Meet the President

Pastor Matthew C. Manning was not always a man living his life for Jesus Christ.  In his early adolescent years, he was confused about his identity and purpose in life and began to rebel and isolate himself from his peers and family.  Feeling out of place and alone, he plunged deeply into homosexuality.   Instead of facing his issues, he ran.  After high school, he entered  the United States Coast Guard, where he served his country for seven years.  During this time, Matthew received two Commandant Letters of Commendation.  However, his early years in the Coast Guard were far from glamorous.  Matthew lived a double life – manly rescuer in the Coast Guard by day…and erotic dancer for money in gay clubs by night.  Little did he know his life was about to change forever in the summer of 1989.

It was early June when, at nineteen years of age, Matthew was brutally assaulted at Baker Beach in San Francisco, California.  This tragic event caused him to question the purpose of his life and his behaviors.  This was the beginning of a journey that led him from the road of life he was on to an intersection where he came face to face with his Creator, Jesus Christ.

Shortly after receiving Jesus as his Savior, Matthew experienced a dramatic deliverance from his desires of homosexuality.  However, on January 22, 1990, he was given a devastating diagnosis - HIV positive.  By late 1993, he was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS and was hospitalized. Although Pastor Matthew was faced with certain death, he sought even harder to know his loving Savior in a deeper way, believing God would heal him.  Then, in early January of 1994, a miracle happened - his AIDS went into a state of remission.  On November 27, 1994, another miracle happened - Matthew was diagnosed for the first time HIV negative and has consistently tested HIV negative ever since!  The road Matthew now walks  is one of knowing his purpose in life, hand in hand with Jesus Christ!

Matthew became a licensed Minister in 1997.  In June of 1998, Pastor Matthew received a two-year biblical studies diploma and was awarded the Donald McKenzie Award for Christian Leadership at The King's College in Van Nuys, California.  During the course of his studies, he met his wife, Christa, who attended the college as well, who graduated with a one year certificate in biblical studies.  They were married on November 21, 1998.

During his biblical studies, Pastor Matthew also assisted Dr. Jack Hayford and Dr. Paul Chappell at the Jack W. Hayford School of Pastoral Nurture at The Church On The Way in Van Nuys, California.  After nearly three years of service at The Church On The Way, Matthew left his position to enter into full-time ministry.  He is the founder and president of LightHouse World Evangelism, Inc., a ministry outreach that travels around the world, and is working on starting a broadcasting network and production company in the San Francisco Bay area.  Matthew and his wife are standing in faith, believing for an outpouring of God's Spirit to fall in the media industry.

Pastor Matthew re-enrolled in the King’s College and recently achieved high honors (magna cum laude) with a bachelor's of theology in Biblical Counseling.  He was also selected to the National Delta Epsilon Chi Honor Society.  For pictures of his graduation, click here. 

He is currently working on his Master's of Divinity at the The King's Seminary and intends to continue working towards a Doctorate of Divinity.

Visit Matthew on the LHWE Team page here.

To contact Pastor Matthew, please visit our contact us page.