Pastor Mike Swartz was born in Winston Salem, North Carolina. He began attending the Gospel Light Baptist Church in Walkertown, NC at eight years of age. At the age of 18, during a Sunday morning message, Mike Swartz received the free gift of Salvation. Three months later, he surrendered his life for full-time Christian service and began making plans to attend Bible college. In 1996, he graduated from Bible college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology. He also attended Temple Baptist Seminary in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is a graduate of Faith Evangelical Seminary in Tacoma, Washington, where he earned a Master of Divinity Degree. After graduating from Bible College, he served as Assistant Pastor for four years in North Carolina. In 2001, he planted the Lake Valley Baptist Church, Moses Lake, Washington where he was the lead pastor for over five years. In 2006, he was commissioned as an active-duty Army Chaplain and served as an Airborne Chaplain with Special Operations for over nine years before he was injured in Iraq and eventually medically retired as a Major. He was deployed twice into a combat zone for fifteen months in Iraq and then for twelve months in Afghanistan. In November 2022, Pastor Mike and wife Lesa moved back to Moses Lake and accepted the position as lead Pastor at the Lake Valley Baptist Church. Michael Swartz met his wife, Lesa (Koehn) Swartz at Bible College in 1992 and they were married on 17 July 1993. Together they have three adult children: Nathan, Grey, and River