What a Team Trip “Looks Like”
Hi, my name is Marah, and I’m a photographer and a Team Trip veteran. In the last four years I have been on four Destiny Rescue Team Trips. With that kind of introduction, you might assume that I am a thrill seeker or an adrenaline junkie. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m NOT a naturally adventurous person. I signed up for my first Team Trip with a completely blank passport. I had much fear and trepidation, but was completely shocked to find myself in love with the entire experience. I found that I could easily get around in a foreign country. I felt safe and at peace. The trip leaders made it easy to feel comfortable in a very unusual place.
*The children in this photo are not known to have ever been exploited
A Team Trip is where exhaustion meets exhilaration, devastation meets bold ambition, horror meets unwavering hope, pain collides with omnipotent love, all while the senses are assaulted with strange new smells, sounds, sights, tastes, and ideas. A trip through Cambodia and Thailand with Destiny Rescue is an opportunity to learn things that can only be taught through a gritty first-hand experience.
Team Trips hosted by Destiny Rescue are a hardcore immersion into the cultures that foster an environment where underaged sex trafficking and exploitation are able to thrive. They are exposure to extreme poverty in developing countries. But on a more positive note, they’re also an introduction to the heroic, selfless people who are making a difference and turning the tide against this abuse and injustice.
Team Trip participants are privileged to meet those strong, beautiful, funny, sassy, intelligent young women who have taken the mind–bogglingly courageous step of walking into freedom. They are able to see healing and transformation that is supernatural. They go home with a new understanding of what resilience really means.
From the moment your plane takes off to the time you finally crash in your own familiar bed back home, you’ll be moving. The two-week trip is a tour of six different cities. While the pace is thrilling, there is somehow plenty of time on buses and in hotel rooms to process, reflect, and journal. Often Team Trip members find the disconnection from home to be an amazing time of reconnecting with God.
You will see poverty. Poverty might not look the way you expect it to. Being exposed to that poverty will help you to understand the extreme need that forces girls into the bars to find work and make money for their families. You’ll have an opportunity to visit cultural landmarks, museums, and temples that will significantly enrich your understanding of the historical events that have lead to the modern struggles.
Team Trips do tour at least one Red Light District. In order to understand the need for hope and light, sometimes you need to take a hard look at the dark. These brief stops in the darkest areas are bathed in prayer before, during, and after. The time in the district is simply a time of observation. The team walks through the streets, never entering the bars, and sees what is going on outside these brothels. It’s always a challenging and sobering experience for the entire team. The story of trafficking is often overly sensationalized. One of the most impactful realizations of my first trip was recognizing how bone-chillingly mundane this kind of abuse has become. Seeing how commonplace and obvious it is in the red light district was much harder for me to comprehend than the sensational documentaries and articles I had seen at home.
"I have found a renewed heart and vision for the hurting and broken."
You will visit Destiny Rescue homes and properties. When in those places you can quietly and carefully observe the work that is being done. The staff at each location you’ll visit are outstanding experts. They have specialized training with treating trauma and promoting healing. It’s best to stay out of their way and allow them to do what they do best. As guests of the DR homes, Team Trip participants are encouraged not to disrupt the ongoing work. When appropriate, you’ll be invited by the teachers, counselors, and training staff to add value to the experience the girls are having in the homes and learning centers. Whenever possible we want to humbly assist, support, and participate with the on-site staff. Doing that can take many different forms. Sometimes that means helping to coach with English lessons, or teaching games or songs. Some teams have taught professional level dance classes, lead worship, done therapeutic yoga or art therapy, or have found other ways to use the unique abilities of the team members to enhance the lives of the rescued girls.
The trips include elephant rides (in a Christian village where the elephants are well treated and ethically cared for), rides in river boats, visits to colorful night markets, spicy curries, as many delicious fruit smoothies as your tummy can handle, deep fried tarantulas and crickets if you so choose, and deep bonds with the other members of your team. I have personally never laughed as hard or been as inspired as I have been during the most precious moments I have shared with the strangers that become like family on these trips.
It’s easy to think that such a fun filled adventure will be a vacation. It’s not really a vacation. Frankly, Destiny Rescue Team Trips are not especially restful. They can be challenging spiritually, physically, emotionally, and mentally. The team trip leaders work hard to be honest about that aspect of the trips because mental preparation goes a long way in setting appropriate expectations. Be ready to be tired. Jetlag is no joke!
"More than anything, prepare for your life to change."
*This is not a photo of a rescued child
More than anything, prepare for your life to change. Since I have traveled to Asia many times with Destiny Rescue, my entire worldview has been altered. I have grown more compassionate for the poor. I have found a renewed heart and vision for the hurting and broken. There isn’t a single part of my life that has not been positively changed by the things I have experienced. Prepare to encounter God in an intimate and soul-altering way. Prepare for your heart to beat wildly for God’s justice and Christ’s freedom. Prepare to chatter at your friends about how passionate you are about Destiny Rescue and the quality work they are doing to end child sex trafficking. Prepare to laugh at yourself for any reservations you may have had before committing to two of the absolute best weeks of your life.
Written By: Marah Grant
Photos courtesy of: Marah Grant
What are you waiting for? Learn more about Team Trips here! {Current trip dates are at the bottom of the page} It’s an adventure you won’t regret.