The Journey to Thailand

I flew into the Atlanta airport on January 12th to begin training. Once I got to the airport, I met up with my other squadmates, who also decided to fly. After waiting for more people, we took a van to the Adventures in Missions base in Gainesville. We checked in and met the rest of our squad. Our squad consists of seven guys and nine girls. We also have two coaches, a mentor, and two squad leaders who are our support system. The next two weeks we spent time sharing testimonies, doing team-building activities, attending sessions that would equip us for our overseas adventures, playing LOTS of card games, and laughing and crying alongside each other. The Lord grew us all closer to each other and closer to Him.

Some of my favorite moments during training camp:

1. On the first full day, we had some free time, so we all decided to go for a walk to explore the base. This turned into creating the word sqwalk (a squad walk). Over the next two weeks, when we had free time, someone would randomly say sqwalk and anyone who wanted to go for a walk would join. It was a silly word that bonded our team quickly.

2. We all were aware of each other’s emotions, so we spent a lot of time praying as a team. Some of these moments came after people shared their testimonies, after hearing a message that was convicting, or through conversations. At the end of training camp, one of my squadmates said, “It’s crazy to think of how much time we spent on our knees praying with each other.” This statement is so true and is a testament to the community we have in our squad.

3. Two days before we left we had a revival night in the evening. We sang worship songs, and 7 people from my squad got baptized. It was so sweet praying over them and then standing alongside them as they got dunked in the water, knowing they were made new (Ephesians 4:22-24).

4. We spent any spare moment playing card games. After meals, during our personal time, and before going to bed, there was always a group playing cards. These moments were primarily filled with laughter.

5. I got asked to be a team leader, and I accepted it. I had mixed emotions at first knowing that it was going to be a big commitment but also a unique opportunity to grow and pour into some of my squadmates. I will be leading a team of 4 girls with the help from one of our squad leaders, Jessie.

On January 25th we made our way to the Atlanta airport to begin our long journey to Thailand. Our flight left at 4:40 p.m.; then we flew to Denver, next to Vancouver, and finally we landed in Thailand on the 27th at 5:30 a.m. Our journey was smooth except our flight from Denver to Vancouver was delayed. When we got to Vancouver, the flight attendants said there was a large group that needed to get off the plane first so they didn’t miss their connecting flight. We got off the plane and were greeted by airport staff who told us to sprint, so we sprinted to the international line, got our passports quickly scanned, and then sprinted to our gate. By the time we got on the flight, most of us were sweating, had no water, and hadn’t eaten. We were all just grateful we didn’t miss our 16-hour flight to Thailand because finding another one would’ve been more problematic than sprinting. Once we got to Bangkok, my team and I said bye to our other two teams of squadmates as they were placed in a different city. Our two-month journey in Thailand begins.. exhausted but filled with lots of excitement!! My first week in Thailand is to be continued in another blog.

With love,

Lillie