It is far from easy to leave everything in your life and go to a foreign country to help people in need. Yet Noelle Denslow, a 2023 Windham High School graduate, is planning a second mission trip to the Dominican Republic with her church, The Refuge. This trip is planned for April 2026.
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| Noelle Denslow. a 2023 graduate of Windham High School, will undertake a second mission trip to the Dominican Republic in April led by The Refuge Church in Windham. COURTESY PHOTO |
“It is nice to have a bit of experience,” says Denslow.
Her first trip was in the spring of 2024, which lasted almost two weeks.
As a church, The Refuge sponsors over 40 children at the church that they work with in the Dominican Republic. Every so often, The Refuge has a sponsorship Sunday where they raise money which all adds up to the experience so that when people from the mission trip go down to the Dominican Republic, they can share a meal with the children and worship with them.
“The children were just so happy,” says Denslow. “They did not seem to notice if they are off pitch, they just sang and worshiped at the top of their lungs. We also played games with the children and handed out flip flops for them to wear.”
The missionaries were able to talk with the families of these children through interpreters, as well as buy some food staples for these families or other necessities.
“Along with flip flops, we also had the opportunity to give these children something small like a pack of crayons, a doll, or a stuffed animal, something for these children to know that we cared about them,” says Denslow.
The mission team was able to visit an orphanage with disabled children.
“We were able to go in and play with these children, talk with them, make them feel loved,” Denslow says. “We also did a prayer walk and gave out candy to children in the very poor neighborhoods to put a smile on their faces and offer prayer to anyone who needs it.”
Unfortunately, the weather during the 2025 trip did not cooperate and some of the plans that the mission team had did not go through; many roads were washed away and could not be crossed.
“For the upcoming trip in 2026, we picked a week that we hope will not be so rainy and we hope to do more in terms of a beach cleanup and helping people with home repairs,” says Denslow.
The Refuge also has an opportunity for individuals to sponsor a child with a monthly payment which is used for food, clothes, education, and school supplies for the child. Denslow has a sponsor child who she supports, and was able to meet with last year, and plans to see again this coming April.
“I have such good memories of the 2025 trip and so many joyful experiences that really made me want to go again,” says Denslow. “The first time I went, the things that we saw as a team played a huge role in changing our perspective on how privileged we are in America and the resources that we have access to here. It was a life-changing experience for me. With some practice under my belt, I wanted to go again. The conditions that we saw down there makes you realize how much we have and how much we take for granted, and yet somehow, these children are still able to experience joy and still able to have a good time.”
This year, there are 15 people going from The Refuge. Their biggest goals are to help with home repairs and other physical labor, hand out basic necessities to their sponsor families, love for families and sponsor children, and just be the hands and feet, helping wherever help is needed.
If you would like to help support this mission trip, The Refuge has several fundraisers planned for the upcoming months. The Refuge is also collecting money through the Clynk bag bottle returns. For more information and to help support the mission team, please visit refugemaine.church. To sponsor a child, please visit www.connectmission.org . If you would like to support Denslow personally, you may do so at her venmo: @Noelle-Denslow. <
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