We made it to Thailand!!

สวัสดีค่ะ, friend!

สวัสดีค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii ka) means hello in Thai!

My squad has been in Thailand for one week now! We landed in Thailand early in the morning on Monday, January 27th!

Our travel day consisted of three connecting flights from Atlanta, Georgia ——> Denver, Colorado ——-> Vancouver, Canada ——-> Bangkok, Thailand.

For the most part, our 26+ hour traveling period was smooth; however, our very last flight from Vancouver, Canada, to Bangkok, Thailand, was a close call!

Our arrival to Vancouver was late, which left us with barely any time to get to our gate to board the plane to Thailand. One of my squadmates was missing his water bottle, so another squadmate and I stayed behind with him while the rest of the team ran to find the gate. Unfortunately, the missing water bottle was not found. With ten minutes left before our plane to Thailand departed, the three of us ran to try to catch up to the others and attempt to navigate the airport.

For those of you who don’t know, before the Race, I had only flown once in my entire life. So as you can imagine, with our time running out, I was feeling pretty stressed as I tried to help my squadmates figure out where we needed to go. Thankfully, my reaction to that stress was to pray and ask the Lord to make a way for us so that we wouldn’t miss our flight.

Just when we thought we weren’t going to make it in time, we finally heard Ella and Elijah calling for us on the opposite side of the hallway we were in!! I could have cried out of relief when I heard their voices and saw them waving us down!! The God we serve is so faithful, and He hears and responds to our prayers!

The five of us were able to sprint to the gate, and by the grace of God, all eighteen of us were able to board the plane to Thailand with seconds to spare, and someone else on our squad had our squadmate’s water bottle!!

God is so good and so kind!!

~

From the airport in Bangkok, our squad split into three teams, which we will stay in for the next two months. These teams were prayerfully created by our squad’s leadership team at training camp! Each team was sent to different ministry locations throughout the country of Thailand. Two of the teams are one hour apart from each other, and one team (mine) is ten hours away.

I am on a team with five other women. Our team name is AMALA, which was made from our initials but means hope and expectancy in Arabic! This name represents our team perfectly!

Jessie is our alumni squad leader. Her heart for Jesus is so beautiful! She is so radically on fire for the Lord and walks in so much peace, joy, and love that it overflows onto everyone that she interacts with! Jessie’s faith is so inspiring, and she so gently and lovingly calls each of us higher!

Lillie is our team leader. She walks in grace and humility. Lillie has stewarded her role as team leader so beautifully and intentionally. She makes an effort to meet each of us where we’re at and to let us know that we’re seen and heard.

Alex is our squad’s Beauty for Ashes Coordinator. Alex has such a hunger to dwell in the presence of the Lord. She burns so brightly for Jesus and is always encouraging us all to get into the Word and spend more time in prayer! She continually edifies and encourages the team!

Ava is our team worship facilitator! Ava has such a gentle and kind spirit. She loves and serves selflessly and is always willing to give a helping hand or a listening ear even when it’s inconvenient to her.

And last, but not least, is Mandy, our team treasurer! Mandy is so sweet and thoughtful! She is always going out of her way to care for each of us, whether that’s in the form of a gift, an encouraging note, or her checking in on us. Her positivity and bubbly nature encourages the rest of us to walk in love!

The Lord’s presence is weaved so beautifully in our little community!! It has been so sweet to experience a sisterhood like this, and I’m so excited to continue to serve alongside them over the next two months!!

(From left to right: Mandy, Jessie, me, Lillie, Alex, and Ava!!)

Our squad’s leadership team also prayed into each role that was assigned. These roles were announced to the squad at Training Camp before we launched!

My role on the squad is Logistics co-leader with another girl on my squad, Ella! Ella and I are in charge of all squad-related travel to and from each country and planning/preparing our debriefs. That means that we are in charge of making sure our whole squad makes it everywhere we need to go (this is why I stayed behind with my squadmate at the airport while Ella helped the rest of our team get to the gate), with all of the requirements and paperwork, and of scheduling transportation and lodging for travel days for the squad!

Our squad has shown Ella and I nothing but kindness, grace, support, and encouragement which has been such a blessing as we learn to navigate this new responsibility! Praise God!

Due to my lack of travel experience, I was a little apprehensive of accepting this role on my squad at first. My knee-jerk reaction when Elijah approached me about the role was to disqualify myself; however, I was reminded that the Lord is intentional in His placement. He does not do anything without reason, and if the Lord highlighted me for this role, there was purpose behind it. Even if I didn’t understand it yet. So, with that reminder and a sense of peace from the Lord, I decided to step out in faith and accept.

Already, just one week into stewarding this role, the Lord has begun to stretch and refine me!

~

The ministry that my squad was assigned to for part of our stay in Thailand is called A-Mane! A-Mane is a school for Thai children and adults to learn English! A-Mane is run by our ministry host, P. Benz, who is probably one of the sweetest, kindest, and most generous people that I’ve ever met! Her heart and passion for the Lord is so beautiful, and her testimony as one of the first Christians in Bangkok is so powerful!!

My team spent week one in Thailand getting to know P. Benz and her family, meeting the A-Mane staff and students and beginning to build relationships with them, playing games with the students, worshiping and praying over the classrooms beforehand, learning about what our time in Thailand will look like, pressing in to the Lord, praying over each other, A-Mane, and the community, meeting locals, and exploring the area!

(Picture of AMALA and our host, P. Benz!!)

(Picture of us in between classes at A-Mane)

My team also had the opportunity to attend the church that our host and her family go to! We were able to worship and pray with our Thai brothers and sisters, which was so precious!! All of the earth will shout His praise, truly!!

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(Audio recording of worship!! Such a powerful moment!!)

It was such a neat experience to attend church outside of the States, and one that I will treasure forever!! Sitting in that sanctuary, thousands of miles away from home, listening to voices call upon and cry out to the Lord and seeing the hunger and need of the Thai people reminded me of how big the God we serve is!

He transcends every boundary, every barrier, and every limitation! He is sovereign over all of creation! There is not a single corner of the earth that He is not capable of reaching!! Not a single person that He is not pursuing!! His presence is everywhere at once, in every nation and in every life!

Even now, writing this post, I am just in awe of how good and how great the Father is!!

We truly serve such an amazing God!!

I am so excited to witness all that God will do throughout our time serving here!! What an honor it is to partner with Him in the works He is doing in Thailand!!

If you would like to pray for me, my team, and my squad, here are some prayer points:

– Good health and protection from illness and injury (already we’ve had a couple people get sick);

– For the students of A-Mane to have an encounter with the Lord and accept Him as Lord and Savior;

– A continued awareness and sensitivity to the presence, will, and voice of the Father;

– An increase of radical love, boldness, and obedience; and

– For an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Bangkok and for revival to wash over Thailand!

God bless!!

Joyfully His,
Areonah