M&M's Mission Moments

Mark and Mary Swinerton are members of City North Baptist Church, Kedron, QLD. 

Mark (March 18) grew up in North Conway, New Hampshire and received the Lord as his Savior when he was seven at First Baptist Church underneath the ministry of his grandfather who was the pastor of the church.  His heart was drawn towards missions at this church as well.  He went all the way to Grand Rapids to go to school.  He studied music and Bible for two years at Grand Rapids Baptist College now called Cornerstone University. He then transferred to an electronics school in Grand Rapids and graduated with a degree in electronics in 1987.  Mary (June 14) was born in Mt. Clemens, MI. and grew up inSterling Hts., MI. She accepted the Lord as her Savior at age 5.  She grew up in Sterling Hts., MI.  Mary also went to Grand Rapids Baptist College and studied Bible and secretarial studies for three years.  It was at Grand Rapids Baptist College that they met.  They started their full time ministry with HCJB World Radio, now called Reach Beyond on December 28, 1989.  They have four children, Beth, Isaac, Christopher, and Catherine   The first three were born in Quito, Ecuador.  Catherine is the first child born in the US during our Home Ministry Assignment. They also have a son-in-law Josh and grandson, Josiah

They were married on May 23, 1987.  Mark had been traveling with a gospel team and Mary and Mark continued with the gospel team after they were married.  Then they both went for a short term of service to Quito, Ecuador in the fall of 1987.  They made application for full time service when they got back to the States and were accepted to the mission in March of 1988.  It took them over two years to raise their initial prayer and financial support. 

Mark was a video/audio engineer working with Televozandes, HCJB’s video production department.  They produced original pre/evangelistic programming to be aired on TV stations all across Latin America.  They also did voice replacement work for programs like “Day of Discovery”, and “In Touch” putting them into Spanish.  Besides the work with Televozandes, Mark and Mary had a burden for children.  They have held children’s meetings from the city dump to churches and camps across Ecuador.  Mark was also involved with youth ministry.  He helped lead the biking club and mountain climbing club at a missionary school in Quito.  Mary was involved with Bible studies for upper class Ecuadorians, and fellow missionaries.  Mark and Mary are also very much involved in the upbringing of their children. 

We were led to help with Reach Beyond's newest short-wave broadcasting site in Australia in 2003. Reach Beyond Australia broadcasts the gospel in 21 different languages to South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific.   Mark was part of the technical team in Kilsyth, Victoria.  Mark processed and scheduled all the programs that go to air.  He also produced 2 daily radio programs teaching English as a second language.  The Bible was used as the text book.  A new missionary couple arrived to help out at HCJB Australia in June 2007.  Mark trained the new missionary to do Mark’s responsibilities basically working himself out of a job. 

A ministry in Australia had been praying for over a year for someone like Mark to come along side and help in the technical area.  November 1, 2007 Mark and Mary came on board with FamilyLife Australia, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ Australia, now called Power to Change Mark helped with the production of the daily radio program “FamilyLife Today.”  Mark is now the technical director for the Communications team of Power to Change.   We are looking to use video, the internet, podcasting etc… as a means of spreading the Good News of the Gospel. If you would like to know more about what Mark and Mary share with others, please check out this page.

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