Kevin Finnerty was recently appointed as an elder in the New York City Church of Christ. In this episode, Kevin and his wife Andee share about three moments in their life when they had to deny themselves and rely on God. This video illustrates the theme from Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” It reminds us how God takes care of those who give themselves fully to him. This video is designed for viewing during regular church services.
Video script:
Kevin: In the fall 29 years ago I had no idea that God was going to call me to change my life and completely turn it around. A scripture that relates to my life back then and even now is Matthew 6 verse 33. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” It’s a scripture that I have had to lean on and call on throughout my life. It began when I became a Christian. I was met and reached out to at Columbia University. I knew that if I made this decision my dad would probably stop paying for my senior year tuition. And that is exactly what he did. And true to the Matthew 6:33 scripture, God opened the door and I got a great job as an engineer and made enough money that summer to pay for my senior year with my mom’s help.
Andee: I was on the original mission team. I was one of the 18 and it was an exciting adventure. I was baptized one year prior to coming here and I had never lived in a large city before. I had to make a decision that I was going to trust and obey. We evangelized everywhere we went. Whether we were walking, talking, in class, or on our way to class, we were looking for opportunities where we could invite people to learn about Jesus.
Kevin: Even in our time in the ministry we have had great opportunities to help, build, and strengthen the church. We served as interns for a number of years. And then we had the opportunity to go to Africa. That decision required us to give everything to God, because at that time there was no money to afford sending other missionaries. And I told my wife, “Honey, if we make this decision it can work. God can really take care of our needs ad make it happen. So three weeks after we got married we moved to Africa.
To go to Zimbabwe we had to either sell or give away everything that we didn’t need, because we could only bring two suitcases each. We have the suitcases and a leaky air mattress. We slept on that leaky air mattress and we had to pump it up in the middle of the night. We were living on the edge, but God took care of us. He gave us opportunities to make things happen and afford to stay there for years. I walked into the best school in the country and found out that just one week before a teacher in the science department had quit. That’s where I needed a job.
I was called Murungoo Anupango, Crazy White Guy, because the brothers and sisters there were so encouraged by our love and commitment to them. And then, in returning back to the United States after four years, we had to sell or give away anything that we didn’t need again, because we could only return with two suitcases each. And then we had a baby. When we came back from Africa we had a baby, the same four suitcases, and about 2,000 dollars. And God opened doors. He helped with apartments. He gave me an opportunity to get a great job as a teacher in New York City. We had another daughter born here in the Big Apple (New York). I got the opportunity to lead a Bible Talk, started to lead the children’s ministry here in New York, and even became a deacon.
In the 28 years that I’ve been a Christian I’ve seen God work in so many ways in my life. The same theme of seeking first God, seeking first his kingdom, seeking first his righteousness, and how all the things that we need and all the worries that we have can be taken care of as well. It is such an honor, as we come the 30th anniversary of the church here in New York, that I getting the chance to be appointed to serve as an elder to take care of the needs of the church here in New York. To God be the glory for this great occasion.
