Someone You Should Know: Joe Swanson

In our Someone You Should Know series, we interview Faith members to help us get to know them, see how God is working in their lives, and make new connections within our community. In this episode we get to know Joe Swanson.

• Automated Transcription

• Dan Jarms 0:00
  Today on faith matters, we have another in our series, someone you should know, this time, it's Joe Swanson.
  
  Dan Jarms 0:12
  I'm Dan Jarms.
  
  Seth Weber 0:13
  And I'm Seth Weber.
  
  Dan Jarms 0:14
  And you're listening to faith matters a podcast to help update you on matters of faith Bible Church, as well as equip you in matters of the Christian faith.
  
  Seth Weber 0:40
  Welcome to the podcast, Joe.
  
  Joe Swanson 0:42
  Well, I think you've said
  
  Seth Weber 0:51
  Chris has stepped down. And so I'm going to be filling in for a little bit. So let's get right into it. Let's learn about Joe Swanson. Who is this mysterious man? So why don't you tell us a little bit about your hometown where you grew up your history.
  
  Joe Swanson 1:05
  I grew up in the middle of nowhere, Nebraska, on a ranch. So our closest town of any population was probably about three hours away. Closest Walmart, wow, three hours away. So there's more cattle than people in the county that I grew up in. So pretty remote. But it was a great place to grow up and learn how to work. All those good things.
  
  Seth Weber 1:35
  Do you have any fun stories from your time growing up on the farm?
  
  Joe Swanson 1:39
  Yes, there's some fun stories. Actually. That's how I got into aviation was back in the late 70s, early 80s. F four pilots can fly really low to the ground, especially out in the middle of nowhere, Nebraska. So I was probably four or five. And I saw these jets come treetop level. Oh my goodness. And I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. So at about four, I wanted to be a jet pilot. Wow.
  
  Seth Weber 2:12
  So tell me about your your educational history. Grew
  
  Joe Swanson 2:15
  up in Nebraska, went to public school, went to a one room schoolhouse cool. So Nasik Yeah, classic, classic education there in one room schoolhouse rock, classical,
  
  Seth Weber 2:26
  classic. Yeah.
  
  Joe Swanson 2:30
  And then graduated high school I had two loves in my life. I wanted to fly fast planes and make lots of money. That's what I wanted to do. Doesn't seem to have turned out for you. But God got a hold of my heart. And so and senior year, I really felt like the Lord was directing me into moody aviation where I use my love of aviation to glorify Him. So went to moody in Chicago. That's where I met Christie. My wife. We sang together Chorale, we actually stood by each other for a couple years.
  
  Seth Weber 3:10
  Little known fact Joe Swanson is also a musician, not just Christie. That's true. He just doesn't show us his skills very often.
  
  Joe Swanson 3:20
  And then we moved to Tennessee, graduated in 99. And then we served in Mexico for seven years as a as a missionary pilot. Okay, but we hosted a lot of missionaries. And then I'd fly doctors dentists doing the missionary pilot thing. Wow.
  
  Seth Weber 3:39
  Okay, so you said you met Christie at at Moody once you tell us a little bit about your family and who's in your family now and sort of how that all developed over time?
  
  Joe Swanson 3:50
  You bet. We have five wonderful children through the blessing of adoption. And so our oldest is turning 18 Lily and then Kylie is 14. Ona is
  
  Seth Weber 4:08
  on the spot here. I was trying to remember all the ages.
  
  Joe Swanson 4:12
  She's 11. And EB is nine and Henry is eight and they are a joy and a blessing to us. So I love being a husband and a dad. Now what about pets? What about them?
  
  Seth Weber 4:27
  What pets are part of your family?
  
  Joe Swanson 4:29
  So we have about 30 chickens if you consider them. Definitely part of the family. Okay, yeah, well our kids love them. So we have one inside cat two outside cats or barn cat. Okay. And then we have one dog.
  
