Today is Jeff’s 71st birthday but even more important and special to him is the fact that on this date, July 15, 1974, 50 years ago, he surrendered to the call of ministry. We were spending the week at Sagamount Church Camp outside of Joplin, MO with many others from our church (Bethel Baptist Mission) and our associated work from the BMA churches in Kansas and Missouri.
Backing
up……Jeff was not raised in a Christian home.
When he and I started dating during our Senior year of High School and
then seriously dating a year later, he did go to church with me at Mt. Olive
Baptist Church, Girard, KS. It was the
first time Jeff heard many biblical truths, including that Jesus was coming
again. The summer before we married, I
knew that Paul Mooney was starting a mission work in nearby Pittsburg, KS and I
talked him into going with me. We didn’t
make the first Sunday, but did go the second Sunday and loved it! The Missionary Pastor and his wife (and
children) loved us, mentored us and became very good friends over the
years. Jeff will always consider Paul
his “Father in the Ministry”.
Jeff had been saved as a young boy, but had not grown spiritually until
we started going to the Mission. Before
we married in December, Paul baptized Jeff on November 29, 1972 in the
baptistry of First Baptist Church, Galena, KS (where 35+ years later, Jeff
would pastor!). FBC was the “Mother”
church for the mission. Jeff would have
his first “teaching” experience at that little Mission in Pittsburg to
three 4th grade boys (Sept. 1973). The mission had purchased property to build a
church on, but until that was built, we worshipped in a small house on the
property. Due to very limited space,
Jeff taught those three boys in the tiny bathroom of that house🤣.
One boy sat in the tub, two on small folding chairs around the tub and
Jeff sat on the toilet to teach 😊 (a humble beginning ... Jeff has
always said he started at the “bottom” and there was only one way to “go” from there
😊.
He couldn’t run over teaching time, because people would start knocking
on the door to use the restroom)🤣. Those boys are serving the Lord today (the
pastor’s son, Craig Mooney, my younger cousin, Greg Hardister and Mike
Livingston).
Then, on his 21st birthday
at church camp, Jeff felt the strong call to surrender to ministry. His own Pastor, Paul Mooney, counseled him at
the altar that night. I have been asked
over the years if I was surprised. And
my answer is, “No” – I knew God was calling him even before he realized it.”
❤️
Jeff preached his first sermon at the Mission in Pittsburg on July 28, 1974, entitled, “For By Grace” (Ephesians 2:8-9). There were 39 in attendance.
Jeff earned his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology
and Political Science with a minor in Business in December, 1974 from Pittsburg
State University, in Pittsburg, KS. His
first full time ministry position was at Highland Park Baptist Church in
Independence, KS as Associate Pastor under the leadership of Ernie Watson (March
28, 1975). He was ordained on August 8, 1975 at Highland Park. In the years following, Jeff got a Masters of
Arts Degree in Christian Counseling with an emphasis in Marriage and Family and
Substance Abuse Counseling from Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA (August,
1988). In May 1990, he graduated
from Baptist Theological Seminary (Jacksonville, TX) with a Masters of
Arts in Religion degree.
God has used Jeff during these 50 years as Pastor of 8 churches,
Associate Pastor of 2, Dean of Students at a Christian college, Bible teacher
in 10 Bible institutes, colleges, and seminaries around the world, church
planter/missionary, Asst. Foreign Missions Director, and at present Senior
Adult Pastor at Antioch Baptist Church, Conway, AR. He is also a writer (his
greatest work is the Church Planting Module that is still being used around the
world today). God has allowed him to preach/teach more than 12,000
times in 19 states and 30 countries of the world. Over 2,000 have been
saved under his preaching, not counting the thousands that have been saved due
to his writing (especially under the church planting module). He is very blessed
to be a part of a wonderful men’s discipleship program, MD5, and has loved the
opportunity to teach and mentor other men.
Besides
leading each of his children to a saving relationship with Christ, he led his mother
to the Lord in June 1981 and his beloved Grandma “Swart” in November,
1981 and has had the privilege to lead 3 of his grandchildren to Jesus.
