Kirk & Barbara van der Swaagh

For 35 years Kirk pastored a congregation in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. A 2019 visit to Scotland, and a conversation with MTW missionaries, planted a seed that ripened. Kirk and Barbara joined a Glasgow-based team in 2022, working with the Free Church of Scotland to plant churches, strengthen existing churches, and support pastors.

After three years of fruitful ministry Kirk assumed the position of coordinator of cross-cultural coaching of the newly formed MTW Europe team of coaches. The goal is to develop and maintain an effective team of coaches who will come alongside those pioneering new communities of Christ followers throughout Europe. Barbara and Kirk are privileged to be part of this vital new initiative.

Planting a church is hard work. Planting a church in Europe can prove particularly daunting because the ground is hard. Research shows that the number of evangelical Christians in Europe amounts to just 2.9% of the population. However, God is still calling men and women to shine the light of the gospel in this dark yet strategic part of the world, and a coach is a valuable asset to those who heed that call. The van der Swaaghs are confident that the Holy Spirit is at work enabling God’s servants to discover and walk in the good works that he has prepared beforehand for them to walk in (Ephesian 2:10).