also, here’s a recent text from a pastor who read David’s Tabernacle:

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NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in January🎙️

• How to Build A House of Prayer [handbook]

• God, Our Healer by Weslea Pierson [article]

• Presence-Centered Communities: A Case Study, Examples and Definitions [podcast]

• The Importance and Impact of Houses of Prayer [article]

• Choose the Lowest Seat by Jonathan Friz [article]

Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

Eastern North Carolina got a rare blast of winter weather in January, including multiple inches of snow! The kids had a lot of fun making snow angels, making snow cream, and building a small snowman on the balcony (they even rigged up a pulley system to lift buckets of snow)!

Upcoming Itinerary & Events ✈️

February 1 - The Greenhouse Worship Room, Greenville NC

February 5-7 - Gatecity Church, Atlanta, GA

February 19-22 - The Prayer Room DFW, Dallas TX

March 1 - The Greenhouse Worship Room, Greenville NC

April 4-5 - Phenomenon 2025, Greenville NC

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Friends and Ministry Partners,

In November of 2021, I was on a personal retreat in an isolated mountain cabin in Moravian Falls, North Carolina. God spoke clearly to me about the calling to carry the Moravian legacy of 24/7 prayer, worship, missions, and discipleship. He spoke about local church communities that He referred to as “spiritual families” and “kingdom outposts” where I would be involved in leadership. I knew there would come a day when I needed to take a step of faith to build an expression of the kind of spiritual family that He was revealing to me. Now is the time.

After much prayer, fasting, confirmation, counsel, and discernment, my wife Shepard and I are excited to announce the launch of The Greenhouse, a new presence-centered community here in Pitt County, North Carolina! The Greenhouse will be a spiritual family that ministers to the Lord, equips believers, and pursues the Great Commission until our region is transformed and the nations are reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe God’s vision for The Greenhouse is to grow into a thriving local church, a citywide house of prayer, a regional revival hub, and a nation-impacting missions base. We are excited!

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The mission of Presence Pioneers has always been to “connect, equip, and plant presence-centered communities.” In 2025, we are leaning into the “plant” part of this mission in a new way with the planting of The Greenhouse (while we continue to “connect” via HOPHUB and “equip” through PPM).

The Greenhouse is currently hosting simple weekly services in our home on Sunday afternoons and building a “Worship Room” — a house of prayer where the body of Christ can come together to minister to the Lord, enjoy God’s presence, and pray for revival. We believe God will eventually provide a venue for The Greenhouse to host daily prayer meetings, services, and events. A dedicated space could also serve as a base for Presence Pioneers as we connect and equip the global prayer movement.

We would love to have you join this journey with us. Here are a few ways to dive in:

1. We have set up a website with more details which you can browse through at thegreenhousenc.com. Be sure to sign up for the new Greenhouse email list to get updates!

2. If you don’t live in eastern North Carolina, consider moving to this area to help us build The Greenhouse. If you’re curious about what that would mean, shoot me a message, and let’s talk.

3. Consider sowing financially into this new ministry effort. This is a major need for us in this new pioneering season.

thegreenhousenc.com

Thank you for your ongoing prayer and support in this season!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Every year in my November newsletter, I share some highlights of what God has done through our ministry this year. Thanksgiving is a perfect time to remember and celebrate the Lord’s faithfulness.

When Shepard and I reflected on January of this year, we realized that 2024 was not anything like what we expected. But in many ways, it was so much better. God has launched into a season of pioneering several exciting new ministries.

So please check out the video update up top, skim the 2024 photos below, and be sure to check out the infographic at the end of the email for some amazing stats on how God has used Presence Pioneers Media this year to impact thousands of people around the world.

Let’s give thanks to God for all He has done! And a special thank you to our Presence Pioneers partners who give generously to our ministry. These testimonies are your testimonies because of your prayers and financial partnership.

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

My Books In The Nations🌏

Traveling To Teach & Lead Worship✈️

Enjoying Prayer Course & Study Guide📚

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Back to Eden Festival & Podcast Season🌱

Local Presence-Centered Community📍

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My wife Shepard and I are in a really cool season of life where God is intermingling our ministries and interests in a fresh way:

• Since the summer we have been hosting Tuesday night gatherings at our home with worship and Bible study.

• We recorded a Presence Pioneers podcast season together called “Back to Eden”. The episodes have been releasing this fall. As always, our paid subscribers get twice as many episodes.

• This past weekend, we hosted our first Back to Eden Festival here in eastern North Carolina, a Christian homesteading festival that included homesteading classes, vendors, and 10+ hours of worship and prayer (check out the photo below).

God is doing something really cool here in eastern NC right now, and we feel the Holy Spirit inviting us to press into what’s happening. We’ll keep you updated! Pray for us and sow into what’s happening as the Lord leads.

Matthew Lilley
Director & Founder of Presence Pioneers

Back to Eden Festival 🌿

Back to Eden Festival was two and half days of classes, worship, vendors, community, and fun in Pitt County, North Carolina. Shepard and her friends really pulled this event together, and I helped coordinate the evening worship times. A few highlights:

• Friday & Saturday night concluded with 6 hours of non-stop worship and prayer in a barn with worship leaders from seven different local churches.

• Saviour and Sherrill Kaonga from Overland Missions came to teach about their missions work in Congo and Zambia, where they teach locals how to take care of their land and grow their food. This opens up amazing doors for the Gospel.

