Posted: 16th September 2026
“And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”
Romans 10:14
I was reflecting on something that came up quite a lot during our time in the DR – why being there matters so much when we could simply send money.
Of course, financial support is important. Projects need funding and giving makes things possible. But there really is no substitute for being there.
One of the 2026 teams on the building site in the Dominican Republic. Working together alongside our partners Samaritan Foundation to build a home for a family in need.
I was thinking about the appeal I wrote for Nkapillli School in Kenya and the work of Sister Clementia. I could write an email explaining the situation, the school, the children and what they needed. But the volunteers who had actually been there brought something to that appeal that an email alone never could.
They had seen the children.
They had walked through the landscape.
They had sat with people and heard their stories.
They understood the reality behind the words.
And I think that changes how we respond.
You can read about poverty, disability, lack of resources or the challenges a community faces, but when you have actually stood there, looked someone in the eye and heard their story, it becomes much more personal.
And that’s what I love about mission.
Sister Clementia, staff and children from Nkapililli School rejoice over the food and provisions that money from the appeal has provided. Thank you to all who responded.
We don’t just go to make a difference to someone else. Sometimes God uses the experience to put a burden in us.
This year in the DR, I saw people arrive simply expecting to serve for two weeks, but leave thinking, I need to do something more.
And you never know what God will do with that.
Someone may go home and continue supporting a project. Someone may tell their church. Someone may give sacrificially. Someone may encourage someone else to go.
We may never see the full impact of those two weeks.
But we can be sure that something will have changed.
Presence matters. Seeing matters. Hearing matters. Getting involved matters.
As long as we have the ability to go, we should go.
As long as we have the ability to give, we should give.
And as long as we have the opportunity to serve, we should serve.
Because sometimes God doesn’t just want to use us to meet a need — He wants to use what we see and experience to change what is happening in us.
“Financial support can make a project possible, but there is no substitute for being there. When you see the children, hear their stories, walk through their communities and put your own hands to the work, something changes in you. And sometimes the greatest thing that happens on a mission trip is the burden God puts in someone’s heart that they carry home with them.”
Simone Olagoke
Regional Manager, Mission Direct
