During a week of service, LWU mission group learns how to ‘love people without using words.’
by Duane Bonifer
COLUMBIA, KY. (07/28/2026) Lindsey Wilson University student Hadleigh Parrish ’29 discovered that not sharing the same language does not have to be an obstacle to communicating with another person.
Parrish learned that while helping out at a Vacation Bible School while on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Parrish was sitting beside a little girl who she said “was crying about something.”
“I didn’t really know what it was because I couldn’t communicate with her (in Spanish),” said Parrish, a human services and counseling and Christian ministries double major from Russell Springs, Kentucky. “I just sat down beside her and put my arm around her. Then another little girl comes up, sits right beside me and puts her arm around me. It didn’t matter that I was from another country and we didn’t speak the same language. She just knew she was safe. It was precious. It’s so important to use words in ministry, but you also have to love people without using words.”
Parrish was part of a 20-member group that included Lindsey Wilon students, faculty, staff and alumni who made a July 14-21 mission trip to Santiago, Dominican Republic. The trip was sponsored by Lindsey Wilson’s campus ministries and supported in part by the Carson-Myre Foundation of Paducah, Kentucky. It was coordinated through GO Ministries, a Christian non-profit organization based in Louisville, Kentucky.
Lindsey Wilson Chaplain the Rev. Tyler Brumfield, who led the mission trip, said the week of service at the Caribbean nation on the island of Hispaniola was full of affirming moments like the one Parrish experienced.
“It’s not just about us going down there and doing a bunch of nice things for people,” said Brumfield, who made his second mission trip to the Dominican Republic. “The trip is also a very eye-opening, inspirational experience that expands students’ horizons.”
The Lindsey Wilson group helped at two Vacation Bible Schools, visited a senior citizens residential center, and assisted with family day at a men’s and women’s prison.
Communicating without words
Recent Lindsey Wilson graduate Zachariah Lawson also experienced a moment similar to Parrish’s. While helping out at a Vacation Bible School held in La Mosca, which is near the infamous massive Rafey landfill, Lawson bonded with three boys who he said were “very special.”
“I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but I could understand every emotion and feeling they had because we took the time to get to know one another,” said Lawson, of Williamsburg, Kentucky, who graduated from Lindsey Wilson in May with a bachelor of arts degree in English.
Lindsey Wilson student Ally Sanabria ’28 said that helping with the Vacation Bible Schools also opened her eyes to the nation’s vast economic disparity.
“I wouldn’t say I experienced culture shock, but I almost had a kind of heart-aching reaction when I realized that Vacation Bible School was one of the children’s only outlets,” said Sanabria, who is from York, Pennsylvania. “Each day, they were just so much more excited when we got there.”
That excitement was also demonstrated by participation. During one night, more than 160 kids showed up, which Brumfield said was one of the largest turnouts for the Vacation Bible School held at the Central Christian Church in Santiago
“We were told that Lindsey Wilson has developed a good reputation for helping out with Vacation Bible School,” said Brumfield. “There was a lot of energy when we were with the children.”
Serving with an LWU alumna
For nursing professor Kristen Branham, the mission trip “was both healing and humbling.”
“It allowed me to reconnect with a part of myself rooted in service while reminding me how much can be learned through compassion, gratitude and simply being present with others,” Branham said.
Branham’s experience was made especially meaningful because she served with Lindsey Wilson nursing graduate Sarah Calhoun ’19, who is Go Ministries’ coordinator of community health in the Dominican Republic.
“Living out Lindsey Wilson University’s mission of ‘every student, every day’ means recognizing that our responsibility extends beyond the nursing students currently in our classrooms — it includes supporting our alumni and serving every student and person we encounter,” said Branham. “This experience also inspired me to explore the possibility of taking a group of Lindsey Wilson nursing students to serve in the Dominican Republic in the future.”
Visits to prisons
When the Lindsey Wilson group assisted with family day at a men’s and women’s prison in Santiago, they said they encountered a sense of community they had not expected.
“There were so many smiles and they were so respectful of the prisoners,” said Sanabria, who is a criminal justice major. “Getting to hug some of the prisoners and getting to speak to them was eye-opening.”
Lawson said the prison ministry “reminded me what it was like to be that kid” visiting a parent, because when he was younger he visited his imprisoned mother. He said the mission trip expanded his perspective on those visits.
“They’re still mothers and human beings,” said Lawson. “I know what it was like to walk away from that moment as a child, but I had never seen it from the mother’s point of view.”
Broadening horizons
Brumfield said that cross-cultural moments like the ones Lawson, Parrish and Sanabria experienced are important parts of the trip, which has been an annual event for Lindsey Wilson students for more than a decade.
“The Lindsey Wilson mission includes the words ‘where every student, every day learns, grows and feels like a real human being,'” said Brumfield. “Part of that educational experience means helping students appreciate other cultures. Having a cross-cultural experience in college is important because it’s important to know what it’s like to be a guest somewhere for a week. You come back a little more empathetic.”
Members of the Lindsey Wilson University mission team are joined by more than 100 children one evening at the Vacation Bible School held at Central Christian Church in Santiago, Dominican Republic. A total of 20 Lindsey Wilson students, faculty, staff and alumni spent a week on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. It was the 14th time the university has sent members on the trip.
Lindsey Wilson University alumnus Zachariah Lawson ’26 of Williamsburg, Kentucky, plays with a child at a Vacation Bible School in La Mosca, just outside of Santiago, Dominican Republic. Lawson was one of 20 Lindsey Wilson students, faculty, staff and alumni who spent a week on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. It was the 14th time the university has sent members on the trip.
Lindsey Wilson University student Hadleigh Parrish ’29 of Russell Springs, Kentucky, plays with a child at a Vacation Bible School in the Dominican Republic. Parrish was one of 20 Lindsey Wilson students, faculty, staff and alumni who spent a week on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. It was the 14th time the university has sent members on the trip.
Lindsey Wilson University student Ally Sanabria ’28 of York, Pennsylvania, center, plays dominos with residents of a senior citizens home in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Sanabria was one of 20 Lindsey Wilson students, faculty, staff and alumni who spent a week on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. It was the 14th time the university has sent members on the trip.
Lindsey Wilson University student Brinkley Todd ’28 of Louisville, Kentucky, dances with a resident of a senior citizens residential center in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Todd was one of 20 Lindsey Wilson students, faculty, staff and alumni who spent a week on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. It was the 14th time the university has sent members on the trip.
Members of the Lindsey Wilson University mission team gather with children at a Vacation Bible School in La Mosca, just outside of Santiago, Dominican Republic. A total of 20 Lindsey Wilson students, faculty, staff and alumni spent a week on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. It was the 14th time the university has sent members on the trip.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)