A Sweet Tooth Leads Matt to a Savory Truth

Since middle school, Matt had been building a network of friends who felt as comfortable on a football field as he did. In high school, the hours of drills and practices he and his teammates experienced helped them form strong bonds. Sports and healthy friendships inspired Matt and provided the entertainment he wanted.

But during his freshman year, Matt sustained a debilitating knee injury while playing ball. His recovery dragged on for months and distanced him from his teammates. It upended his life.

During football games, spectators still roared with excitement, and cheerleaders kept chanting motivation from the sidelines, but Matt wasn’t on the receiving end of the approval and praise.

He longed for a change.

Desperate to form new friendships, Matt made poor, hasty decisions throughout his high school years—accepting invitations to parties where he and other minors would drink alcohol. These new, unhealthy relationships couldn’t compare to the wholesome community he had built while playing football.

His life spiraled downward each time he used reckless tactics to get people to befriend him. At his lowest moment, Matt made a devastating decision he regretted. When one of his new friends asked him for help getting a gun, Matt didn’t want to disappoint him. This resulted in a series of events eventually leading to Matt’s arrest and conviction of second-degree murder. A judge sentenced Matt to 20 years in prison. He was 17 years old.

Matt thought his life was over. He had never had a run-in with the law before, and dealing with this new experience behind bars was hard—especially without any kind of faith.

On his first night in jail, Matt rejected an offer to attend church. But when he found out volunteers would be serving free doughnuts, he quickly changed his mind.

Doughnuts may have lured Matt to church, but a volunteer’s relatable message of love and forgiveness is what grabbed his attention and kept him there. When they asked, “Who wants to give their heart to the Lord?” Matt raised his hand and prayed.

“I didn't know what that really meant,” Matt says, but looking back, he recognizes that’s where the Holy Spirit started stirring in him.

Church volunteers continued discipling Matt during his stint in jail. He was eventually moved to Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater. But in 2011, after serving eight years of his sentence, Matt was still wrestling with the guilt and shame associated with his crime. Then he began noticing men who had found a sense of peace.

“[Some men were] locked up longer than me and getting out after me,” Matt says. “They were happy, joyful people, and I was not. … I started to learn from them and just realized that it was a relationship with Christ in their life that was different for them.”

When he transferred to MCF-Lino Lakes, he had nine years left to serve on his sentence and began living out his faith in earnest. There, he participated in what is now known as the Prison Fellowship Academy^®.

The Academy uses targeted curriculum, compassionate coaches, and restorative community to practice and develop values that transform incarcerated men and women into good citizens. Matt says that the Academy also sparked a fire for ministry in his life. When he graduated from the yearlong Academy, he stayed another year to mentor men in the next cohort. He led them in small groups, too. He told other residents that participating in the Academy is the best decision they’ll ever make because with the Academy, a person does their time with purpose.

After completing the Academy, Matt transferred to MCF-Moose Lake. While there, he put into action the values he learned from the Academy.

Pastor Joel of Westwood Community Church asked Matt to start a microsite at MCF-Moose Lake. The microsite would be an informal, simple extension of Westwood, and run by a layperson on the inside.

Westwood volunteers handpicked Matt for the leadership role and coached him. But he was doubtful the microsite would work. When Westwood sent Matt their DVD recordings, the microsite was no longer just a vision. It became a reality!

God kept using Matt. When MCF-Moose Lake started an Academy, Matt served as a leader, even though he was still incarcerated. The COVID-19 pandemic blocked volunteers from coming into prisons, but thankfully, the Church on the inside continued to meet and have Bible studies.

Matt says, “Volunteers aren't always going to be there. Stuff like COVID or whatever could happen. But the Church still exists and thrives inside.”

The pandemic’s effects became even more personal to Matt in the last two years of his incarceration. In 2022 on the day he was scheduled to start a work release program, his facility experienced a COVID-19 outbreak that canceled all work release transfers for two weeks. As a result, Matt missed an interview he had lined up. He had applied for a job at a car dealership detailing cars alongside his cousin. And when Matt was finally released for work, the interviewer was on vacation.

Matt used the time to visit Westwood Community Church instead. While touring the campus, the director of facilities offered Matt a job as an evening janitor. When another position with greater responsibilities became available, the director turned to Matt again.

“Within six months of being on work release,” Matt said, “I was the facility manager leading a crew of 10 people and managing two facilities.”

Yet another promotion came Matt’s way. And today, Matt serves as the director of multiplication for Westwood. He’s responsible for training and equipping people, especially incarcerated men and women, to be faith leaders and share the Gospel in their communities. Matt says he also oversees the planting of microsites much like he did when he was incarcerated.

“We're giving a focus on areas that are hard to reach with a church, like correctional facilities, jails, and drug treatment centers,” he says. “We're looking to plant networks of … microsites in those areas.”

Westwood has been a blessing to Matt, offering employment, giving him opportunities to share his story, applauding his redemption, and accepting his past.

“I think our congregation is in tune to being and loving like Jesus,” Matt says. “Jesus embraced the least of these and our congregation is doing that same thing.”

This past April, during Second Chance Month^®, Westwood especially showed compassion toward returning citizens. The church held a Second Chance worship service led by formerly incarcerated people and Academy graduates. They also hosted a second chance job fair where professionals helped attendees with resumes and mock interviews. One Westwood campus offers a monthly reentry breakfast. Matt is excited because he gets to lead those initiatives.

Matt’s second chances didn’t stop with his church family. His parents have always been supportive, and other close relatives have shown him grace. He was also able to reconnect with his younger brother after they had completely lost contact.

Matt even found the love of his life, Alissa. The two married last year and welcomed their first baby in May.

Matt is grateful for his growing family. He’s also thankful for his career, church, and restored relationships. He knows God has been gracious to Him, giving him second chances.

Now when he’s lured toward dark places, he’s better equipped to stand firm. No longer is he desperately seeking approval from friends. He realizes he has all the approval he needs in Christ.