OUR FAMILY

Missy and I were married on May 16, 1998. Neither of us was saved at the time, but shortly after our marriage, God began to work in our hearts. I was saved in May 1999 at Victory Baptist Church in Robbinsville, NC. I later surrendered to the call to preach on May 9, 2001. I then started preaching in churches, nursing homes, and in the local jail until God called us to pastor East Alarka Baptist Church in Bryson City, N.C., and then later to Second Baptist Church in Murphy, N.C. I attended and graduated from Grace Baptist Bible College, earning my Master of Theology and later a Doctor of Theology.

On August 4, 2003, Missy was saved at an old-fashioned tent meeting. She has been a faithful servant alongside me in the work of God, demonstrating a genuine servant’s heart.

In 2008, God began guiding us toward missions, and in November 2009, He confirmed His direction for our lives. We applied to PBMI and launched There Is Hope Prison Ministry. Since then, the Lord has opened numerous opportunities for us. Not only in prisons but also in revivals, youth camps, and mission conferences. We have also had the privilege of traveling worldwide to assist several missionaries on the field.

Since 2021, I have also served as Assistant Director of PMBI.

God has blessed us with two wonderful children: Abbey, born on November 27, 2001, and Emily, born on June 19, 2003.

Our oldest daughter, Abbey, married Charlie Branch on March 6, 2021. They welcomed their first child, Casen James, on Dec. 2, 2023. Charlie is currently serving as the pastor of Meadows Baptist Church in Walnut Cove, NC.

Our youngest daughter, Emily, married Andrew Patterson on March 11, 2023. They faithfully attend our home church. Andrew is also a fine young preacher and the Lord is blessing their ministry. They welcomed their first child, Moriah Dove, on March 19, 2024.

OUR FOCUS

In 2009, There Is Hope Prison Ministry was founded with a burden to reach the incarcerated across America with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Over the years, God has graciously opened doors for us to carry the message of hope and salvation into prisons and jails, not only across our nation but around the world.

Since those early days, the Lord has greatly expanded our outreach. Dr. McKeehan, in addition to his continued work in prisons and jails, now regularly preaches in revivals, missions conferences, mission Sundays, and youth camps. He also teaches Bible college, investing in the next generation of Christian leaders.

Dr. McKeehan also currently serves as the Assistant Director of Prayer Baptist Missions International, where he helps missionaries across the globe through encouragement, logistical support, and field visits. Each year, he makes multiple trips to strengthen and assist these faithful servants in their labor for the Lord.

Our ministry is a multi-faceted ministry with one central focus: to faithfully proclaim the Gospel and serve God's people—whether behind prison walls, in the pulpit, on the mission field, or in the local church.

The heartbeat of our ministry can be summed up in four pursuits:

Evangelize the Sinner
Encourage the Saints
Educate the Servants
Exalt the Saviour

We remain committed to these purposes as we labor together in these last days.

OUR FAITH

We hold the belief in the verbal, plenary, and divine inspiration of the Scriptures, and we recognize their infallibility. We believe that the Word of God is divinely preserved in the King James Version for the English-speaking people. (II Timothy 3:16; Psalms 12:6,7; John 17:17; 2 Peter 1:21)
We believe in one God eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (1 John 5:7)
We believe that Jesus Christ is eternal; was begotten by the Holy Spirit; was born of Mary, a Virgin; and is truly God and truly man. (Matthew 1:20; Galatians 4:4; I Timothy 2:5)
We believe man was created in the image of God; that man sinned, thereby incurring not only physical death but spiritual death as well. Therefore, man is born with a sinful nature and is separated from God. (Genesis 1:26; Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins as our representative and substitutionary sacrifice. All who believe in Jesus, with sorrow and repentance, and receive Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood. Salvation is not by works but by the grace of God through faith in the finished work of Christ. (Luke 13:3-5; John 3:16-18; Acts 20:21; Romans 5:1,6,8-9; 6:23; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-9)
We believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, in His ascension into Heaven, and in His presence there as our High Priest and Advocate. (Luke 24:6, 39; I Timothy 2:5; Romans 10:9; 1 John 2:2)
We believe in the premillennial, pre-tribulational, and imminent return of Jesus Christ, when the Church, both those who are asleep in Jesus and those who remain on the earth, shall be changed and gathered together and shall ever be with Him. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:51-58; Matthew 24:3-41; Revelation 19:11-21; 20:1-15; 21:1-6)
We believe all who, by faith, receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior are born again by the Holy Spirit and thereby become the children of God. We believe that the Holy Spirit enters, seals, and baptizes one the moment he is born into the family of God, and that He endues, guides, teaches, sanctifies, empowers, and keeps the believer eternally secure. (John 14:16-17; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; John 16:7-13; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Jude 24-25)
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just unto everlasting life in Heaven and the resurrection of the lost unto everlasting punishment in the Lake of Fire. (John 11:25; Rev. 20:11-15)
We believe that the Local Church is the institution and means by which Christ has ordained to carry out His Great Commission to reach the world with the Gospel; That Jesus Christ entrusted the Great Commission exclusively to the New Testament Churches and promised the enduring existence of His Church; that each Church is an autonomous and self-governing entity, and no other ecclesiastical body may exercise authority over it. (Matthew 4:18- 22; 16:18; 28:19-20; Mark 1:14-20; John 1:35-51; Ephesians 3:21)
We believe that Scriptural baptism is by total immersion and only for those who have been born again; that it is the outward sign of an inward belief. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only ordinances to be observed by the local Church. (Matthew 26:26-29; 28:19; Acts 8:12;Romans 6:3;1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
We believe that all the saved are called into a life of separation from all worldly and sinful practices, places, and alliances. (II Corinthians 6:14-18; II John 10:11; II Thessalonians 3:6, 14)
We are opposed to the modern-day philosophies of Neo-orthodoxy, Neo-evangelicalism, the Ecumenical Movement, Calvinism, Easy-believism, the modern-day Pentecostal/Charismatic movement, and the Secular Humanist movement.
Abortion: We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. (Psalm 51:5; 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24; 49:1,5; Jeremiah1:5; Luke 1:44)
We believe that marriage and the home were instituted by God and that marriage is between one man and one woman. In the Biblical account of creation, the family was the first societal institution ordained by God. (Genesis 1:27) Furthermore, Scripture plainly declares that the first two humans created by God were a man and a woman. God joined the man and the woman in the holy rite of matrimony and commanded them to be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth. Therefore, the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Genesis 1:28; 2:18-24; Romans 7:2; Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:22-23)

This Statement of Faith encapsulates the core beliefs of our ministry, but it does not encompass the entirety of our faith. The Bible is the sole and ultimate source of our beliefs. While we believe this Statement of Faith accurately reflects the teachings of the Bible, we recognize that our faith extends beyond its scope.