John and Nancy McKeeth live in the small town of San Nicolas, Santa Barbara in Honduras. They were privileged to grow up in Christian homes and made the decision to follow Christ as children.  John was born and raised in southern Idaho. He graduated from what is now Corben University (Western Baptist Bible College). Nancy lived in Iowa until she was 16, when her family moved to eastern Oregon and later to Idaho.  She graduated from Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. They married in 1976. John and Nancy have four children and four grandsons.

They began Spanish language study in Costa Rica in 1980, and have worked in a variety of ministries in Central America including church planting (in Panama, 1981-2001) a teaching ministry to pastors and lay leaders (in Honduras and Nicaragua 2002-present) with a special emphasis on teaching on conflict resolution and building a culture of peace.  Since moving to Honduras in 2002, John and Nancy have been involved in integral development projects in areas such as reforestation and literacy. In 2012 they began a mobile library project that is now serving close to a dozen communities in rural Honduras.

Honduras has had the Gospel for over a hundred years.  There is a growing sense within the churches of their own responsibility to take the Gospel where it has not been heard. But because many churches are not able to pay their own pastors a living wage, the financial limitations to respond to that command seem insurmountable. On a broader level, violence and poverty have a marked impact throughout the country. There is a significant need to diversify away from the unhealthy dependence on coffee production as their major cash crop, which has been devastated by disease and low prices. At the same time, Honduras is rich in under-utilized natural resources.

In an effort to respond to the need in the churches, the spiritual needs of many who are touched by violence, and the general humanitarian crisis, the McKeeths are partnering with others to develop an integral approach to development. Their ministry has what they call four bottom lines: spiritual, economic, social and environmental.  One of the goals is to discover new ways to use already existing resources to provide additional sources of income that will not only help families and churches, but will also help make cross-cultural ministry a reality for believers in one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.