OK, we said we would drop all the text heavy updates and keep this thing to pictures but here we are with a long post again! I think that after you read it you will agree that it was worth the time, since you thought it was worth your time to look in on us in the first place!
We are at the closing of a vision trip in which we are seeking God's will for our lives. What has been abundantly clear above anything else is that God has given us each other to celebrate and love in the midst of a world that often has a distorted view of love. Whether that be in Vancouver, Knoxville, or Europe we have those marching orders for sure. However God seems to be given us some clear understandings of what might just be ahead of us.
Below is an article we sent to Envision Ministries (an organization that supports us on this trip) and in it we give a summary of the journey and what opportunities we have before us.
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In June of this year Kevin and Cheryl Hill were sent out by Envision Ministries for an extended missions and vision trip. They were married on January 6th of this year and in lieu of wedding gifts the couple asked family and friends to support them on this adventure. What initially was going to be a two month trip, through the leadership of the Lord, turned into a seven month journey.
Kevin has for years been visiting the country of Albania and the region of Kosova on various missions trips. From the beginning of these trips Kevin has felt called by God to extend the Kingdom of God in these areas, however being newly married, Kevin and Cheryl needed to explore how this calling would affect them as a couple. Should they go out as missionaries to these regions? Should they find other ways to work among Albanians not living in these regions? Are they called to advocate missions among these peoples while remaining in North America? All of these are good questions and the couple felt that the beginning of finding the answers would be in seeking God’s will while being among Albanians in their native environments of Albania and Kosova.
Along with Kevin’s passion for Albanians he has had a parallel passion for ministering out of a context just as what we have developed at Three Trees. Initially Kevin had always envisioned the marriage of these two passions through opening a coffeehouse in Kosova. While Kevin had the passion for such a project he lacked some of the tangible skills needed for the implementation of such an endeavor and so it has remained in the vision casting stages. While being visionary herself, Cheryl’s skills are most suited toward the implementation phases. This practicality along with her business training as an MBA seemed a perfect match to come along side Kevin in implementing the project in Kosova. However there still remained the question of whether this would be the will of the Lord!
Just before leaving for their journey an interesting thing occurred, Kevin was put back into contact with the Evangelical Free Church of America’s missions agency, Reach Global. Kevin’s home church in TN is an Evangelical Free Church and so several of his various trips to Albania and Kosova were in concert with Reach Global. In the past Kevin had hoped to partner with this organization, however their focus was narrowed to a very clear vision of church planting, and therefore the vision of a coffeehouse fell outside of their work. Nonetheless, through the Lord’s providential leading, Kevin was on the phone planning to visit an old contact in Budapest only to discover that Reach Global had under gone major changes in philosophy and now not only welcomed projects such as Kevin’s but they were actively evaluating just such a project in Budapest.
We are also excited to share with you a calling that Cheryl feels God is putting in her heart. While having been trained for significant leadership in the market place Cheryl is sensing God’s calling for her to focus on cultivating a Kingdom saturated home. The core of this vision is an image Cheryl received in prayer. The picture was of Cheryl in prayer and deep fellowship with God inside the walls of her home. She feels this statement summarizes that vision and where her heart is moving: “My vision is to wholeheartedly devote my time, praise, worship and life to the Lord and to be fully secure in His promises, to be a light in the darkness, and an outpost to the community. In our home: those who know Him will see Him, those who seek Him will feel Him, and those that do not know Him will be calmed.
Of course the reality is that Kevin and Cheryl’s two visions intimately intersect in that they both are dedicated to creating environments defined by the Kingdom of God. One is in the marketplace and the other is in the living space. Given that Kevin and Cheryl will be ministering as a couple, they clearly see that in creating these Kingdom spaces they will both be intimately involved in each other’s vision having unique roles and emphasises in each context. Your prayer for them as they seek God’s will in their life together and continue trying to align their future direction with Scripture would be most appreciated!
Unfortunately for sake of brevity here, we must skip over wonderful stories of God’s provision, leadership, and intimate fellowship in order to come to where Kevin and Cheryl find themselves today. The couple will return to the North America on December 17th with three very distinct opportunities before them. They have been invited by Reach Global to explore developing a European network of coffeehouses that will seek to extend the Kingdom of God through dialogue and artistic expression as well as fervent prayer and solid biblical teaching. Pray that both the missions agency and the Hill’s are blessed by the exploration and clearly discern the Lord’s leadership as to whether this is a project in which they should all join in partnership.
In February the couple will also be visiting Richfield Community Church a member of the Evangelical Free Church of America. This congregation is located in California and is a church Kevin has partnered with in the past to do evangelism in Kosova. This church wishes to send a church planting or development team to Kosova and is open to exploring Kevin’s ideas as an option rather than traditional church planting. Please pray that there time in California is fruitful in Kevin’s and Cheryl’s discernment if the Lord would have them redirect their focus from Kosova to another location in Europe. Also pray that this time with Richfield Community Church be fruitful in energizing their own work among Albanians and that it clearly indicate whether God would have the Hill’s invest in that work in the future. In either case Reach Global would be the sending partner and so Kevin and Cheryl have begun the process of applying to join the agency.
And finally there is a Christian real estate developer in Albania who has also invited the couple to launch a similar project in the capital of Albania, Tirana. This project would also include a business development incubator that would share space in the Cultural Center with the Café. This project would allow Kevin and Cheryl to learn the Albanian Language as a step toward Kosova in the future. It would also allow them to pilot a Cultural Center venue in a more stable environment but still among Albanians. However this project is not clearly established with a particular organization and so there are many unanswered questions as well. Please pray that if God would have Kevin and Cheryl redirect from Kosova and possibly from Reach Global in order to work in Tirana then God would release support for this project and close support for the others.
