Missions Mobilization Speaker

“I had encountered a diamond-back rattlesnake on a country road near my home when I was nine, and that put a fear of snakes in me,” remembers Keith. Coincidentally, “every missionary that came to our church when I was a kid served in the jungle and brought a pith helmet, a machete and a snake in a jar of formaldehyde...[so] I concluded that mission work was not for me. But God had other plans!”

Born and raised in Georgia, Keith accepted Christ at the age of nine. At 18 he went off to Bible College in the UK. “I didn’t want to be a missionary and did not realize this ‘Bible college’ was a missionary training school.” No surprise: Keith answered God’s call to full-time missions while there. He also met his wife, Rita, from the Netherlands there, and they set their sights on joining Operation Mobilization, which they did in 1980. They have served in several leadership positions over the years but most recently are focusing on church mobilization. In this new phase, they are inspiring and equipping churches to have a global impact.

As part of this focus, Keith coaches churches to develop fresh strategies and structures to better mobilize the church from the top down. “I am burdened by the fact that less than 5% of US churches have any type of strategic involvement in the Great Commission. If this truly is the last command of Christ, then should churches not make this a priority of their ministry? I want to walk alongside churches as they take steps to become more personally involved in God’s mission.”

Keith is passionate about telling the stories of what God is doing around the world today. He finds that most church members are totally unaware of the developments in the global church and the move of God among people in Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist areas. “One of my greatest joys in ministry is being able to communicate the activity of God to a group of Christians and see the surprise and excitement that comes over their faces when they hear the stories of changed lives and communities.”

Would you like to hear some of Keith’s global mission stories? He promises he won’t bring a snake!

What other people say

“Keith Haywood is one of the most passionate, genuine, and effective mission mobilizers I have had the chance to work with in the last 10 years. He is well informed and up-to-date with what God is doing in our world today. Every church I know of that he has worked with has been blessed by his ministry and grateful for their partnership with he and Rita.”
Landon Reesor ~ Pastor of Encounter Church, Darien, Connecticut.


“Keith has spoken at our church on several occasions. He has greatly increased our knowledge of mission opportunities, and is able to convey it in a down to earth, easy to understand message. He not only has vast knowledge of missions, but practical, hands on experience. I would heartily recommend him as a speaker.”
Ron Kiefer ~ Missions Committee Chairman, First Presbyterian Church, Rome, Georgia.


“Keith speaks from experience and from conviction. He knows what God wants to accomplish in the world and he is very articulate and disciplined in presenting it in a way that can be understood and grasped by all. I believe Keith has been anointed by God to spread the message of missions to the church. I thank God that he has sent Keith our way.”
Lynn Mulkey ~ Missions Elder, Douglasville, Georgia.