Mission Trip Details

 

Chiang Mai, Thailand Outreach Adventure

July 18 - August 3 (Age Limit 16+)

$3,975

 

 

Chiang Mai

Nestled in the mountains of northern Thailand, the city of Chiang Mai is quickly developing into an influential voice to the rest of the country, and very open to the gospel. Our outreaches and ministry in Northern Thailand will be in the city of Chiang Mai and among the hill tribes sharing the hope of the gospel. We have partnered with some missionaries and a gospel-centered church and ministry, seeking to continue building a worshipping, Gospel community—one that impacts people’s everyday lives through relationships, home to home prayer and ministry, worship, food distribution, church ministry, children's ministry, school and orphanage outreaches, and more. We believe that the gospel can transform the lives of Thais in Chiang Mai, and through the many opportunities offered to share the gospel, we guarantee that lives will be changed and an eternal impact will be made. Northern Thailand is home to a number of ethnic minority groups known broadly as "the hill tribes," each of which maintains its own culture, language and dress. Political oppression and centuries-old cycles of poverty have left thousands of hill tribe children without parents, without education,  and without hope.

 

 

Our Free Day Excursions

​

• Visiting the Patara Elephant Farm (or Mountain Elephant Sanctuary) where we will spend a once-in-a-lifetime day as an "Elephant owner for a day." You will experience Bathing and brushing an elephant in the river, bare-back riding your elephant through a forest or to a waterfall, feed and check its health, and learn to communicate with it through certain spoken commands. (as seen on The Amazing Race)

• Shopping at the Chiang Mai gate market and visiting the night bazaar

• Cultural Day visiting different sites, temples, and experiencing a traditional Thai Dance and dinner

• Full-Day Kayaking, Caving, and Jungle Tour

 

 

What’s Included:

• Round-trip international flight from Los Angeles, CA to Chiang Mai, Thailand

• Embassy Suites hotel accommodations (or similar) in Los Angeles during training

• Hotel accommodations in Thailand

• All in-country transportation to/from airports and to/from ministry sites throughout the trip

• Daily meals (3 per day) in Los Angeles during training and all in-country meals (3 per day)

• Daily bottled water

• Trip t-shirt

• Medical Emergency Insurance

• All Free Day Excursions

 

What’s Not Included:

• Domestic flight from your hometown to LAX (Los Angeles)

• Passport

• Immunizations (see CDC button)

• Snacks in all transit airports and souvenirs

 

 

2025 Basic Trip Itinerary

( Subject to change...A comprehensive itinerary will be sent 30 days prior to the trip.)

 

* Each day we try and start with a quiet time, devotional, and prayer/worship. Occasionally, an early departure for ministry will disrupt our usual morning routine, and then we will fit it in later that day or evening.

 

July 18: LAX (Los Angeles)

Once you arrive, our airport greeting team will meet you at the airport and later that evening have dinner together as a team and begin our training. During this time, we will have some team bonding time, and we will go over trip logistics, rules, safety, cultural items, team communication, schedule...and then have a Commissioning service. *You will be sharing a room with others (same gender) as it helps create team bonding...and is just more fun!

DINNER. ACCOMMODATIONS: Embassy Suites

 

July 19-20: LAX to Chiang Mai, Thailand (we lose a day traveling)

Depart for Chiang Mai, Thailand (International ticket confirmation will be sent to you 2 weeks prior to departure.) After meeting our contacts in the airport, we will head to our hotel, regroup, and get in a nap and evening meeting with our ministry partners and their team.

BREAKFAST/LUNCH/DINNER. ACCOMMODATIONS: TBD

 

July 20-22: Chiang Mai

On our first full days in Chiang Mai, we will be involved with a local church and some Thai missionaries that really love the Lord and have made a big impact in and around Chiang Mai. We will be part of a church and worship service, meet the team and translators that will be with us during our mission trip and prepare for daily ministry and outreaches.

