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As most of you know, a military coup occurred in Thailand on May 22, 2014. After months of protests and unrest between factions, the army chief declared that the military was seizing power in order to restore order and enact much-needed political reforms. B-Squad watched with fascination as troops took to the streets and the whole nation came under curfew.
Photo credit – Harris Richie
Thankfully, events were stable in Chiang Mai as we all gathered at the end of May, to say two very important goodbyes.
Andrew & Alys have served as our Squad Leaders for these past five months with passion and humility. They’ve grown to mean so much to us. And even though we knew they’d eventually train replacements and return home, this day snuck up on us. I can’t express how much they’ve taught me, and how much I’ve changed because of their leadership.
On that fateful last night before they returned home, we began with an “open mic” to honor them with thanks or stories. (Many laughs, many tears.) Afterwards, the entirety of B-Squad snuck away to a bridge in the center of the city to prepare a surprise.
Tourists in Thailand love to send up glowing lanterns (anyone seen Tangled?), and they look beautiful floating away into night skies. All 42 of us lined up across this bridge, each holding a lantern or two with a letter on it, facing the street. (I never verified it, but apparently the lanterns spelled out “THANK YOU BOTH FOR EVERYTHING.” My two lanterns said “HA.”) Andrew & Alys would be led to this surprise for one last tribute.
We stood there, waiting… they didn’t come. Military trucks passed us by, and taxis and motorcycles slowed down to take in the strange scene. It began to drizzle. No sign of them. We posed for pictures as amused Thai passersby aimed their cameras at us. We eventually got a little rowdy after standing there for so long, and occasionally shouted our chant to each other: “B Squad – Best Squad!”
Yea… a giant crowd of people aimlessly standing in the middle of the city holding ‘signs’ and chanting… this definitely doesn’t look like a protest.
Just as the long-awaited Squad Leaders arrived, we saw two policemen off to the side, muttering into their radios. The drizzle turned into rain and we hurried to light the lanterns. But they wouldn’t light, or they’d tip over precariously, and we just ended up laughing at the struggle.
Suddenly, several large and ominous-looking military vehicles arrived. As they heaved to a stop, Thai troops leapt out. We froze, deer in the headlights – what would Bill Swan say if an entire Squad wound up in Thai prison in the midst of a military coup…
It took the soldiers a moment to register that we weren’t an imminent threat. But when they saw the lanterns, they broke into grins and began picking up our disheveled lanterns, grabbing lighters out of their pockets to help us light them. They also stopped traffic for us, so that we could release our lanterns on the other side of the bridge, where the wind was blowing.
These soldiers are the most powerful people in the country right now… and one of them is standing next to me, helping me balance my lantern. WHAT.
You can imagine that at this point, we became even more giddy – we forgot the rain, tossed burning/failed lanterns into the river and (of course) asked the soldiers for selfies. Eventually their commander became impatient that he’d been called there for nothing and strode among us, saying “thank you, go home, go home!” (We’d forgotten one condition of martial law – public gatherings of more than five people are forbidden. Oops.)
So B-Squad traipsed home, soaking wet. Convinced we’d given our Squad Leaders the best send-off on the planet. Overwhelmed with gratitude at the people He’s surrounded us with for these 11 months. Filled with awe at the ridiculous adventures God is letting us experience.
I mean, seriously. We had a bonding experience with the ruling power of Thailand…
Photo credit – Andrew Ingrassia
