Winding Down

Hello, it’s a wrap! Today was our team’s last full day here at Thailand. This day was pretty much our team’s first full day off, which allowed us to relax and fully take in everything from this trip. We started our day off with a 5:30am wake up to catch a sunrise in a beautiful scenery. Our team took a drive down to a large empty bridge which stretched above a break-taking lake, and overall looked over God’s indescribable creation. We all found a little spot on the bridge to settle and really appreciate God’s presence and goodness that He showed us throughout this trip. Pulling out our bibles and journals, a sense of peace and overwhelming gratitude flushed through our hearts, as we reflected and prayed deeply.

A few hours later, we headed down to our last team lunch together, where we enjoyed each other’s company and ate some delicious food. Together we laughed and looked through all of the ZOE pictures that the ZOE photographers took. Then, we made our way back to the hotel, and had a few hours of free time to spare. With that time, we had in mind to tour the whole resort, which was massive. Dave, Christie, and Joey accompanied all of the girls as we walked in gardens, petting zoos (we saw ostriches, camels, peacocks, horses, and reindeers), and surprisingly exciting playgrounds. Around an hour later, our team finished getting ready to go out to dinner, Nic’s, and later go to the Night Safari. After stuffing our faces with food and enjoying our last full meal together, we got back in the vans, and headed to the safari. There, we got to buy baskets with fruit and veggies, which we hand-fed animals off of a tram. The ride on the tram, took us around to see and feed animals like ostriches, giraffes, deers, hippos, and wildebeests. Nate and Raina got their entire basket of vegetables snatched from the giraffes, which all got us hysterically laughing. We also watched a Tiger Show, where lions and tigers would jump to reach the meat off of the ceilings. Then altogether our team was able to fit perfectly onto one of sections of the last safari tram, and cherished some of our last memories together. Making our way back to the resort, we reflected the overall trip in pretty much every van and couldn’t believe how fast time had passed. We got back to our rooms and started the official packing. Half an hour later, we all shared our last night swim in the pool together; playing Sharks. Then, we all went to our rooms for bed, again for the last time, and called it a night.

Overall, I just want to say one big thank you to all of the friends and families that have supported my team and I throughout this life-changing journey. God placed every single person on this trip for a purpose, and I couldn’t imagine it without any other people. This was truly the perfect team that I will cherish forever and will always have a place in my heart for. The amount of joy, support, compassion, and overall love that this team shared together, really portrayed God’s meaning of unity. When we put God in the center of everything, we were blessed with nothing but miracles, memories, and happiness. I can’t wait to see what God has in plan for each individual in our team back at home. Thank you, and I’m already excited thinking about our Thailand mission reunion!

-Megan Park