BREAKFAST/LUNCH/DINNER. ACCOMMODATIONS: TBD

 

July 23-26: Chiang Mai

Daily Outreaches and Ministry to schools, parks, hospitals, homes, churches and orphanages

BREAKFAST/LUNCH/DINNER. ACCOMMODATIONS: TBD

 

July 27: Patara Elephant Farm

Visiting the Patara Elephant Farm (or Mountain Elephant Sanctuary) where we will spend a once-in-a-lifetime day as an "Elephant owner for a day." You will experience Bathing and brushing an elephant in the river, bare-back riding your elephant through a forest or to a waterfall, feed and check its health, and learn to communicate with it through certain spoken commands. (as seen on The Amazing Race)

BREAKFAST/LUNCH/DINNER. ACCOMMODATIONS: TBD

​

July 28-29: Village Trip to the hill tribes

Village Outreaches and Ministry in school and church

BREAKFAST/LUNCH/DINNER. ACCOMMODATIONS: TBD

 

July 30: Chiang Mai

1/2 Day - Ministry and Outreach day. 1/2 Day Shopping at the Chiang Mai gate market and visiting the night bazaar

BREAKFAST/LUNCH/DINNER. ACCOMMODATIONS: TBD

 

July 31: Chiang Mai

Cultural Day visiting different sites, temples, and experiencing a traditional Thai Dance and dinner. Special Outreach and Prayer walk to the Red Light District of Chiang Mai with our ministry partners. 

BREAKFAST/LUNCH/DINNER. ACCOMMODATIONS: TBD

 

August 1: Free Day and Team Debriefing

Full-Day Kayaking, Caving, and Jungle Tour

BREAKFAST/LUNCH/DINNER. ACCOMMODATIONS: TBD

 

August 2: Chiang Mai to LAX (Los Angeles)

Travel to LAX (Los Angeles)

ACCOMMODATIONS: Embassy Suites

 

August 3: All team members depart anytime for home

 

 

Talk to your doctor about any prescriptions you are currently taking or should take in case you get sick, and also about the following vaccinations: Hepatitis A, Typhoid.  Malaria and Yellow Fever are not required or suggested for this trip as there is very low risk.

 

See Center for Disease Control and Prevention requirements for Thailand; (click on CDC button).

 

Training:

Training for this trip will take place at the Embassy Suites North in Los Angeles (Lodging can be subject to change.)

Training consists of specific ministry and outreach information, going over rules and safety regulations, team and leadership bonding time, and an evening Worship and Commissioning service.

 

 

 

Health & Safety FAQs

 

What vaccinations do I need? We would strongly suggest following the CDC requirements/suggestions. You should consult with your own family physician, but what we always suggest is to make sure that all your Hepatitis A, Tetanus/Diphtheria, and Typhoid/Polio shots are all up to date. It is a personal choice and decision as everyone has their own risk tolerance, vaccination beliefs, and health and safety thresholds.

 

Is the trip insured? Yes! We carry short-term travel insurance for each member of the team that includes medical evacuation, AD&D coverage, and other great travel insurance benefits. However, you will still need to be covered on a health insurance plan or have one purchased for the trip. We use Good Neighbor Insurance (GNI) for our mission trip coverage. For more information, call 480-813-9100 or visit info@gninsurance.com

 

What if an emergency happens and I can’t go? If you have to pull out of a mission trip for whatever reason, we will apply all payments/donations to a future trip, minus costs we may not be able to recover.

 

Health history questionnaire. A few weeks prior to the mission trip, we’ll email you a Health History Questionnaire and a Consent/Release form for you to fill out and email back to us before the mission trip. Most of it is pretty standard and it just gives us an idea of medications being taken, past health issues, allergies, immunizations received, and other items for us to be aware of if there were to be a need for you to go to a doctor or clinic/hospital. Please fill out what you are comfortable with; everything is 100% confidential. 

 

Safety track record. Going overseas is a big deal, and it's totally understandable for individuals, parents, and families to be concerned and want to know what safety precautions are being taken for each trip, especially if they are new to Wide Awake Missions. We've been at this for over 30 years; we have taken thousands of teens and young adults overseas, and over the years of doing mission trips, we have been fortunate to have never had a major safety or medical issue.

