We’ve had a new addition to the CGGC team. We’re happy to introduce Hunter Myers of Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, who has recently started working for Project Help Haiti (PHH), as a missionary intern. Hunter will be assisting PHH with their bookkeeping and record keeping.
We’ve had the chance to get to know Hunter better over the last few weeks that he’s been working with the team, and now it’s your turn. Below is a brief interview with Hunter, who tells us about heart for missions, and what excites him most about working with our Haiti field.
As you read about the work Hunter is doing, consider supporting the Emergency Relief we’re organizing for two Haitian communities right now! Provide Emergency Relief
Tell us just a little bit about yourself, Hunter.
I’m a senior at Saint Francis University in Loretto, PA, MBA in business analytics, which I hope to be able to use in some kind of non-profit. I currently go to Martinsburg Church of God, in Martinsburg, PA. I’ve been attending CGGC churches for my entire life.
I’ve also been on three missions trips. Two to Haiti, and one to Mexico. The trips to Haiti were with my parents, early in the 2010s, about 10- or 12 years old. The trip to Mexico was last year.
Why a Non-profit?
When I made the decision to make my faith my own, I was starting college, and I felt a call towards ministry. I’m gifted with numbers and statics, and I really think it would be cool to use those gifts to benefit the world more than just making a profit.
What interested you in this position?
I’ve been to Haiti twice, so it has a sweet spot in my heart. Even though I was young, and I don’t remember everything, there are things that stick out to me, like the people we met there. I just think that, when I heard this was an opportunity, it would be in the direction of using my MBA and business background with a Christian organization, it sounded like a perfect fit to be begin trying it out.
What most excites you working in missions?
I think I’ve always loved to travel; going to see new places. Missions are obviously global centric, crossing cultures, and no two places are really the same. Especially when you look at all the places where the CGGC has missionaries, it really is across the entire globe. Getting to learn another culture, how they do business, that’s already interesting to me.
You’ve mentioned the Mexico and Haiti trips, what about those impacted you?
With Mexico, that was last summer, the thing that stood out to me the most was the level of community and the feeling of a family that the church had that we went to. And the way that they opened up their arms to us, being foreigners from across the world, they treated us like they’ve known us forever. That really made an impact to me. There are people from my own church that I’ve never talked to or said “Hi” to. It’s made me wonder how we can bring that same family feel to our churches in America.
With Haiti, it’s hard to pinpoint one thing. The first time I went was when I was 8, and then 11. What really stood out to me seeing the other kids my age and the things they were dealing with. I might be upset because I couldn’t get ice cream for the second time this week, but they might not be able to get water this week. Some of them were taking on the responsibility of an adult at such a young age.
Tell me about your leadership activity in Campus Crusade (CRU)?
I got involved at the beginning of last year. I got involved because I was looking for clubs to get involved in. Obviously, my relationship with God is very important to me.
I’ve loved being around other people that were making the same decisions I was making. We meet Monday nights, and these people could be doing anything else, but they’re choosing to take time to hear a message about God.
Upcoming this next year, I’ll be scheduling speakers, talking to the pastors, making sure there are no conflicts in the schedule, and I think that will be pretty fun to take part in that as well.
How did you come to the Lord?
I was raised in the church, but I never really took it seriously. I didn’t want to think about tough things and I kind of went along with it. In my teenage years, I fell away. It wasn’t real to me.
From the ages of 15-18, I went through some pretty tough times, with mental health problems and depression, and it was through those 3 years when I found out that God and Jesus were the only way to get out. That was why I took the step of faith I did, not just following my parent’s faith, but having a personal relationship with Jesus.
I had a friend in my life at the time who was walking the Christian life that you should be, and I think that’s what brought back the knowledge and understanding, the head knowledge that I had going to church and church camp. I had finally seen it being lived out by someone my own age. It’s kind of hard to see older adults and think “I can do that too” as a 16-year-old. It’s not the easiest thing to do. Seeing someone my own age living it out brought me to that realization.
If you had asked me during that time, I would have said I was a Christian, but I wouldn’t have understood what that meant. I either needed to decide I believe it for real or live my life like I don’t, and I decided that I needed to start living it for real.
To Support Hunter and the Project Help Haiti Ministry, you can find donate here: Give Now
CGGC eNews—Vol. 19, No. 22
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