Meet Our Founder and President!
My name is Allen Barker, and I am the Founder and President of S.W.M Ministries. When I begin look back over my life, I can clearly see the hand of God. There were times when I did not fully understand what the Lord was doing, and there were seasons when I did not realize how much He was dealing with my heart. But now, looking back, I can say without question that God was working long before I even understood it.
I have spent much of my life working hard, carrying responsibilities, and trying to do what was right. Like many people, I have faced burdens, pressures, failures, and seasons of uncertainty. Life has a way of teaching you that you are not as strong as you think you are. There comes a point when you realize that success, work, responsibility, and good intentions are not enough to save a soul. I needed more than religion. I needed more than a good name. I needed Jesus Christ.
In 1988, God changed my life.
I was in a Pentecostal church in Wilkes County, North Carolina, when the Lord began dealing with my heart. I realized that I was lost and needed a Savior. It was not just an emotional moment, and it was not just another church service. It was the moment that I understood that Jesus Christ died for me, that He loved me, and that He was calling me to surrender my life to Him.
That day, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I believed that He died on the cross for my sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. I called upon Him by faith, and He saved me. That was the beginning of a new life.
The Bible says in Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
I am thankful that “whosoever” included me.
As life went on, I learned that salvation is not the end of the story; it is only just the beginning. There were times when I did not always walk as close to God as I should have. There were times when life, work, responsibilities, and the cares of this world pulled on me. But even when I was not where I needed to be, God never stopped dealing with my heart.
On January 11, 2021, during a difficult season with COVID, the Lord got my attention again. In that season, I recommitted my life to Him. God reminded me that He still had a purpose for me, that He had not forgotten me, and that His calling was still real.
That moment stirred something in my heart that I could not ignore. The Lord began renewing my burden for ministry, preaching, and reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He reminded me that people are hurting, families are broken, men and women are bound by sin, and souls need to hear that Jesus still saves.
Today, my desire is simple: I want to tell people about the same Jesus who saved me, restored me, and gave my life purpose.
I have a special burden for those who feel forgotten, broken, or too far gone. That is one reason prison ministry is so close to my heart. I believe with all my heart that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. A prison cell cannot stop the Gospel. A past full of mistakes cannot overpower the blood of Jesus Christ. Shame, addiction, failure, and regret are not stronger than the saving power of the Lord.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
This verse is not just words on a page to me. It is the truth of what God can do in a person’s life.
My testimony is not about how good I am. It is about how good God is. It is not about a perfect man. It is about a perfect Savior. I am living proof that Jesus Christ can save, restore, forgive, and also give a person a new purpose.
This is why I preach. This is why I share the Gospel. This is why I want others to know Him.
Jesus did not just save me from something. He saved me FOR something.
He saved me to serve Him, to tell others about Him, and to point people to the Cross. My prayer is that through my testimony, someone else will see that there is hope in Jesus Christ. No matter where you have been, what you have done, or how far you feel from God, the Lord is still able to save.
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you today to call upon Him. He loves you. He died for you. He is still saving souls.
Romans 10:9 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Meet Our Co-Founder and CEO
My name is Levi Byrd, and I am the Co-Founder and CEO of S.W.M Ministries. I was blessed to grow up knowing about God and hearing the Gospel. For much of my life, I believed that because I knew about Jesus, I was truly saved. Looking back now, I realize there is a difference between knowing who Christ is and fully surrendering your life to Him.
As I grew older, I found myself traveling down roads I never would have imagined that I would take. I surrounded myself with the wrong influences and made choices that led to regret, brokenness, and bondage. Like so many others, I searched for fulfillment in places that could never satisfy the emptiness in my heart. The enemy intended to completely destroy my life and even me, but God had other plans.
There came a point in my life when I reached rock bottom. It was there, when I had exhausted all of my own strength and realized that I had nothing else left to offer, then that the Lord met me in His mercy. In 2017, I surrendered my heart and life completely to Jesus Christ. That day was not about becoming a better person because looking back now, I realize that it isn’t possible to do on your own—it was about trusting completely in what Christ had already accomplished for me through His death, burial, and resurrection.
The Lord showed me that sometimes He allows us to reach the end of ourselves so that we can finally see our desperate need for the finished work of Calvary. I have discovered that my hope was never found in my own efforts, my good works, or my ability to clean myself up. My hope was, and always will be, found in the finished work of the Cross. Jesus paid the debt I could never pay, broke the chains I could never break, and offered me a new life that I could never earn no matter how hard I tried.
What the enemy meant for destruction, God redeemed for His glory. My past is no longer a source of shame, praise the Lord—it has now become a testimony of God's amazing grace and redeeming power that I can share with people all over that I come in contact with. Every mistake, every failure, and every painful season now points to the greatness of the Savior who rescued me.
As I began pursuing Christ wholeheartedly, He transformed my heart and gave me a burden for people who are hurting. He filled me with compassion for the lost, the broken, those bound by addiction, those battling mental health struggles, and anyone searching for hope. I know what it feels like to feel empty, and I know the One who fills every void.
