Matt was brought up in a Christian home in Stockton-on-Tees in the north-east of England, where his father was pastor of the local church.

Matt came to faith and, as a young man, felt God’s calling to full-time service. His family had an interest in Gospel work in Spain, and this was where he felt he might go. Judith was born near Cookstown in Count Tyrone, and attended the local Presbyterian church. She was converted as a young child and, at eighteen, felt God call her into mission. Matt and Judith entered theological training in 1986, meeting at college. They married in 1988 and now have two sons, Thomas and Jacob, both born in Spain.

Matt and Judith arrived in Spain in July 1991. After three years of language study, they moved to Santa Cruz de Mudela to pastor a church there. In November 2005, Matt was called to pastor the Cuenca church planted by EMF missionary Luis Cano. In 2010, the family moved to Ciudad Real, where Matt began to work with the Spanish evangelical publishing house Editorial Peregrino (EP). In March 2014, Matt became head of EP, which has grown into a strategic and significant work resourcing Spanish speakers across the world.