 

International safety and travel warnings. We keep in constant contact with all travel warnings concerning each country we go to. Before we leave, we register our group with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) through the U.S. Department of State, and we log our itinerary with the State Departments of each country we  travel to.

 

On being alone. No one is ever allowed to go off by themselves outside of our outreach sites, ministry sites, and hotels. We travel as a team unit, eat as a team, and minister as a team—so no one is ever alone. We rely on our trusted and experienced contacts/translators to guide us each day. Also, each team member pairs up daily with an accountability partner. We always have a first aid kit that travels with us, and our contacts keep us informed on the best doctors, clinics, and hospitals to visit if there are ever any issues or emergencies.

 

Contact information and itinerary. You, your parents, and/or family will have a list of all our emergency numbers and will receive a more updated itinerary before each trip.

 

Leaders. We have a seasoned country director run the mission trip, and our leader/student ratio is usually one college-aged leader (and some parent volunteers) per five (under age 18) students. We allow the team to bring their smartphones, and usually, it's their camera as well. We use the hotel’s wifi; this way students can be in contact with their parents for updates. We also provide you and your parents the phone numbers of the international hotels where we will be staying during the trip.

 

What about theft? Theft is always a possibility when you travel abroad, so please don’t bring anything you cannot afford to lose. Most crime is petty like pick-pocketing—but since we travel as a group and use private, chartered buses and vans with a hired driver who guards our belongings, we’ve rarely had a team member lose anything.

 

 

General Mission Trip FAQs

 

As we get within a few months of our mission trip, we will be in more communication to make sure everything goes smoothly, and we are always available to answer any questions you may have. We can’t even begin to express how unbelievable, fun, and adventurous this mission trip is going to be!

 

What about drinking water? Throughout the trip, we will drink plenty of bottled water and/or purified filtered water. 

 

Can I bring items for the outreaches? Yes! Feel free to bring balloons, face paint, stickers, coloring book, crayons, pencils, and Bibles to give away. If your school or church wants to be a part in a financial way, we will be buying food to distribute in villages, supplying some Bibles, and handing out other little things, so you/they can give towards these options if you’d like; just let us know.

 

Are there any additional costs? Pretty much everything is covered! We work with a variety of helpers and translators, and we do take a group "love offering" at the end of the trip for our main contacts as well—it’s the gesture that counts here and not the amount though.

 

Do I need a sleeping bag or towel? No, you will not need a sleeping bag or towel for this trip.

 

Can I use my phone? Definitely! Although wifi can be spotty, it’s nice to keep in touch and share photos with friends and family who are praying for you and have supported you. 

 

How many bags can I bring? You are allowed to bring one personal item like a back pack or day pack (usually a smaller type of school day backpack and not an actual carry on suitcase) and one checked piece of luggage (a suitcase or backpack/duffle bag weighing 48 pounds or less).

 

What’s a typical day like? Each morning, we enjoy breakfast and team devotions, and then we head off to our outreaches for the day. We typically bring lunch with us, and at the end of the day we’ll go out with our contacts/translators and enjoy team meals together at a local restaurant or at the hotel. Later in the evening, we bring everyone together and have some team fun, play some games, and some testimony time from the day of outreaches and ministry. We also love to have  worship nights and an occasional inspiring message by one of the leaders or special speakers.

 

Do I have to share my testimony in front of people? Well, as a team, we’d love everyone to get to know each other’s "story.”  As far as sharing in front of a group of people or church, we understand that speaking in front of larger groups can be frightening, so we’ll leave that up to you. You will see though that throughout the trip, you will begin to feel more and more comfortable with it. You will have numerous opportunities to pray for the needs of many people in the outreaches we will do.

 

Sports/skits? We will have some fun opportunities to play some pick-up games of soccer and basketball; and do some fun drama skits (and other games). It’s such a great way to connect and offers lots of opportunities to minister and get to know the people of Chiang Mai better. Please let us know if you have any special talents you’d love to use during the trip or teach others, such as face-painting, making balloon animals, playing musical instruments, dancing, singing, etc.

 

*This list isn’t exhaustive, if you have any additional questions please just let us know!