His proudest accomplishment, other than receiving Christ as His Savior,
is the fact that he and his wife, Debbie have been married over 51 years and he
is Dad to three great kids and Papa to ten grandchildren! “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” is
Jeff’s life’s theme song and his favorite Bible Scripture is Acts 20:24: “However,
I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and
complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the
gospel of God’s grace.”
I’ve included a slideshow of “ministry” pictures of Jeff. I wish I had more pictures of the first 30
years of ministry, but there was no cell phone cameras in those days and we
just didn’t take pictures like we do now.
Here are some pictures of Jeff preaching, teaching, Mission Trips, Holy
Land Trips, National Meeting, baptizing, church programs, VBS, ministering to
young and old alike (including those important bedtime devos with his
grandkids), Gerald Keller award ceremony, etc. that I could come up with. I would gladly take more pictures if you have
some from those earlier years. Send to
me on email, message or text!
Congratulations, Jeff, on 50 years of serving our Lord!!
🎉💕🎉
Now let me speak very personally, long ago I watched Bro. Jeff as a leader at church camp when it was in Saginaw, Missouri; when he still had hair, played a mean game of softball, and practically sprinted up that huge church camp hill. I watched as high school students lined that old rock wall and he captured their attention with the Word of God. As his ministry developed, many of us would say “remember when…” Then 10 years ago, First Baptist of Galena, was in search of a pastor. The news that Jeff Swart might consider coming “in-view of a call” and many said, “oh, he would never come back to a small church when he’s pastored mega churches and has made something of himself.” He did indeed return to a small-town church and he was quick to correct our “he’ll never come here” way of thinking…it wasn’t numbers in the congregation or a high paying salary…it was God’s call. Over the last 10 years, it has been very evident that God’s hand was all over his ministry here. I watched as attendance numbers grew, town’s people that we thought would never come to church- well, they came, our church’s vision for missions was reignited and we truly became a church on the move under his leadership. He invested in my husband’s ministry as well, becoming a mentor, a “Father in the Faith,” and one of our dearest friends. His wife, Ms. Debbie, poured abundantly in my life as a pastor’s wife. Teaching me how to create an effective, working prayer journal and modeling what it truly means to be a prayer warrior but above all, being one of my greatest encouragers. I can never thank them enough for pouring into our lives. To say “we love them” is quite an understatement. They invest, they love, they impart biblical wisdom, and they shape lives in a powerful way for the cause of Christ. As their ministry at FBC comes to a close, many in this congregation will attest that they certainly “finished well.”
To Bro. Jeff, we say “You know you have finished well when…”
Around 3,000 souls have been saved under your preaching or personal witness.
You have been faithful to complete evangelism materials which are still being used by missionaries all around the world.
You have diligently fed and built four church plants and nine churches.
Your Mother-in-Law chose to attend your church and listen to you each Sunday.
Over 100,000 readers have responded to your Biblical writings over through the years.
Every morning, a little boy named Gabe Polok, looks out his window toward the church and says, “Papa Jeff is home, I need to go see him.”
People come from near and far just to hear your last few sermons.
After all these years, your wife still hangs on every word of your sermon. She still flows with compliments over each one. She proudly posts your writings, articles and each sermon. She’s still your greatest cheerleader and ministry supporter.
The Hall’s and Shoemaker’s let you rotate from dinner table to dinner table each Sunday. You’re in the inner circle when family’s let you in on their unfiltered dinner table conversations- that’s how much we love you.
You’ve seen full circle of ministry, the pastor you began with is also the one you end with. Bro. Jeff and Bro. Paul- the dynamic duo, the father and son of the Faith, friends until the very end.
In small town, Galena, Kansas, you have made an eternal difference on at least 168 lives.
When you do a question and answer sermon, even your church teen’s get excited and interested! Your teaching spurs them on to ask big Biblical questions and dive further into their Bibles.
Your church of ten years mourns the thought of your leaving and celebrates every moment we have with you until your departure.
