12.17-Hang in there. Lessons from boys saved in Thailand

12.17-

Chiang Rai, Thailand (CNN)Members of the "Wild Boars" Thai youth soccer team and their coach have described their rescue from a flooded cave as a miracle, thanked the experts who saved them and discussed how the experience will affect the rest of their lives.

In their first public remarks since emerging from their two-week ordeal last week, the boys recounted their side of an extraordinary story that captured the imagination of the world.

Dressed in matching Wild Boars team shirts, the boys and their coach appeared happy and relaxed as they faced the world's media after being discharged from Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital on Wednesday.

Adun Sam-On, a 14-year-old who became famous after responding in English to the first British diver to reach the group, spoke of his shock on realizing they had been discovered. All he could think to say was, "Hello!"

"I thought this was really a miracle. I didn't know how to respond," Adun said.

The youngest, 11-year-old Chanin "Titan" Wibrunrungrueang, described the hunger the boys experienced in the days before they were found. "I tried not to think about food because it would make me hungry," Titan said.

Members of the Wild Boars soccer team at the press conference.

The press conference was carefully arranged in order to minimize any trauma for the boys. Medical staff sat among them, and questions were pre-screened. Over the course of 90 minutes, the boys told of the moment they realized they were trapped, how they adapted to their surroundings and their eventual joy at being found, ten days later.

Why go in?

Until Wednesday, the question of why the boys and their coach had decided to go into the Tham Luang cave on June 23 has been a point of speculation. It had been suggested the boys had been engaged in an initiation rite, or had been celebrating a team-member's birthday.

In fact, 25-year-old coach Ekapol Chantawong explained, the boys were merely curious to look inside as some of them had never visited it before. The coach, whose nickname is Ake, said it was not unusual for the group to participate in group activities after soccer practice on Saturday afternoons.

Thailand cave rescue

They explored the underground tunnels for about an hour, before deciding to turn back. But by this time the cave had become partially flooded and their exit was blocked. "Someone said are we lost?" said Ake.

At his point, the realization dawned that they were trapped. With the entrance flooded and no obvious way out, the group retreated further into the cave to find somewhere to to rest for the night. "We moved further in for about 200 meters," Ake said. "There we found a bit of slope and there was a small water source inside the cave." Ake knew that the water dripping from the roof of the cave would be purer than the dirty floodwater on the floor. "I told them it's better to be near a water source," Ake said.

"Before we slept, I told them, 'Let's say a prayer.' So we said a prayer that night."

The team were not scared, Ake told the enraptured audience, explaining that he hoped the water level would drop the next day, and that help would arrive.

Waters rising

The waters did not subside, however. Instead, Ake described the moment, some days later, that he heard the sound of flowing water -- and saw the levels rising fast. In response, he ordered the group to find higher ground. Concerned that they might soon be submerged, he instructed the boys to start digging and look for a potential exit.

Having eaten after soccer practice, the boys had no food during their ordeal. Instead, they filled themselves with water from the cave.

"Mostly we drank water dripping from the rock, from higher up," said 16-year-old Pornchai "Tee" Kamluang. "It tasted like normal drinking water but no food."

Titan, the 11-year-old, pined for his favorite dishes. "I was thinking about fried rice. Or some chill dip."

The boys tried to keep each other's spirits up. "I told them, 'don't lose hope,'" one team member said.

Revelation 3.

⁷ “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. ¹³ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.