Hi everyone! My name is Avery McClain and I will be going to Honduras this summer as well! I'm a senior at Middleton High School. I am looking forward to working and building relationships with the children in Tegucigalpa and also working on building the house there. I am so excited to see what God will do through me and our team while we are there and all that He has in store for us!:)

hola! this is dano and mego watts and we are very excited to be heading back to Honduras. Dan is father to megan and husband to heather watts who is also going to honduras.

dan- i have been to honduras two years ago and visited AFE(the school we are going to be working at.) i am very excited about going back to AFE and seeing what kind of things God has in mind for me. we are going to be building a home for a family and putting on a bible school for the children. I am very excited about going with both heather and megan.

megan- i am a senior in high school and i went to honduras when i was in 8th grade. I am looking forward to growing in my faith along side both of my parents. I am excited to work at the school with the kids and have fun with them.

Salutations reader,

My name is Charles Xu. I am currently a senior at Memorial High School, and will be graduating this forthcoming June. 

I haven't (yet) been a part of any missions trips outside of the United States of Amurrica, so this experience will be a first. I just know that there are two things like I like to do in service: grunt work in the sun, and hanging out with little kids. From what I've heard, this trip will pretty much overload those two things. 

But in all seriousness, I look forward to a lot of spiritual growth. I feel like living in a place so well equipped and provided have made in really hard to trust God for every need, seeing that everything is so accessible. I hope to be able to experience a new taste of life, where dependence on God is everything. That's pretty much my life goal in a nutshell.

And with all that said, I now leave with a very narcissistic photo of myself. Enjoy

Hi!  My name is Claire Simpson.  This will be my first time in Honduras.  I am very excited to experience a new culture, and serve a ministry that is making a huge difference in the world!

My name is Andre Giovanni Silveira. I am a senior at west high school. This is my second time to Honduras. I am excited to be able to communicate in multiple ways with the hondurans. This trip will be a great experience.

Hello everyone!

I'm Abby Van Aartsen, a junior at Middleton High School and also a member of Blackhawk's 2012 Honduras Team! Along with all my teammates, I'm very excited to be a part of this group. I feel incredibly blessed to be given the opportunity to serve alongside all these great people as we work to bring God's justice to the community of Tegucigalpa. I can't wait to meet all the kids at AFE and begin building relationships with them in the short time we're there. I know God is going to change me in an unbelievable way this summer through them and everything we encounter while in Honduras. I pray that He will also use me to reflect His love and further His kingdom throughout this amazing journey!

Picky P

Hey guys!

My name is Paul Staats, and I am the trip director. I am currently an intern at Blackhawk and will start a full-time position at Next Step Ministries here in Madison this summer. I am so incredibly excited for serving alongside these awesome students and leaders at AFE!!!

I was a participant on the first three Blackhawk trips to Honduras, many moons ago. I have had the blessing to travel many places in the world, but Honduras has a special place in my heart since it was my first out-of-country experience. The Hondurans I have met and interacted with have been so amazing and welcoming, and I am so excited to reconnect with them.

I am already impressed by the caliber of students we have on this trip and can't wait to see the awesome work they do in Honduras!

I hope you all enjoy reading this blog before and during our trip, we will be updating it frequently so check back often!!!


Paul

Something about Sam

Hola!

My name is Samantha Smith, and I recently returned from a three-month teaching internship in Honduras… only to be asked to be a leader for this trip in July! I am overjoyed to be returning WAY sooner than anticipated to the country that I’ve grown to know and love, and even more thrilled to share it with such a fantastic group of high school students!

In case you were wondering about my future plans, I’ll be starting graduate school at the UW this fall, studying Speech-Language Pathology. 

(I promise, not all bridges in Honduras are like the one pictured below... and the water below it was really only a glorified puddle, so it wasn't really as scary as I'm making it look.)

Hello fellow people of the world and welcome to our blog!
My name is Jessie Scott and I live Madison, WI.  I am currently a senior at Middleton High School and I plan on going to St. Olaf College in the fall.  I feel so blessed to be a part of this incredible team and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us on this trip.  I had the opportunity to go on a missions trip to Mexico this past February and it was absolutely amazing.  I was blown away at how easy it was to connect and share the love of God with people who didn't even speak the same language as me.  It was a very powerful reminder that God is in the hearts of people all over the world and I cannot wait to connect with the people in Honduras in the same way.  I am super pumped for this trip and this opportunity God has given everyone involved.  July couldn't come fast enough!!

Jessie Scott

Hey Fellow Blog Readers!
I'm Jessica Florac. I reside in the lovely suburb of Verona, WI. I am currently a senior, although by the time of our trip I hope to be graduated and planning my move to Iowa State University. I am SUPER ecstatic for this trip and the ways it will change me as a person, and as a follower of Christ. This is my first time to Honduras, and I can not wait to see the huge things God has in store for our team and the people we are working with. I am positive they will be phenomenal. My other teammates have stolen the words out of my mouth on this blog already, so I hope you'll read through the posts below to find out more! 


Jessica Florac

Following the Lead of the Bloggers Before Me with a Photo

Allow me to introduce myself,
No worries, I'll keep this short, sweet and to the point. I'm Matt Berry. I have no children and I live in my parents basement. I'll be a graduate of Memorial High School by the time of the the trip and I am extremely ecstatic to be apart of the 2012 Honduras missions team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you couldn't tell by the lack exclamation marks. I've never had the abundant joy of departing outside of this great country and I couldn't think of a better way than having my first experience be somewhere where I'm able to be the hands and feet of God with my fellow vessels.

Trip Goals:
1.Share the love and grace of God.
2. Maintain a positive and willing attitude.
3. Force myself out of my comfort zone.
4. Eat something crazy like a salad or something.
5. Get a gnarly tan.