• One young man shared a testimony of how the Friday night message from Elliotte Pearson touched his heart profoundly. He went home that evening, spent time praying and crying with the Lord, and received deep healing in his soul.

• Daytime Friday and Saturday were filled with local vendors, classes, food, and connections including a goat milking demonstration, a sourdough bread-making class, and much more.

• There were loads of kids around - going on hay rides, playing on the playground, throwing frisbees, etc. Many of the children were also deeply engaged in the times of worship. One dad sent me a photo of his young son “in the zone” during worship - hands raised, eyes closed while experiencing God’s presence.

We expect Back to Eden to become an annual event, and we plan to do more frequent events (whether for Christian homesteading or extended hours of worship) throughout the year.

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Testimony about David’s Tabernacle 🙏🏼

I got this encouraging message recently. I’m amazed at how God continues to use my David’s Tabernacle book to impact lives over three years after its release.

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in October🎙️

• The Seasons of Life, Timing and Transitions with Shepard Lilley [podcast]

• The Restoration of Priesthood: Understanding the Kingdom of Priests by Andrew Faletti [article]

• Tending the Soil of Our Hearts with Shepard Lilley [podcast]

• Joy Comes in the Mourning [article]

Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

Upcoming Itinerary & Events ✈️

October 31-November 2 - Garden Church, Greenville SC

December 15 - Church at New Bern, New Bern NC

February 19-22 - The Prayer Room DFW, Dallas TX

April 4-5 - Phenomenon Conference, Greenville NC

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Partners and Friends,

At the end of last month, we hosted 18 hours of non-stop worship and prayer here in eastern North Carolina, with volunteers from over 20 churches from across the region. Check out the photos below! This was the first event we have organized on our own in about 3-4 years, and it was so amazing to see so many people of all ages, generations, and ethnicities encountering the presence of the Lord together. Our next event, Back to Eden, is happening at the end of October. Scroll down for details.

As we’re continuing to foster worship & prayer here in east NC, we’re also burdened to pray for America in this season. I recently published an article with PPM on Five Ways to Pray for the Upcoming Elections in America. The nations just organized a Global Day of Prayer for America. I also spent this past weekend in Washington DC with other prayer leaders discerning how God is leading us to to organize in the coming years. It’s a critical time. Now more than ever, we need to be mobilizing, uniting and building towards day and night worship and prayer. That’s what Presence Pioneers is all about.

Thank you for your prayers and support!
Matthew Lilley

P.S. Presence Pioneers has hit a tight spot financially. If you’ve ever considered sowing into our ministry work with a special gift, now would be a very helpful time to do so. As always, you can give at fundprayer.com.

🔥Photos from The 18-Hour Burn

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🚜 Our Next Local Event: Back to Eden

Our next event is Back to Eden, a Christian homesteading festival at the end of October that my wife Shepard has been organizing. We’re going to include six hours of worship on that Friday and Saturday and an opening worship night on Thursday.

🎙️ Podcast Testimony - God Calling Forth Prayer Leaders

“Just to encourage you, I was feeling discouraged today and I haven’t been listening to your content much recently but felt a fresh wind to start building a prayer and worship community… felt like the Holy Spirit said to go listen to your podcast and the most recent episode is literally titled ‘God’s Calling you To Mobilize Prayer’”

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in September🎙️

• God Always Defends Extravagant Worship [article]

• Back to Eden with Shepard Lilley [podcast]

• The Knowledge of the Glory of the Lord by Jason Hubbard [article]

• Abiding in the Vine with Shepard Lilley [podcast]

• Five Ways to Pray for the Upcoming Elections in America [article]

• The 10 Days Vision by Jonathan Friz [article]

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Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

This summer has been a season of reconnecting here in the Carolinas.

Over the summer, I’m doing some “touring” of prayer rooms in our state, reconnecting with old friends, and building new relationships across our state (see videos below). Also, our local community has been organizing an 18-hour Burn for this coming weekend, which has resulted in some reconnection with worship leaders in this region too.

Meanwhile, God continues to use Presence Pioneers Media to encourage and equip the body of Christ. Below is a cool testimony about how God is using our podcast to fuel global missions.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

🎙️ Amazing Podcast Testimony

While in Richmond this month, I heard about someone who had watched this episode of the Presence Pioneers podcast and felt God calling them into global missions. Now they are heading to a missions training school this fall and plan to go to the Middle East as a missionary!

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🙏🏼Touring North Carolina Prayer Rooms

It has been so encouraging to travel some this summer and experience how God is stirring His Church to pursue day and night worship and prayer. Every time I visit a small prayer gathering, I sense the Lord’s intense delight and joy. Our simple “yes” moves His heart! Here are some glimpses into the prayer rooms:

Ark Fellowship prayer room in Kannapolis, NC

Prayer room at Bethel Church in Goldsboro, NC

Six hours of worship and prayer in Henderson, North Carolina

Triangle Prayer Room in Garner, NC

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in August🎙️

• A Class Of One by Dick Eastman [article]

• Evaluating Mike Bickle's Teachings, IHOPKC's Prophetic History & The Prayer Movement [podcast]

• The Gift of Helps by Jonathan Friz [article]

• Eight Benefits of Day and Night Worship and Prayer [article]

Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

Upcoming Itinerary & Events ✈️

August 30-31 - Farmville, NC - 18-Hour Burn

September 27-29 - Washington DC - David’s Tent DC

October 6-12 - Washington DC - David’s Tent DC

October 24-26 - Farmville, NC -Back to Eden festival

October 31-November 2 - Greenville, SC - Garden Church

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