Testimony of Kevin McKeen

I was saved at a very young age. I am not sure of when exactly I trusted in Christ to save me, but I know that He has saved me from my sins. At age 7 I realized that I did not remember ever confessing my sins and accepting Jesus so I prayed and made sure that I was indeed a Christian. At about age 9 at a camp one summer I stood up publicly displaying the surrender of my life to the Lord. Later, in Ecuador, when I was 12 years old, I was baptized by my dad.

I grew up always going to church and church activities. When I was 5 years of age my family and I moved to New Brunswick Bible Institute, because God had called my parents to be missionaries to Ecuador. I am thankful that I was young at the beginning of it all, as I was able to adapt easier than it might have been for an older person.

I grew through the years, in stature and in knowledge, but did not really have a close relationship with the Lord. I simply lived like a Christian kid was supposed to. I didn’t give much thought to personal relationship. It was more about being a good kid and being obedient to my parents. I am so thankful for my parents. I am thankful for who God has made them, and for the example they have been to me.

During my final years of high school was when I began to struggle. I became more influenced by the world, and I was an angry person. I lived a double life as a Christian at church and not at school, regardless of the fact that I attended a Christian school. Through God’s grace and with the help of my family I came through. My entire family, with the exception of my mother, attended New Brunswick Bible Institute, and mom and dad agreed to pay for school as long as we kids went to Bible school. At the end of high school I intended to become an auto mechanic, but my parents convinced me to do a year of Bible school first.

At the beginning of my first year here at NBBI, God grabbed a hold of me. Then I knew that I needed to return for the full 4 years. I grew a lot my freshman year and the following summer went on a trip to Ecuador through CrossWorld. It was a profitable time and I enjoyed being in the ministry. I returned to NBBI the following year. My junior year was not so great. I came back to school with a wrong attitude, which affected my entire life. This eventually led to me being asked to leave in February of 2010. That was a hard time, but the Lord was faithful through it all. He was merciful and patient with me during the year as I worked a secular job. I tried, with much stress and uneasiness, to come up with alternate plans to get trained biblically. Finally, like the prodigal son, I “came to myself”. I realized that I had lost sight of what was important, and what I wanted to do with my life, and that was and is to serve my Master with my whole life. I knew that He wanted me to return to New Brunswick Bible Institute. So I changed my plans to line them up with God’s.

I returned to school in January 2011 with a new attitude and an understanding of what is important. During these last few months I have grown spiritually more than ever. One of the biggest lessons that I have learned that has absolutely changed my perspective on ministry is the truth of what it means to love the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my strength. Not only that, but to love my neighbor as myself. Everything comes down to these two greatest commandments. Everything that I do should be out of love for my God and God’s love for others through me. If I don’t love God, I have no business working for Him. And if I don’t love others, I have no business working for God. R.W. Dale said, “I can render no service to those for whom I feel no love.” If I don’t seriously see people through God’s eyes and see their lost condition, what good am I? I heard Chris Gnanakan speak recently and one thing he said was, “The heart of missions is love for Jesus.” How true that is.

This year God has developed a passion in me to preach the gospel to all creatures, to teach, to disciple, and to baptize. I know and am sure that God has commanded me to go, and obedience to God is the most important thing. I cannot even begin to imagine anything better than pleasing the Lord. He alone is worthy of all praise. I love Him. He has done so much for me. What more can I do but give Him my life in service? I am truly a slave of Jesus Christ. He is my Master and I will willingly serve Him and obey Him. He has commanded me to go, He has called me to preach and teach. I understand the gravity of the situation the lost world is in, and we as followers of Christ need to do something. I am commanded. I am sent. I will go.