Growing up, Matt Souza (SouzyLIVE) was always a gamer at heart, but he wasn't always proud of it. He kept his love of gaming a secret from most because the stigma attached to the word gamer wasn't a positive one. In time though, God revealed to him that he loved him just the way he was and that he didn't have to hide his passion any longer.
In late 2014, God called that same man, who was now a pastor, to birth a ministry that would become known as GodSquad Gaming. The mission? To reach gamers all over the world with the gospel. A short time after putting his feet in the water that was the still growing website, Twitch, Matt Souza recognized the potential for something far greater than himself sitting in a boiler room playing video games live on the internet.
In its infancy, that’s what the GodSquad was. While Matt began to gain an audience and establish himself on the ever-popular Twitch platform, he was still only one man. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before God began to bring to Matt a team that was up for the job of the greater vision that God had put on his heart.
On March 24th, 2016, Matt’s home became a full studio that would broadcast the first ever church just for gamers: GodSquad Church. While possible to do, tearing down his home every week to pull this off was not ideal for Matt (or his wife for that matter), but about a month later with nothing short of a miracle, God opened a door for a new place that GodSquad Church could reside, that could much more easily accommodate its needs.
GodSquad Church still broadcasts their services live every Saturday night for up to 100 viewers every week. It’s also an official nonprofit organization. The ministry as a whole has reached over 100,000 gamers with the gospel, and to this day God continues to provide talented volunteers, necessary funding, and wisdom beyond anything the team could do on their own understanding. Through this ministry, God is changing lives every day and allowing it to flourish in a culture that desperately needs the light of Jesus.