  Seth Weber 4:48
  How do the two different groups of cats feel? Do they feel like there's there's some favoritism going on?
  
  Joe Swanson 4:52
  There's a little bit yeah, the the Barn Cats are kind of upset at the house cat. They kind of give him a bad luck.
  
  Seth Weber 4:59
  It's funny. Tell us a little bit about how you ended up at Faith Bible Church.
  
  Joe Swanson 5:03
  So and we're in Mexico. And it's awesome. We love the ministry, and everything's going wonderful. And then there started to be a lot of cartel violence. Where we were at in northern Mexico. We had a lot of shootouts in our neighborhood, it just became very unsafe. And so the government closed all the air strips that I was using to fly missionaries out there. So Chrissy and I were sitting on the patio. And it was a beautiful December day in northern Mexico. And we were looking at each other. And so you know, it's too early to retire. Like, we can't keep doing this, this has got to change, because there was just nothing for us to do in Mexico. So the Lord through our sending church in Texas, they recommended that we moved to Spokane, Washington, I didn't even know where Spokane, Washington was. But on the guidance of our elders from our sending church, we came up here when on loan to moody aviation, and so instructed for a time and then transitioned into biblical counseling, starting in like 2013, or so started pursuing my Masters of Arts and biblical counseling, and finished that in 2017. And just the Lord just kind of changed my passion, from aviation into more of being part of building up the church through biblical counseling. I loved and you
  
  Seth Weber 6:39
  were you at Faith bible church since that time, or did you guys go somewhere else here for a little bit first. So
  
  Joe Swanson 6:43
  in 2009, we came here for the first time, and really enjoyed the church. And we're asking around about other churches, because we were in the valley, okay. And they said, well, Christ, our hope is just right down the road from you. So I thought, well, there you go. So we started going to Christ your home for a number of years, I think right around six or seven, and then went to his place in Post Falls for a couple years. And then we were in Kyrgyzstan. And then when we came back from Kyrgyzstan, whoa,
  
  Seth Weber 7:18
  jump back there. You made a big leap there. Oh, yeah. We went to Kyrgyzstan. Tell us a little bit
  
  Joe Swanson 7:23
  about that. So we were helping a friend at his place church. And then we, through a process of wanting to go to a more of an unchurched region, Central Asia, we had good friends that were Mexican missionaries that wanted to go to the same area. So we partnered with them, and we would be their support, as well as just getting the gospel to Central Asia. Okay, so we moved there in 2018. And it didn't quite exactly go as planned. Okay, so when we came back, we were homeless, because we had rented out our, our house to some moody instructors, so we didn't have a place to be. So we went and stayed at the crossover parsonage there on the north side, and we were looking for a place to live. And then the house came up in chatter ROI that we really felt like the Lord was directing us into so we moved to chatter, Roy, and then while we were in Chataway, we're looking at okay, we're not going to be able to go to his place anymore because of the distance. But faith Bible Church has always been a part of our DNA. So we thought it'd be great opportunity to go to nice FBC. So we started going in 2019. Okay, I think is the date. Okay.
  
  Seth Weber 8:58
  So you came here in 2019. And then you quickly got involved. Tell us about sort of your how you've been involved here at faith in the past and what you're doing now.
  
  Joe Swanson 9:09
  So when I was pursuing my degree in biblical counseling, I was working with Brian. And so he's been a huge part in just helping me get my ACBC certification, as well as giving me opportunities to use my counseling. So I was counseling out of faith Bible Church for a number of years. And then Chris, he has been part of discovery as well in the music ministry at faith for a number of years, as well. And then, in 21, post pandemic, I had a great cup of coffee with Dan Jarms. And I said, you know, I would like to serve in some type of family ministry. So it kind of started there and then worked into the children's mental St director role that I have currently.
  
