Advancing the Gospel on the Front Line: An Interview with Tim Keesee
Tabletalk: How did you become a Christian and discern your call to ministry?
Tim Keesee: I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home and a gospel-preaching church. My earliest memory of my mother was her reading the Bible to me. When I was ten years old, during several weeks of preaching, I felt more and more the burden of my sin and my desperate need for Christ. He showed His grace and mercy to me and set me free. I will never forget the joy and freedom I experienced that night. As Jesus said in John 8:36, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” When I was fifteen, God’s Word seemed to come alive to me like it never had before. The Lord’s presence and promises became very real to me when I read His Word and heard it preached. That’s when, in a definite way, He caused me to know that making Him known was what I was to give my life to.
TT: How did you become involved in world missions?
TK: Little by little. Back when I was in college, I taught an adult Sunday school class at my church. We renamed our class “Regions Beyond Bible Class,” from 2 Corinthians 10:16. We tacked a world map on the wall, which was a focal point for prayer and projects, especially for the needs of persecuted Christians. We raised funds to print and smuggle Bibles behind the Iron Curtain and organized letter-writing campaigns to highlight the plight of brothers and sisters suffering in prison for the sake of the gospel. These were just little things—mobilizing twenty to thirty people to pray and invest. I often think of what an early mentor of mine said: “Between the great things we cannot do and the little things we will not do, lies the danger of doing nothing.” I am thankful for my great God who graciously does not despise “the day of small things” (Zech. 4:10).
TT: How was Frontline Missions International founded? How does it carry out its mission?
TK: Frontline Missions International started in 1992 after the fall of the Iron Curtain. It was a remarkable time of gospel opportunity in those suddenly unshackled lands...