HU Ag in Guatemala
Seven Huntington University undergraduate students and two employees, together with a team of students and staff from Mississippi State University and staff from the M4 Institute, traveled to Momostenango, Guatemala, in May to complete several agriculture-focused projects.
The M4 Institute is a not-for-profit ministry that connects churches, businesses, families and individuals with opportunities to accomplish a shared mission — “to share the love and compassion of Jesus Christ to enhance the lives of the needy and alleviate poverty around the globe,” according to the M4 Institute’s website. Dr. Jessica Graves led the Guatemala trip in her capacity as M4’s director of international capacity development.
Huntington University’s involvement began with a conversation between Graves and Nate Perry, managing director of the Haupert Institute for Agricultural Studies, during a National FFA Convention approximately a decade ago.
“Jessica leads a number of trips each year, and after discussing the possibility with our students, a number of them decided it was something they wanted to do,” said Perry. The final details came together for a 2024 trip.
While in Guatemala, the team carried out projects that used their agriculture expertise to serve rural mountainous communities in Guatemala’s Western Highlands. They contributed to a Guatemalan rabbit project that Graves had started previously, set up a food dehydration system and installed clean water filters. The team also worked with Guatemalan farmers on sheep and goat care and provided nutritional education.
Mary Beth Hostetler was one of three HU students who accompanied Graves on the first day of community projects to provide small ruminant hoof care. She and her peers demonstrated hoof trimming techniques to sheep owners and trained them on hoof care, gifting each household with a set of hoof trimmers for future use before the day was finished. This experience and others prompted Hostetler, who will be a senior in the 2024-2025 academic year, to consider how agriculture and missions could potentially intersect in her career after graduation.
After installing a water filtration system in a middle school, the team spoke to the Guatemalan students and shared the Gospel. Reflecting on what it was like to stand up and speak in front of the gathered assembly, Hostetler realized that her experience in practicums as an agricultural education student at HU had prepared her for that moment.
“My experience in ag practicums very much prepared me to speak in front of the classroom,” said Hostetler. “It made it very enjoyable, actually.”
Moreover, the agriculture focus of the trip reminded Hostetler of the importance of caring for others’ physical needs in addition to their spiritual needs. Training sheep farmers, installing water filtration systems and completing other projects that would provide food and resources for the Guatemalan communities they served opened doors for the Gospel.
Hostetler’s sense of the connection between her agriculture education and what God was accomplishing in Guatemala is what Graves hoped the students would take away from the trip.
“My prayer for this trip was for God to work in and through team members both individually and collectively as we served, and He did just that!” said Graves. “Each one brought their God-gifted talents to share and make a meaningful impact.”
Graves also remarked on the important role Huntington University’s Dr. Raymie and Natalie Porter played in the trip, both as agriculture and horticulture experts and as key influencers of the trip’s spiritual impact. Dr. Raymie Porter is an associate professor of agriculture and the director of academic programs for the Haupert Institute for Agricultural Studies. Natalie porter is a Master Gardener and the manager of Huntington University’s greenhouses.
“Dr. Porter and Natalie were an incredible asset to the team,” said Graves. “Not only sharing their expertise, but so often, they spoke words of encouragement, prayed earnestly, and probed the students to consider how the Lord is using their experience for His plan in their lives. Their actions speak to the Christ-centered environment that HU offers students and the nurturing provided by faculty and staff who love the Lord and seek to serve Him as mentors, teachers, and more.”
Hostetler noted that everyone, from students to staff members, brought their individual experiences to contribute something unique and meaningful to the trip, in turn impacting lives.
“Their strengths played to everyone’s benefit,” said Hostetler. “We were seeing how each of us fit in the Kingdom.”
“For me, to lead this inaugural HU team was something special,” said Graves. “This has been our dream for many years, and [it] finally came to fruition. There's no doubt that God's timing is perfect, and He knit this team together intentionally.”