  Seth Weber 10:03
  Tell me about your your involvement in children's ministry and like sort of your heart for why that's why that's something you really love to participate in and help lead in the church. It's
  
  Joe Swanson 10:13
  a great question. And I think one that it's surprising to me is that I love kids. And I never realized that about myself. But then I started thinking about, you know, we've adopted five kids. Yeah. And it takes a certain amount of dedication, or certain just a certain amount of umph to do that. And then I'm realizing, you know, I like kids. I love seeing the light bulb. Come on. I love interacting with them. Just the the joy of a child.
  
  Seth Weber 10:53
  So having kids helped you to realize you'd love to Yes,
  
  Joe Swanson 10:57
  having kids helped me realize that I should be in child and children's ministry. Nice. And my favorite age is third to fifth grade. Very fun. That's a great
  
  Seth Weber 11:07
  age. Oh, your kids who are older than that are like dad, that does not us anymore.
  
  Joe Swanson 11:10
  I still love your children. One thing that I think that I've learned, as far as being a dad, the best thing that I can do is when I talk to my children about how I love them, is is a positional love. I love them. I love Henry, because he's my son. I love my girls, because they're my daughters. Yeah, not because they're beautiful. Not because Henry plays baseball or do all these things. I solely love them. Because they are my son and my daughters. Yeah. And I think I think that has been an important thing that I've tried to help them understand. That's really good.
  
  Seth Weber 11:56
  Joe, what is what is God teaching you right now?
  
  Joe Swanson 12:00
  We have a full plate with family and ministry. I think he is teaching me His faithfulness through different the ups and downs that go with raising five kids. He has just continued to prove himself faithful. And I know that sounds like a the Sunday School answer, but it's it's true. Sunday schools got it right. Hey, they do they do they
  
  Seth Weber 12:29
  do. So how can the church be praying for you right now?
  
  Joe Swanson 12:32
  I think just that I would serve my family well as a godly husband that would be transparent, and be an accurate reflection of Christ to my family, not just on Sunday, or not just on Wednesday, or ministry events that my kids would see and my wife would see the real deal is at home as well in church.
  
  Seth Weber 12:57
  All right, we're doing something new. This is called the speed round. Okay? So cue the music
  
  Seth Weber 13:11
  so we're gonna go through a number of things here real quick. And you gotta give me your first answer. Even if it's not the most accurate answer. You just gotta go fast. Okay, you ready? Okay. Okay, favorite book besides the Bible? Probably Lord of the Rings favorite movie.
  
  Joe Swanson 13:24
  Lord of the Rings.
  
  Seth Weber 13:25
  Well there you go. Best surprise gift you've ever gotten. When I
  
  Joe Swanson 13:29
  graduated moody I got a cell phone my first cell phone from my mother in law. It was a flip
  
  Seth Weber 13:34
  phone. Nice. If you didn't have to sleep at night What would you do with all the extra time something
  
  Joe Swanson 13:38
  in the shop build something and make something helped develop my property somehow?
  
  Seth Weber 13:43
  Nice. Okay, and this question is special just for you. The best way to cook a steak
  
  Joe Swanson 13:47
  okay best way to cook a steak is on a Blackstone 500 degree heat. You put butter on there. Well, what's its owner on the steak on the Blackstone right? And then sort of salt and pepper. And you keep it at 500 degrees. Cook it for five to eight minutes. Flip it and with more butter. Let the butter carmelize salt and pepper and then take it off like about 133 degrees.
  
  Seth Weber 14:18
  Nice. That's a good steak. Now you have to have Millburn. Let me try it. Perfect. Thanks for joining us Joe. Fix up

Joe Swanson

Joe is director of Children's Ministry at Faith. He also supports and disciples missionaries and those training for missions.

View Resources by Joe Swanson

Seth Weber

Seth is the Communications Director at Faith Bible Church and loves anything to do with design, video, audio and tech. He and his wife Kaitlyn have three children.

View Resources by Seth Weber