Wow! So much has happened since the last time I wrote! I have been delayed getting this out, but everything has been so hectic. I’ll start at the beginning and fill you in.
When Billy and I came back from the UK, we began talks with a mission organization called Greater Europe Mission (GEM). We love them and love their hearts for Europe. We began going through their process to join them as missionaries around Christmastime last year, and the past several months have been full of testing for us. We took personality tests, Bible and Theology tests, Marriage tests, proctored exams, and filled out pages worth of documents on our life history. GEM places an importance on the wholeness of their missionaries (rightly so), and so we were thoroughly vetted to join their ranks. In early May, we went to Colorado for a week to complete one final interview and begin more detailed training. When we returned home, we received word that we had been accepted as missionaries into their organization. We were excited for the future, but also, we were conflicted. You see, with GEM, we wouldn’t have been going back to Bradford directly. We would have been placed somewhere else in the UK for the time being. Throughout this process with GEM, we thought the Lord was asking us to lay Bradford down for a season. At this moment in the decision making process, though, Bradford was there, calling us.
We couldn’t get a clear direction about going back to Bradford, or moving forward with fundraising training for GEM. I went to the park to pray one day, and the Holy Spirit directed me to a message called “Spend and Be Spent” by Randy Clark. There is so much about this message that made me weep, but to make a long story shorter, I was listening, and he said “there are some of you listening that the Lord is asking you to do what you did a second time”, or something along those lines, but when he said “second time.” I knew instantaneously that the Lord was asking us to go to Bradford again for 6 months.
Our time with GEM was NOT wasted time. The Lord used that time to teach us so much about ourselves. With all the testing we underwent, we learned our strengths and our weaknesses, areas where we need to grow, and areas where we excel.
We were able to go to Colorado and not feel quite so alone, too. We made friends with people who are on a similar journey as us, trying to get to the foreign mission field. I hope they don’t mind us sharing this photo from our trip. One of our friends we met in Colorado wrote us this when they found out we were no longer pursuing GEM: “God’s plan wasn’t to have Isaac sacrificed on the mountain, it was a test of faithfulness 
I cried reading that, because in our mind, it was yet another confirmation of what the Lord was doing. When we first started the process with GEM, we kept telling people, we feel like we have laid down our Isaac in stepping away from Bradford for a season. I just love how the Lord brings things back around full circle.
So what is next?? BIG NEWS!!! I am so excited to share with you that in September, Billy and I will be going back to Bradford, UK for 6 more months!! We still have lots of details to figure out, accommodations, airfare, exact dates of travel, etc, but we know the Lord is asking us to do this, and we couldn’t be more thrilled!
Secondly, We have been blessed with the funds to start our own non profit! YAY! This is something that is long overdue, and so we have started the process. Over the next few weeks, you will watch our branding change from “The Hills Go”, to “Raise & Restore Missions.” For our non-profit, we were looking for something a little less personal, and more about the bigger picture. Isaiah 58:12 says “Those from among you shall build the old waste places: You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of streets to dwell in.” Our call is to missions and discipleship. It’s about walking along someone to bring about restoration and healing, so that they too, can fulfill their God’s given purpose and dreams. Our mission statement is “Raise and Restore Missions exists to share the love of Jesus Christ with the world, so that people are raised, restored, and equipped to live out God’s purpose with passion.”
If you would like to donate to the upcoming mission, you can donate using this link here. As I said earlier, we are pursuing 501c3 status, so any donation will be tax deductible retroactively once we receive the designation. We have estimated that we will need to raise $30,000 for a six month mission. If you wish to give into an already established non profit until ours is official, there are links on our website to donate through our church. If you are in the UK and wish to donate, our banking information is:
Account Name: Tonya Hill
Account Number: 30480608
Sort Code: 23-08-01
Both the banking information, and the link to our donation page are new ways to donate, so please reach out to us if you have any issues at all! All of our banking information will transition to business accounts as soon as we get our Articles of Incorporation back from the state.
Our new website URL, www.raiserestore.org, is linked with www.thehillsgo.com, and you will be seeing changes on our site in the coming days and weeks!
We thank all of you that have stood with us, and prayed with us over the last several years of us getting our feet under us and getting our vision more defined. We feel your prayers for us on a daily basis. We are so excited for what this next chapter holds, and are so thankful that you are here with us in the trenches, praying for us and supporting us as we go.
There is lots more to come in the coming days and weeks, so stay tuned! We love you all!