Josh & Alyse Szwarga
Independent Baptist Missionaries to New Zealand
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:4-6
Josh and Alyse met in 2015 while attending Providence Baptist College in Elgin, IL. Both of them had a burden for the mission field through their teen years, and Josh was called to the mission field at the age of 11. In 2018, their pastor, Dr. Keith Gomez, returned from a short trip to New Zealand and briefly spoke on the need for church planters in New Zealand. Through this simple comment, along with much prayer, the Lord burdened their hearts specifically for the people of New Zealand. Seeking God's will, they embarked on a survey trip in November 2019. Shortly after returning, God gave 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 to Josh and Alyse as His confirmation on His calling. They continued their work and ministry at Northwest Bible Baptist Church through the Fall of 2020, when they embarked on the deputation trail. Through the deputation process, God added Bentlee to the family in June 2021. After twenty months of deputation they had successfully reached their financial goal and began the process of applying for entry into the country. For their first two years on the field, they served under Pastor Dan Fraser at Grace Independent Baptist Church in Tauranga, New Zealand. This allowed a time of great training and cultural acclimation before launching into church planting. Raelynn was born in Tauranga during this time. As a continuation of their work at Grace Independent Baptist Church in Tauranga, in late 2024 they planted Heritage Baptist Church in Matamata. This church plant is a joint effort with Fellowship Baptist Church of Hamilton. Earlier this year, God blessed the Szwargas with their third child, Ellie. They are now in the process of transitioning this church plant to local leadership and have a timeline of seeing this church 100% self-sustaining by the first months of 2027. Through the Gospel of John photo book publication, NZ Gospel Films, Able Men Institute and various other opportunities, God has opened the door very clearly to advance the vision of seeing churches planted throughout New Zealand. They look forward to the next open door in church planting.
Our goals
Transition the first church plant
Heritage Baptist Church of Matamata has had a strong start, to God's glory. We have a timeline of finishing the pastoral transition in early 2027 and seeing this church be self-supporting, self-led, and self-propagating.
Begin the second church plant
We are seeking God's will in our second church plant location. The strongest possibility is currently the town of Pukekohe, NZ, roughly 30 minutes south of Auckland. There are an estimated 80,000 people within 15 minutes drive of the town center. No doctrinally-close, gospel preaching churches are available.
Able Men Institute
February 2027 will see our first class of men enrolled in this online institute. It is a tool for training the men in our fellowship of churches who desire to be more useful within their churches, or to further their training in preparation for the ministry.
NZ Gospel Films and Bible Stands
Through distribution of video and print materials, we desire to equip and encourage more churches to invest in local outreach. This includes importing gospel materials which are difficult to source locally.
Two churches, one field
We serve at Grace Independent Baptist Church in Tauranga under Pastor Dan Fraser. As a continuation of that work we have launched Heritage Baptist Church of Matamata, a joint effort with Fellowship Baptist Church of Hamilton.