My grandfather started this business in 1935 and I am grateful for the opportunity to carry on the legacy he has created through obedience to God. This is a story of my journey with Swanson Christian Products, and the vision the Lord has given me for our motto: Gifts of Eternal Value.
I started working in Swanson Christian Products along with my brothers and sisters when I was just 6 years old putting crosses and dove lapel pins on cards to be sold through various ministries and stores across the world.
Before graduating from college, I was asking the Lord what the next steps for my life were. The Lord gave me the idea of a product. It was an umbrella with the words “Jesus reigns.” Although a simple idea, this was the beginning of my God-given calling with Swanson Christian products. I sensed the Lord was inviting me to create Christian products and serve various Christian denominational, headquarters, and bookstores around the USA and now the world.
I said, yes.
After a couple of years, while once again, seeking the Lord if there was anything else I should do, I felt the call to go to Rhema Bible training center. I embarked on a two-year journey of studying the Scriptures and continuing to follow God on this great adventure. After graduation, I worked for Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma in their second year Bible school as an administrative assistant before returning to Tennessee to start a new church called Victory Christian Center. At the same time, I continued to develop Christian products!
For the next 25 years, I would preach and teach at Victory and pray with several pastors from different denominations while continuing to create and sell Christian gifts and supplies. I also traveled extensively into Asia, sourcing products, sharing the gospel with business people, and giving Bibles to churches in the countryside.
In 2004 our family gave the company to the church at Victory Christian Center and Victory paid us for a portion of the inventory, so the company became a not-for-profit.
In 2018, Victory asked if our family would buy the company back as there were many changes in the market. We prayed as a family about what to do and heard the word legacy, Swanson’s is being given back to your family as a legacy. So, as I began to start back full-time, one of the first things the Lord said was,
“You no longer sell products, you publish my truth on gifts of eternal value to share THE gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ God’s son.”
In September 2021, the current president of Swanson Christian Products moved to another city to be with his family, and I stepped back in the role of leading Swanson’s.
He told me that now our calling is to make Him known through publishing the truth on products that would carry His message of love, forgiveness, and victory around the world. He also informed me that our company would learn to live a life of love, forgiveness, and victory as we serve Him, our customers, and each other. He is asking us to allow him to build a culture of the kingdom within our company so as to be able to authentically make Him known Through gifts of eternal value to all nations.
In 2022, the Lord began to suggest one way to use gifts for His people to share their faith with their friends, family, and community is by placing a QR code on each item that matches the Truth printed on that gift. Then create a corresponding website that leads the recipient of the gift to learn more about God, who He is, and to explore getting to know Him through the truths and questions on the site. Then over time, a community will develop by interacting with the Truth, videos, worship, prayer, and people on the community website.
