World Partners in New Zealand: Making Disciples Who Make Disciples
World Partners’ staff Matt and Angie Swank and their family.
World Partners is excited to welcome new staff members Matt and Angie Swank and their family to the World Partners team! They have been serving independently in New Zealand for about 15 years. Originally from Ohio and Michigan, they were called to New Zealand in 2010. We sat down with them recently to learn more about how our partnership will influence ministry in New Zealand.
WP: What have you learned about people and culture in New Zealand?
Matt & Angie: People from New Zealand (Kiwis) tend to be friendly, self-reliant, and slow to share much about themselves. They prefer to do things on their own and are also slow to ask for help. It can take 3 to 4 years or longer to build relationships with Kiwis. They tend to form their relationships when they are young and then stay with those friendships. We have heard them talk from time to time of being at full capacity with their friendships, which may only be a very small group of friends.
New Zealand is a bi-cultural nation, consisting of Māori (the indigenous people) and people who are predominantly of European descent. However, New Zealand is also very multicultural. Up to 25% of the people were not born in New Zealand. There is a high rate of immigration from countries all over the world. We have friends from Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, Germany, Fiji, South Africa, UK, Poland, Philippines, Samoa to name a few.
WP: Can you tell us about your background in ministry work?
Matt & Angie: Ang and I both attended Bethel College (University) and were married in 2006. I majored in Biblical studies with an intention of getting involved with church planting or church restarts. However, after graduating, Angie was working as a teacher, and I was serving as an interim pastor for a church in Michigan.
WP: Tell us how you became involved in missions and decided on New Zealand.
Matt & Angie: While I was working as an interim pastor in 2008, we sensed that God was preparing us for a major move — though we had no idea where. We felt a strong sense that our mission was to make disciples who make disciples — not just in youth ministry, but more broadly.
I (Matt) began making trips with Bethel on their semester abroad program. I went to New Zealand to help with the trip and teach discipleship principles. It became clear through prayer, fasting, conversations with people living in New Zealand, and ministry connections that God was calling us to New Zealand.
So, we sold everything, moved to New Zealand, and began serving in various church roles, including youth pastor and associate pastor positions, across several denominations and regions.
Over time, we realized that while we loved the ministry work, we hadn’t been able to fully live out our calling. Through encouragement from friends and leaders, we felt led to start something new — focusing on disciple-making and planting micro-churches. We also started a small counseling and coaching service in 2017 to support individuals and couples who are seeking support who might not be able to access it through other avenues.
WP: What led you to join World Partners?
Matt & Angie: We want to engage with both Kiwis and the other immigrants seeking community and Jesus in this country. Joining World Partners will allow us opportunities to share more of what God is doing as we reconnect with family, friends and churches in the U.S.
This will allow us to strengthen our foundation as missionaries in New Zealand and allow us to focus on the call God has placed on our lives to reach the people of New Zealand and beyond. We are excited for the prayer support and encouragement from people joining our team as we partner together to join God in what He is doing here in New Zealand.
WP: Can you share a story about the disciples you've accompanied?
Matt & Angie: About two years after we moved to New Zealand, while I (Matt) was serving as a youth pastor, I began discipling three guys from the youth group, all around 13 or 14 years old. One of them, Josh, later began working for a sports ministry organization after finishing high school. A couple of years into his ministry work, I became his external supervisor, meeting with him every few months to discuss his ministry.
Many of our conversations have centered on his heart for discipleship and disciple-making. Last year, we began exploring the idea of him starting a micro-church through the organization. While he’s still discerning that call, we’ve recently resumed our discipleship relationship. Right now, we're focused on developing the habit of listening for Jesus’ voice and saying “yes” to Him in everyday life.
WP: What are some of the long-term goals for the ministry in New Zealand?
Matt & Angie: We envision working toward these three needs:
Make disciples who make disciples in our community by cultivating relationships through hospitality and community development.
Develop a network of micro-churches and develop ways for micro-church planters to be self-supportive.
Network with youth ministries to help them be effective in disciple making.
WP: How can we pray for you and the needs of this ministry?
Matt & Angie:
Prayer support. Please be praying for us! We realize more and more just how important prayer support is for us and for our ministry here in New Zealand.
Financial Support. Ang has been working full time to support our ministry. We would like to free her up so that she can be more active in our ministry. There are opportunities for her to be doing more discipleship, but she is limited by the time she can contribute.
Join us in welcoming and praying for the Swank family! Email info@wpartners.org if you have any questions or would like more information about World Partners .