Jeff and Heidi grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. They served in various leadership roles in their local church. The Cecils also served the North Carolina District as coordinators of Carolina Crusades, which is a church planting campaign of North Carolina. Jeff and Heidi pastored in Tarboro before resigning to fulfill their call to the global mission field. In 2019 the Cecils took their first AIM trip to Sierra Leone, where they assisted the missionary and national church in evangelism, teaching and Bible college administration. The Cecils were appointed as associate missionaries in 2021. They later transferred fields to The Gambia, where they have seen souls baptized in Jesus' name. Two preaching points and four home groups have been established. Jeff and Heidi were appointed intermediate missionaries to The Gambia and Sierra Leone at the 2023 General Conference.