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Matt and Erika met when they were in high school and it was love at first sight- at least for Matt! Once Erika was convinced he wasn’t just pretending to be a good guy (he really was!) she was all in. They got married when she was 18 and he was 20, with the understanding that they both wanted to eventually be in full time ministry. But life got busy and their family started to grow. Finally, in 2007 after working in law enforcement as well as sales, Matt took a job with a world wide children’s organization. With his job description being more administrative than anything, over time he found his heart being pulled to work directly with kids and their families- a desire Erika shared! So in 2013 Matt left the organization and he and Erika founded Hope for Kids, an outreach to inner city kids in Springfield, MA. They loved that the whole family (which grew to 7 children!) could be involved in loving on the kids and sharing God’s love with them.

By 2024, five of their kids were adults with four of them married with families of their own. After being convinced by the Holy Spirit that they were to take the ministry on the road with their two youngest kids (then 13 and 15), they sold their home and small farm, bought an RV (Skoolie!), gifted their ministry building to some fellow disciples who God had called to Springfield, and went on the road.

They now travel full time (making sure to get back to the northeast from time to time to see their kids and 9 grandchildren!) and go where the Lord opens doors for them to share what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus. They have seen people saved from their sins, healed in their bodies, and set free from the power of the enemy as they hear about the amazing love that God has for them. The are doing what Jesus said to do, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”