Matt was born and raised in a military family, and spent much of his life living abroad at different duty stations. He was born in Okinawa Japan, and bounced back and forth between San Diego and Japan until high school, when his parents felt the Lord calling them back to the Philippines to serve in ministry. Matt lived in the Philippines for 7 years, attending high school at International Christian Academy and earning a BA in Organizational Communication at the University of the Philippines in Manila.
Upon returning to San Diego in 2002, Matt began serving at San Diego Christian Fellowship - then known as Filipino-American Christian Fellowship - in the areas of worship and youth ministry. Matt attended Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, graduating with a BA in Biblical Studies in 2005. Matt began working in the financial services field, progressing over a 7 year span in his firm to the role of operations manager. He continued to serve in SDCF as worship leader, youth and young adults leader and elder.
Matt was called to be the full time congregational pastor of SDCF North in September 2013, and earned his Master of Arts in Theology from Bethel Seminary San Diego in 2019. Matt stepped into the Lead Pastor role at SDCF in 2023. He and his wife Heather have an action packed boy named Caleb, a joyful girl named Madeline, and a rambunctious preschooler named Jonathan.