Tom Keller, serving in Mongolia

God saved me in Carlisle, Ohio in 1992.  Like many, the Lord used a personal crisis to finally get my attention.  New friends came into my life just when I needed answers and new beginnings.  They demonstrated a consistent Christian walk in great contrast to my own.   One day they invited me to visit their pastor.  The Holy Spirit used him to convict me of my spiritually lost condition as he showed me what the Bible had to say regarding salvation.  A few months later, during a Sunday service, I repented and received Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.

I served the Lord through my local church as a single man in various ways.  During my first year as a believer, I ministered to the senior “shut-ins” who could no longer visit the congregation.  For three years after that, I helped a team at a local nursing home. I then partnered in a prison ministry for 7 years with another local pastor named Mark Varney.   During this time, God began introducing me to a much larger global vision through the “Voice of the Martyrs” monthly publication.  I became especially burdened for the un-reached peoples of the “10/40 Window” (The longitudinal region extending westward from East Asia, through the Middle East and North Africa.)

I surrendered to God’s call to Asian missions in August 2004 after I visited my former prison ministry partner, Pastor Varney. He had begun serving overseas in the Philippines. 

God approved me for mission service in January 2005 through my home church.  My first term in China lasted 2 years.  I taught English at Yunnan Normal University Business School in the capital city of Kunming.  God truly blessed me with important exposure to the Asian culture and soul-winning opportunities. During my second year in China, while on missionary leave, I was invited to visit the Cofer family. They were just finishing their first mission term in a remote location in Outer Mongolia. While sharing in their daily ministry, I was struck by the tremendous health care needs among the impoverished people of Hovsgol Province. I realized how God could use this deep need for health care to open doors for the spread of the gospel. At the conclusion of that month-long visit, the Cofers invited me to join work alongside them full-time.

I accepted God’s new call to the Mongolian people in January 2008.  As a single man, I will assist the Cofer family and their growing team.   Lord willing, I will be on the field by the Spring of 2010.  It is an honor to be in the position where I can use both my ministry and dental skills to assist this church planting effort.

My daily work will include soul-winning and discipleship training, along with youth and family camps.   I will assist church planters when traveling to surrounding areas, coordinating dental/medical clinics.   These clinics will provide the vital, first contact to establish goodwill and prepare hearts for the presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.