About Us
Thousand Hills and Shade Tree are ministries of Christ followers believing Christ is the answer and the church has God-given authority over people’s spiritual lives. Christ is the perfect example of caring for those in need, spiritually and physically. In truth, Christ demonstrated care and compassion to draw people to himself, restoring all things. We believe the tools and encouragement we provide church leaders are a part of bringing about restoration of ALL things.
It’s our mission to equip church leaders with tools and training to see people restored to being what God created them to be: people who understand that they are created in the image of God with gifts, abilities, and capacity to make decisions effecting Christlike change… people equipped to steward their families , villages, resources and relationships in order to bring Christ glory.
Matthew 13:23 “The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
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Beliefs
About the Bible
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. All Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.
About God
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
About Jesus Christ
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.
About the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
About the Gospel
The gospel is the good news that Jesus died for your sins on the cross and rose from the dead for eternal life. This news is good because if you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart that this good news is true news, you will be forgiven of sin and saved into a secure relationship with God himself.
About the Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.
Meet the Team
Brian Stout
Director
Brian left a successful career in corporate America in 2007 after a short-term missions trip to Haiti opened his eyes to the needs in the developing world—and the opportunities to be part of the answer. Since then he has traveled to Haiti numerous times to help support local church initiatives. He helped found Thousand Hills Ministry in 2011 to focus exclusively on gospel-based economic development projects in Haiti. Brian and his wife, Kathy, have three children, and live in Lake Mary, Fla.
Barry Quiner
Board Member
Barry has worked in the real estate investment management industry for 20 years and currently serves as the head of asset management for an institutional investment advisor. He brings business and relationship management skills, and personal experience of several short-term missions trips, to Thousand Hills Ministry. Barry’s local church service involvement includes serving as treasurer, deacon, and head of adult education. He and his wife Krista have eight children and live in Chester, N.J.
Tom Mayer
Board Member
A retired businessman with over 40 years’ experience in sales and sales management, Tom’s heart for missions is twinned with wisdom and interpersonal skills in the areas of leadership and management. A long-time local church Sunday School teacher, he now teaches in a prison ministry. Tom and his wife, Nancy, have three children and nine grandchildren and live in Phoenix, Ariz.