My name is Michael Swalley, aka bboy Bishop. I am an adopted son of God, born again at a young age through hearing the gospel. My wife (Ellen) and I live in the Colorado Springs area and have three daughters and one son.

God has placed a passion on my heart for cross-cultural ministry, men embracing their role as husbands and fathers, and for racial unity. I started breaking at the age of 21. Initially, breaking was a fun hobby for me. But during an internship in Melbourne, Australia, I was fully introduced to the Hip-Hop community. Encouraged to start a ministry using breaking, I came back to the states in 2005 with a vision to see the Hip-Hop community passionately serving Christ.

In the last 15 years, I have lived in four major city centers in America. I have traveled the world and seen the Hip-Hop community in numerous countries. The time spent in these places has convinced me that Hip-Hop, through the power of the Spirit, is a uniquely effective method to make disciples. Local leaders serving in their local church, through the power of the gospel. That is my passion. Breaking is my method. God’s son is my identity.

I was born in Trenton, New Jersey, to immigrant parents from Liberia. Even from a young age I felt the pull of God on my life for something great.

I grew up in a Christian home and attended church 4-5 times a week. For the most part of my upbringing, however, I was just fulfilling religious duties until one day in church, the gospel hit me! My eyes were opened. I understood my sinful condition and knew I needed a savior.

After church, I went home and told my dad I wanted to accept Christ as my savior. My dad was happy, and that made me feel good because, up until that point, I had no real emotional or relational attachment to him. Years later, my parents went through a nasty divorce and abandoned my siblings and me to my grandma. God’s grace was so evident in my life during that time. I fell in love with his word, and at the age of 13, he spoke and confirmed to me my call to missions. I had no idea that he would use something that I was always so passionate about—dance!

After high school, I went to Liberty University. It was there that God solidified his call on my life through a hip-hop ministry called Bridging the Gap.

The choreographer of the hip-hop group was very passionate about how God uses our abilities, specifically hip-hop, to reach the lost! God was nurturing my calling during that time. I reached a point where I unfortunately could not finish my education at Liberty and so began to look for organizations that could prepare me to become a missionary. I found Youth with a Mission (YWAM). I spent 12 years serving with YWAM as a full-time missionary. I saw people give their lives to Jesus and miraculous healings. God has rescued me from looking down a gun barrel three times and has made known to me the truth and power of the gospel!

I am currently serving with Break Free Ministries as a city leader and regional director in Philadelphia. This is a city that I have come to love and am very passionate about. God is restoring generationally broken relationships in families, churches, the hip-hop community, and ultimately the city. Our family sessions have become a safe place where people are free to open up and be vulnerable. In a tough city like Philadelphia, providing a space where black men can “disarm” the tough man shell and just be in a home setting is powerful, unconventional, and abnormal. Just the way the Holy Spirit likes to do things!