When We See a Need
Sunday, September 20, 2026 - [click here to support the continuing work at MOHI]
Today's update is from Jonathan, and Taran
So much of serving others begins with something simple: noticing.
Sometimes it's noticing that a child needs the opportunity to attend school. Sometimes it's helping provide medicine or food. Sometimes it's encouraging a young person who has worked hard. And sometimes it's simply being willing to show up and serve.
No one person or organization can meet every need. But we're continually grateful for the many people who see a need and choose to respond.
This week, we want to share a few of those moments—and say thank you to the people who make them possible.
Supplies Have Arrived in Haiti
We are so grateful to everyone who helped provide the financial support needed to process our recent shipment through customs. All of the funds needed were raised, and the supplies have now arrived safely at our campus in Haiti!
Our medical staff wanted to make sure they shared their gratitude for the medicine sent by our partners at Bless Back Worldwide.
Thank you as well to Full Gospel Interdenominational Church for the food that was packed and sent for our school, and to everyone who gave specifically to help get these supplies through customs and into the hands of the people who need them.
So many people played a part in getting this shipment where it needed to go. Thank you!
Getting Ready for School
Preparations continue for the opening of school in October.
We are especially grateful for our child sponsors who make it possible for children to attend school each year. As we mentioned last week, nearly 100 newly registered students are still in need of sponsors for this coming school year.
If you would like to sponsor one of these students and help make this school year possible for them, please email us at support@mohintl.org.
Celebrating Cassandre
We are excited to celebrate one of our students, Cassandre! She received the highest grade for her 9th grade exam from all the students in our area.
Recently, a local organization held a special gathering to celebrate, encourage, and recognize award-winning students from throughout the region.
Cassandre was among the students recognized for her outstanding efforts, and we are so happy to celebrate this accomplishment with her.
Congratulations, Cassandre!
Looking Ahead to More HOPE Encounters
We'll close out 2026 by welcoming two more teams, and we're looking forward to seeing both new and returning friends next month.
Looking ahead, 18 teams are already scheduled for 2027!
There is still space on one of our January trips for individuals who would like to join a team, as well as space on our upcoming Family HOPE Encounter in April.
If your church or another group is interested in putting together its own team, we'd also love to have a conversation about what that could look like.
For more information about upcoming HOPE Encounters, email us at support@mohintl.org.
An Unexpected Lesson About Serving -
An Update from Jonathan
There is something about a stray dog showing up at your door that says a lot about what it means to serve. You don't always have a plan for the need standing in front of you. You may not have a program, a budget, or even the resources you think you'll need. But there is a living being in front of you who needs care, and the natural response is to do what you can. Kahlah, the stray dog who wandered into our lives at the Mission House, has become an unexpected reminder of that greater call to serve: to notice who is in need, to respond with what we have, and to keep showing up long after we expected to.
Take Kahlah, for example. Or Flea. Call her what you will.
Kahlah started showing up at the Mission House almost a year ago. She was thin, friendly, and clearly looking for somewhere safe. We didn't have a program for stray dogs, and nobody had planned for her. She simply showed up, so someone put out a bowl of water, and then someone started leaving food. A team brought her a collar, although we're pretty sure someone promptly stole it because it was apparently worth enough to resell. We treated her fleas and ticks, and gradually, without anyone really deciding it was going to happen, Kahlah became part of the Mission House family.
Over the past year, countless missionaries who have come to the Dominican Republic through HOPE Encounters have gotten to know Kahlah and fallen in love with her. They ask about her when they leave, request photos, and follow along as her story has unfolded. People who may have spent only a week at the Mission House still feel connected to this dog they met here, checking in on her and cheering her on from home as though she were part of their own household.
Now Kahlah has six puppies living underneath the pool area. One has already died. Kahlah has an infection, so we're giving her medication while also feeding the puppies individually with milk to make sure the others are getting what they need. It's a little chaotic, but it's also a pretty good picture of the mission.
People show up with needs we didn't necessarily anticipate. A medical crisis, a family without food, a child who needs help, or a community without clean water can quickly become our concern. We don't always have a program, a budget, or a plan waiting for whatever need walks through the door.
We do what we can with what we have. We put out a bowl of water. We find some food. We treat an infection. We figure out how to care for six hungry puppies.
And those small acts of care can grow into something much bigger than we expected. Kahlah showed up looking for somewhere safe, and somehow she became part of our family—and part of the family of people who have come here to serve.
That's the greater call to serve: not having every answer or knowing exactly where the road will lead, but being willing to notice a need and respond. Kahlah didn't arrive as part of a plan. Neither do many of the people and communities we encounter. They simply show up in our lives, and we have a choice about whether we walk past them or stop long enough to care.
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