Hi, I'm new here

Hi, my name is Matt and I am the new student pastor at Next Level Church. This is my first post on the NLC Blog. There have been a lot of firsts for me this week—my first time moving my family 9600 miles to a new country and continent; my first time working in America; my first Sunday an NLC; my first staff meeting at NLC; my first 4th of July on American soil; my first time failing a driving test:(; my first time meeting a whole lot of people.

Since you don’t know me, I thought I’d use my first post to tell you a little about myself and my family. I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. My mom is from Atlanta, GA, and my dad is from Scotland (although he grew up as a missionary’s kid in Africa). I’ve lived the majority of my life in a few different cities in South Africa, the most recent being Cape Town.

When it came time for college I decided to spread my wings a little and go to college at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. I had a great time a Liberty and met a bunch of really cool people, including NLC’s very own Harrison Gillming. I also met my wonderful wife, Rachel, at Liberty. Rachel was born and raised in Richmond, VA. We both graduated from Liberty in 2008 and I moved back to South Africa where I worked for Southpoint Church.

Rachel and I got married in 2009 and she came to live with me in deepest, darkest Africa…well…Cape Town to be specific. Our daughter, Hope, was born at the end of 2010.

I am really excited about getting started here at NLC. My hope and prayer is that the student ministry at NLC will grow and flourish in the months and years to come, and that many students lives will be impacted for all eternity because of what God does in this student ministry. I’m really looking forward to getting to know all you students out there. I look forward to working with all the leaders in the student ministry. And I look forward to partnering with all the parents of students as we seek to help our students take the next step in their relationship with God.