Kevin has for years been visiting the country of Albania and the region of Kosova on various missions trips. From the beginning of these trips Kevin has felt called by God to extend the Kingdom of God in these areas, however being newly married, Kevin and Cheryl needed to explore how this calling would affect them as a couple. Should they go out as missionaries to these regions? Should they find other ways to work among Albanians not living in these regions? Are they called to advocate missions among these peoples while remaining in North America? All of these are good questions and the couple felt that the beginning of finding the answers would be in seeking God’s will while being among Albanians in their native environments of Albania and Kosova.
Along with Kevin’s passion for Albanians he has had a parallel passion for ministering out of a context just as what we have developed at Three Trees. Initially Kevin had always envisioned the marriage of these two passions through opening a coffeehouse in Kosova. While Kevin had the passion for such a project he lacked some of the tangible skills needed for the implementation of such an endeavor and so it has remained in the vision casting stages. While being visionary herself, Cheryl’s skills are most suited toward the implementation phases. This practicality along with her business training as an MBA seemed a perfect match to come along side Kevin in implementing the project in Kosova. However there still remained the question of whether this would be the will of the Lord!
Just before leaving for their journey an interesting thing occurred, Kevin was put back into contact with the Evangelical Free Church of America’s missions agency, Reach Global. Kevin’s home church in TN is an Evangelical Free Church and so several of his various trips to Albania and Kosova were in concert with Reach Global. In the past Kevin had hoped to partner with this organization, however their focus was narrowed to a very clear vision of church planting, and therefore the vision of a coffeehouse fell outside of their work. Nonetheless, through the Lord’s providential leading, Kevin was on the phone planning to visit an old contact in Budapest only to discover that Reach Global had under gone major changes in philosophy and now not only welcomed projects such as Kevin’s but they were actively evaluating just such a project in Budapest.
We are also excited to share with you a calling that Cheryl feels God is putting in her heart. While having been trained for significant leadership in the market place Cheryl is sensing God’s calling for her to focus on cultivating a Kingdom saturated home. The core of this vision is an image Cheryl received in prayer. The picture was of Cheryl in prayer and deep fellowship with God inside the walls of her home. She feels this statement summarizes that vision and where her heart is moving: “My vision is to wholeheartedly devote my time, praise, worship and life to the Lord and to be fully secure in His promises, to be a light in the darkness, and an outpost to the community. In our home: those who know Him will see Him, those who seek Him will feel Him, and those that do not know Him will be calmed.
Of course the reality is that Kevin and Cheryl’s two visions intimately intersect in that they both are dedicated to creating environments defined by the Kingdom of God. One is in the marketplace and the other is in the living space. Given that Kevin and Cheryl will be ministering as a couple, they clearly see that in creating these Kingdom spaces they will both be intimately involved in each other’s vision having unique roles and emphasises in each context. Your prayer for them as they seek God’s will in their life together and continue trying to align their future direction with Scripture would be most appreciated!
Unfortunately for sake of brevity here, we must skip over wonderful stories of God’s provision, leadership, and intimate fellowship in order to come to where Kevin and Cheryl find themselves today. The couple will return to the North America on December 17th with three very distinct opportunities before them. They have been invited by Reach Global to explore developing a European network of coffeehouses that will seek to extend the Kingdom of God through dialogue and artistic expression as well as fervent prayer and solid biblical teaching. Pray that both the missions agency and the Hill’s are blessed by the exploration and clearly discern the Lord’s leadership as to whether this is a project in which they should all join in partnership.
In February the couple will also be visiting Richfield Community Church a member of the Evangelical Free Church of America. This congregation is located in California and is a church Kevin has partnered with in the past to do evangelism in Kosova. This church wishes to send a church planting or development team to Kosova and is open to exploring Kevin’s ideas as an option rather than traditional church planting. Please pray that there time in California is fruitful in Kevin’s and Cheryl’s discernment if the Lord would have them redirect their focus from Kosova to another location in Europe. Also pray that this time with Richfield Community Church be fruitful in energizing their own work among Albanians and that it clearly indicate whether God would have the Hill’s invest in that work in the future. In either case Reach Global would be the sending partner and so Kevin and Cheryl have begun the process of applying to join the agency.
And finally there is a Christian real estate developer in Albania who has also invited the couple to launch a similar project in the capital of Albania, Tirana. This project would also include a business development incubator that would share space in the Cultural Center with the Café. This project would allow Kevin and Cheryl to learn the Albanian Language as a step toward Kosova in the future. It would also allow them to pilot a Cultural Center venue in a more stable environment but still among Albanians. However this project is not clearly established with a particular organization and so there are many unanswered questions as well. Please pray that if God would have Kevin and Cheryl redirect from Kosova and possibly from Reach Global in order to work in Tirana then God would release support for this project and close support for the others.
Please pray that through the process of application and through the visits both with the agency and the California church that God would continue his provision, leadership, and intimacy as Kevin and Cheryl explore their next steps. One key prayer is regarding their desire to follow the Lord in what he has clearly called them to and in beginning to implement that today. While they must wait upon the Lord in order to discern to which land he has called them to work in, there is no need to wait in stepping out in Cheryl’s calling to focus on developing a home saturated in God’s glory! Please pray that they be faithful in this calling and that the Lord meet them in their material needs as they pursue this vision.