In 2020, God called me to preach His Word. Since then, my greatest desire has been to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to remind people that true freedom is not found in religion or self-improvement, but in the finished work of Jesus Christ. The Cross is enough. His grace is sufficient. His blood still saves, restores, heals, and sets captives free.
After several years of faithfully serving in my home church, I was approached by our founder and President about joining a ministry that God had birthed in his heart. After a season of denial which you will hear about later on. I began to devote myself to prayer and waiting on the Lord, and 7 months later, I stepped into this calling with confidence that God was directing my path.
Today, I have the privilege and honor of serving in several different ministry roles. Whether ministering inside correctional facilities, responding to disasters, standing beside first responders, teaching children, or comforting families during life's darkest moments, my mission remains the same: to point people to Jesus Christ and the hope that is found in His finished work.
I firmly believe in the ministry of presence. Sometimes people don't need someone with all the answers—they simply need someone willing to stand beside them, pray with them, love them, and remind them that they are not alone. Every opportunity to serve is an opportunity to reflect the love and compassion of Christ.
None of this journey would have been possible without the incredible people God has placed in my life. I am forever grateful for my family, who stood beside me through every single season. My wife has faithfully walked with me through both the valleys and the victories, and my children continue to be a daily reminder of God's faithfulness and his grace. Their love, their encouragement, and their unwavering support have been gifts from the Lord that I will never take for granted.
My life is proof that no one is beyond the reach of God's grace. If Jesus could save me, He can save anyone. My prayer is that every person who hears me preach or encounters our ministry will leave with one clear understanding: our hope is not in ourselves—it is in Jesus Christ and His finished work at Calvary. Everything necessary for our salvation, forgiveness, freedom, reconciliation, and eternal life was accomplished when Christ declared, "It is finished."
My life's mission is simple: to glorify God by faithfully proclaiming the Gospel and helping others experience the freedom, peace, and new life that is found only in Jesus Christ.
"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." — 2 Corinthians 5:20
Meet Our Ministry Director!
My name is Austin Heath, and I am the Ministry Director here at S.W.M.
My journey with Christ began in 2009 when I gave my heart to the Lord at a church in Siloam, North Carolina. As a young believer, I desired to follow Him, but as I entered into middle school and high school, I slowly drifted away from the Lord and the plans He had for my life. I desired so much to “fit in” with others. It wasn’t just an overnight decision to fall away—it was a slow fade. I wanted to live life my own way, convinced that I knew what was best for me. Like so many others, I discovered that the path of self only leads to brokenness, disappointment, and spiritual emptiness.
Looking back now, I realize that even while I was running from God, He never stopped pursuing me. His grace continued to draw me, and because of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross, there was still hope for my life. The Cross wasn’t just where my sins were forgiven—it became the place where my wandering heart was called back home.
In 2024, everything changed.
I was sitting in a Wednesday night service, and throughout the entire message, the Holy Spirit was dealing with my heart. After the service, I stayed after to fellowship with others. As I started walking toward the door to leave, I distinctly felt the Lord impress upon my heart, “This is your last chance.”
I immediately went and found the preacher and I told him that I believed God was giving me one more opportunity to stop running from Him. I instantly fell to my knees, broken before the Lord, crying out in repentance and surrender. It was there that I fully placed my faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ—not in my own ability to be good enough, but in what He accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection. At the Cross, I found forgiveness, restoration, and freedom that I could never earn on my own.
That night, I walked out of church with a joy that only Christ can give—a joy that still fills my heart today. From that moment forward, my prayer became simple: “Lord, because You gave everything for me at Calvary, let my life be spent for Your glory. Use me however You see fit.”
In late 2025, the Lord answered that prayer by calling me to serve as the chaplain of our local fire department, where I also serve as a first responder. It has been a tremendous privilege to minister to people during some of the darkest moments of their lives, reminding them that there is hope because of Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross.
After serving in that role for about ten months, I began praying that God would open even greater doors for me to proclaim the Gospel. Around that time, Levi approached me several times about joining the prison ministry. I declined the invitations at first, making excuses not realizing that the Lord was using him to direct my steps.
in January of 2026, the I sensed the Lord calling me into the prison ministry.
Before long, the Holy Spirit made it unmistakably clear that this was where God wanted me to serve. When I went and approached Levi and finally joined the ministry, I learned that the leaders of S.W.M had been praying for God to send a third man to labor alongside them. In His perfect timing, the Lord answered those prayers by leading me there.
Today, My passion is to point them to the only One who can truly transform a heart—Jesus Christ. The message of the Cross is the power of God unto salvation, and it is still the answer for every sinner, every prodigal, every broken life, and every believer seeking victory. Everything God has done in my life has been because of His grace, made available only through the finished work of Christ.
When I look back over my journey, I don’t see a story about my faithfulness—I see a story about God’s faithfulness. He pursued me when I wandered, he restored me when I surrendered, and he continues to shape me by His grace.
The Lord has been incredibly good to me and my family, and I give Him all the glory. My desire is to spend the rest of life lifting up Jesus Christ, preaching the message of the Cross, and reminding others that the same Cross that saved me is still able to save, restore, and set people free today.