Who we are
Our Board Members
John hills
Founder & President
John was born and raised in Hagerstown Maryland. He has been married to Patricia for 34 years, and they have 5 children, ages 33-23. He is a carpenter by trade, and has worked for Builder’s First Source since 2006, designing wall panels on a computer.
After graduating high school in 1985, he moved to Pensacola Florida to live with his dad; where God used a group of teenagers to show His unconditional love. And in September of that year, he surrendered his heart to God, and received Jesus as his Savior.
He has invested in the lives of teenagers and young adults for over 30 years, He has planned and organized 10 mission trips to the Crow Creek Sioux reservation in Fort Thompson SD, working with Diamond Willow Ministry from 2006-2015, leading 8 of those trips. And he has been coordinating the Hope Tour since it began in November 2015. Future trip will be Christmas at Crow Creek, December 2023.
Jeremy & Ashley johnson
Jeremy (Vice President) Ashley (Secretary)
Jeremy and Ashley were married in the fall of 2015 and are living in Maryland.
Ashley was born in California and moved across the country to Maryland when she was a young child. She currently holds a B.S. in early childhood education and elementary education. Ashley has been blessed to take part in several trips to work with children and teens in the community of Fort Thompson. Ashley feels that the Lord has blessed her extraordinarily with many cherished memories and valuable friendships established over the years.
Jeremy was born in California to a military family. They moved to England, Hawaii, and eventually settled in Maryland. He graduated from Marshall University with a B.A. in Sports Journalism. Currently he is a Video Production Specialist for a local school system. Jeremy has been on three trips to the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation and thoroughly enjoys intense Nerf battles and basketball games with the youth. It has been an amazing journey to see how the Lord orchestrates things to glorify His Kingdom.
gabrielle [williams] schildtknecht
Treasurer
Gabrielle was born and raised in Maryland. She graduated high school in 2011 and then went on to get her bachelor’s degree in social work from Salisbury University in 2015 and her master’s degree from the University of Maryland School of Social work in 2017. During her second year of grad school Gabrielle spent five months studying abroad in India. Gabrielle currently works as a foster care casework specialist.
Gabrielle has been on 8 trips to the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation in Fort Thompson, SD. She enjoys building relationships with the youth on the reservation and having the opportunity to show them Christ’s love. She went on the first Hope Tour in November of 2015 & July 2018; and saw first hand the amazing impact it has. She is looking forward to seeing this ministry grow to reach even more Sioux people.
Ituha & Tiffany Cloud
Ituha and Tiffany Cloud have been married for 19 years. They have two amazing boys, Logan (18 years old) and Elon (10 years old). They live in Kalamazoo Michigan, but come from two completely different backgrounds.
Ituha was raised in the inner city of Bronx, NY. Growing up in this environment, he was exposed to many life struggles at an early age; Tiffany was raised on a farm in southern Ohio, and then moved to a farm in Michigan with her family around the age of ten.
Today, Ituha is a National Award winning songwriter and an Ordained Pastor. He travels throughout the US doing concerts, as well as being a dynamic and passionate speaker. He Boldly exposes his own battles with depression, suicide, violence, sexual abuse and drug addiction. He conveys in a real and practical way, how he was able to overcome through his faith in God and shares his continuous journey in recovery. He is an advocate for the community, as he sits on the Kalamazoo Board of Mental Health, and is a Certified Peer Support Specialist- working as a life coach to those who have mental illness and substance use issues.
Tiffany is a singer who loves to worship whenever given the opportunity. She also travels and speaks to young woman regarding body image issues, sexual abuse, and how as woman we need to understand the beauty that God has placed inside each of us. She shares her own inner wounds and how God continually is working and healing her, as long as she is willing to expose the pain. She also works full time managing a dental office as well as working part time as a nurse with the geriatric community.
Ituha and Tiffany have been blessed to be a part of The Hope Tour for three years now. Traveling to South Dakota and investing in the lives of the Natives has been an unbelievable experience. Ituha, himself, is from the Pottawatomi tribe. His name means “Strong as an Oak”. To Partner with John Hills and the Hope for Every Nation organization has been something that God spoke over Ituha many years ago and it is beautiful to watch this unfold.
Shawna [kelly] lOpresto
Shawna got to know God at a young age thanks to the introduction from her parents and church. She is from Maryland but spent the last 10 years in Tennessee and Virginia. Shawna was raised in a homeschool family as the oldest of 7 kids. Her passion for working with youth began at a very young age.
She signed up to go with John Hills and work with Diamond Willow Ministries during his first trip in 2006 being only 13 years old. After discovering the purpose God had for her in Fort Thompson, SD she returned 10 times. Between 2006-2015 Shawna was able to return to Crow Creek with John Hills' team many times, spend one month in the summer of 2011 working with Diamond Willow and teaching dance camps, take a team of young woman to volunteer with the girls' summer camp at DWM in 2012, and join John and the team on the first Hope Tour in 2015.
After high school, Shawna worked with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) outside of Nashville and was able to participate in outreach trips to London and Nepal. After YWAM she had the opportunity to be part of two different church plants in Virginia Beach and finished her B.S. in Elementary Education in 2017. She became a teacher for Virginia Beach City Public Schools and spent 4 years teaching 5th grade math and science in a Title 1 school.
She now has two daughters and continues to teach dance locally. She hopes to bring her girls with her in the future to share her love for the Sioux people and continue to show the love of Christ.