BY GARRY L. TREFT

HE IDEA BEGAN AS A thought in the mind of Dan Smith: What can my brothers and I do to honor our parents' upcoming fiftieth wedding anniversary?

Thailand came to mind, and he called his three brothers (David, Richard, and Donald) for their opinion about a mission trip to that Asian country where they'd grown up. Fantastic! they all agreed.

Thus the preparations began. And before it was over, my wife and I would become involved.

The trip would run from July 30 through August 14, 2002, and for my wife and me it was a small taste of heaven.

We live in Illinois, while the rest of the group hail from southern California, one reason why, at the beginning, we were acquainted only with Dan, senior pastor of the La Sierra University Seventh-day Adventist Church in Riverside, California. But we quickly made lifelong friends in the group and soon felt as if we'd known some members of the team forever.

Recalling Memories
The honorees, D. Kenneth and Jean Smith, had gone to Thailand as missionaries in 1957. They served there for 14 years, and their youngest son, Donald, was born in Bangkok. Though the boys had returned several times as adults, this family trip was special. It would retrace the legacy of their parents through their sons and grandchildren. Unfortunately, Kenneth was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Riverside three months before the group was to leave.

Notwithstanding the tragedy, the group went ahead.

Throughout the trip people would come up to the Smiths and say, "I remember when . . ." or "Do you remember the time . . .?" And a story would follow. Other times Jean, Dan, David, Richard, or Donald would share a story as the team was enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of the city of Chiang Mai. Dan shared the story of the time when he and David wanted to go sailing in the canal that runs across the street from the Chiang Mai Adventist Church and School. They found an old washtub and asked their mother if they could go sailing. With a smile she said, "Go right ahead." It wasn't long before they realized their "sailboat" didn't sail very well at all. Might there be such reminiscences in heaven?

One particular place Dan's cousin, Barbara Sharp, will remember is the Venden Chapel on the campus of Chiang Mai Adventist Academy, named in honor of her grandfather (Jean Smith's father), who'd also served as a missionary to Thailand. "Standing in the Venden Chapel brought tears to my eyes," Barbara said. "I stood there and just wept when I thought, This was one of the places that was important to Grandfather Venden, and one of the places we mentioned when we prayed for him and Uncle Kenneth and Aunt Jean." One reason Barbara is looking forward to heaven is so that she can visit with her grandfather and Uncle Kenneth.

During the first week of the trip Dan, David, Richard, and Donald each held a Week of Prayer meeting, one at Bangkok Adventist Hospital, another at Ekamai Thai Elementary School, another at Chiang Mai Adventist Academy, and still another at Mission College. In addition, part of the team began constructing a building for an industry for the orphanage run by International Children's Care and located next to Chiang Mai Adventist Academy.

The team reconnected in Chiang Mai on Sabbath, August 3, where the Smiths conducted an evangelistic series in northern Thailand. Dan, David, Richard, and Donald shared the responsibility of presenting the gospel to the people of Chiang Mai. At Jean's request the four brothers had brought their musical instruments to Thailand, and to emphasize the reason for the trip, they played the old Adventist favorite "Lift Up the Trumpet." Each evening a short health and "strengthening the family" talk was presented. "It's good to be back in Chiang Mai," said Dan, reminding the people of their common heritage with his family and of the bonds they share. "Chiang Mai is our home, and even when we leave here, we take part of Chiang Mai and the people of Thailand with us."

Jean Smith and her team of assistants, including some of her grandsons, provided the children's programming to an average of 70 children nightly. In order to reach the children on their level, she spoke in the Thai language. At the adult meetings attendance averaged between 300 and 500 people.

Prior to the evangelistic series each night, there were numerous opportunities for outreach and interaction with the people of Chiang Mai. When the Prince Royal's College School learned that a group from America was coming to Chiang Mai, they requested that we serve as English teachers for their grade one students. Every day between six and 10 team members participated in the challenge of keeping 30 to 35 youngsters engaged for a 45-minute class period. It was exciting to see their enthusiasm as they learned a new Bible song or a new rhyme, then to hear them as they sang in English or tried to teach their American teachers the song in Thai.

A pair of dentists and a dental hygienist, part of the team, set up a mobile clinic at Chiang Mai Adventist Academy, where they provided dental care to the students, serving more than 150 patients. Several students were amazed when they discovered that Novocain aided in the pain relief during their treatment. Construction continued on the building at the orphanage, while Gray and Jane Banta spent their afternoons visiting the markets in Chiang Mai, inviting those they met to come to the meetings each evening.

The weekend of August 9-11 was an additional taste of heaven. It was an experience like no other, as more than 500 from all over northern Thailand attended the conclusion of the series. It felt like camp meeting. Friends reconnected with old friends, shared memories, and made new friends, sharing a meal together. Love was evident everywhere. And warmth-not just from the hot and humid weather, but from the greetings, the dress, and that wonderful Thai food! Our Thai hosts and hostesses prepared a feast at every meal, sharing fruits that most of the Americans had never eaten before-durian, longans, rambutan, mangosteens, litchis, and mangoes. Simply heavenly! A reminder of the fruits we'll be able to enjoy when we get to heaven.

Pastors and lay workers from around northern Thailand had been preparing souls for Christ's kingdom in the months leading up to the team's August arrival. A total of 21 satellite evangelistic meetings culminated with the evangelistic series during our visit. At the end, at a park in Chiang Mai, 113 souls came to Christ through baptism. The president of the Thailand Mission, Phakdee Tawinno, had been anticipating the honor of baptizing his father. However, just prior to the baptism on Sabbath his father became very ill. Tawinno says, "He lay on the bed for one and a half weeks." But he was still determined to be baptized, and when Tawinno visited him on Sunday after the baptism, he said, "The devil doesn't want me to be baptized, but I will join the Seventh-day Adventist Church."*

In addition, being in Thailand led one member of the team from America to recommit her life to Christ and to be baptized with her Thai brothers and sisters. It was an amazing sight to watch 10 pastors standing in a row baptizing 10 persons at the same time, with their new Adventist family waiting to welcome them with open arms. That too is what heaven will be like: God, the Father, and the rest of the heavenly host waiting for us with open arms as we enter the gates to spend eternity with them. Jean Smith was asked what it was like to journey into the unknown, leaving America in the 1950s with her husband and three small children. "I guess I just didn't think about it," she said. "Instead I chose to focus on being able to spend time with the one I loved, with no interruptions."

This is what our reunion in heaven will be like. Being able to spend time with Jesus and the ones we love with no more interruptions. Have you ever been homesick for heaven? Are you homesick for heaven now? Is it a feeling that isn't going away? Do you dream of heavenly reunions with loved ones and friends? Do you long for that joyous occasion?

For Jean, the rest of her family, and the entire Thailand team, that will mean seeing their beloved Kenneth again. Oh, what a grand and glorious time that will be!

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*At the time this was written, Tawinno's father had not yet been baptized, but he anticipates doing so very soon.

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Garry L. Treft writes from Willowbrook, Illinois.