The Staff

Matt grew up in a Christian home in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, where he enjoyed surfing and beach volleyball. Rachel grew up in Madison and attended Blackhawk from a very young age. They are both graduates of Wheaton College, where they met playing volleyball. They were married at Blackhawk in 1994, and were involved in youth ministry in Ft. Lauderdale for the next three years. From 1997 to 2000 they served with Peak 3, a high adventure ministry to youth in Colorado. They moved to Madison and Matt began his ministry at Blackhawk in August/September 2000. Hannah was born in October 1999 and Leah on January 1, 2002.

Emily grew up in Davenport, IA and moved to Kenosha, WI to attend college at Carthage in 2003. She graduated in 2007 with degrees in Public Relations and Communication & Digital Media. She then moved to Milwaukee, WI to answer customer complaint letters for Kohl’s Department stores. After she couldn’t take angry customers anymore, she moved back to Kenosha to work as Alumni Director for Carthage College. In November 2009, she got engaged to Brent Nelsen. Soon after she moved to Madison, WI and started working as the CAM assistant. Brent and Emily were married in August 2010. Emily enjoys baking, reading, being outdoors, running, jumping and eating icecream.

Kayla grew up in the small town of Raymond, WI as the second of three girls in her family. She moved to Madison to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007. Kayla graduated from the UW in May of 2010 with degrees in Sociology and Communication Arts and is excited for the opportunity to live out her life working in full-time ministry. Outside of work she spends her time running, reading, and playing or watching whatever sport is in season. She loves Jesus, dancing, and cereal.