In the spring of 2015, Matthew and I were put in a group. Our assignment: to make a short film. I was the director and he was my editor, but he did so much more than that. Looking back, he was the constant; always there, always working and always stepping up when a position needed to be filled.
When the first day of filming came, we met in the studio at around 7 a.m. Matthew was there first, as he always was. We proceeded to pack the equipment for the day and soon we were ready to leave.
Someone was missing though. All of our actors had dropped out. Here we were, ready to shoot our short film, all of the equipment and crew together, but no actors.
I panicked. I couldn’t focus. I didn’t know what we were going to do. Matthew, though, remained calm and focused. He looked straight at me, told me to calm down, and then volunteered to act. Unfortunately we needed two actors, so I was volunteered for the second position.
We got through the 14 hours of shooting that followed. Our barebones crew didn’t only make it through; we achieved more that we ever dreamed we would. Together we shot almost every scene for the entire film. It was a complete success.
Matthew wore many hats when it came to cinema and video production, but those hats didn’t mean anything to him in the grand scheme of things. If you were to ask him what he wanted more than anything else, the answer would have been all but immediate: To spread the Kingdom of God and share the good news of Christ to the world.
Matthew was saved, and he wanted to save as many people as he possibly could. He chose his major to spread the gospel. Everything he did revolved around living his life for Christ. He was and still is an example for everyone who wishes to live for the Lord.
All he would want from us would be to honor him by continuing that mission. He would want us to live as Christ and to spread this message. Matthew was a lot of things. Director, writer, storyteller, editor, creator, but most importantly, he was a child of God.