Missionary or Vacationary: Adult Mission Story for April 19, 2025

By Andrew McChesney

Renato stretched in the lobby of his apartment building as he got ready for an early morning run in Bangkok, Thailand. The 36-year-old Seventh-day Adventist volunteer had arrived a day earlier to serve as a missionary teacher at an Adventist school.

An elderly woman walked up to him and asked, bluntly, “Who are you?”

“A new teacher,” Renato said.

“Where are you from?”

“Brazil.”

“You are far from home. Will you teach at the school?”

“Yes.”

“Then from this day, you will be my son. I will take care of you.”

The next day was Sabbath, and the woman introduced Renato to her husband at church. “So, you are my new son,” the man said. “Don’t worry about your house or your food. Just do your best at work, and we will take care of you.”

For the next two weeks, the elderly couple invited Renato over to their apartment every day. “Come here, and have tea with us,” the woman said.

“Let’s hear what you have in mind for the next day,” the man said. “Do you need anything?

On the fifteenth day, the man asked Renato a new question, saying, “Did you come to Thailand to be a missionary or a vacationary?” Renato didn’t know what to say. He didn’t reply.

The man asked the question again. “I need you to think,” he said. “Did you come here to be a missionary or a vacationary?”

Renato understood what he wanted to know. Thailand is a wonderful place. Not only does it have beautiful beaches in the south, but it also is known as “the land of smiles.” Visitors are treated very well. Missionaries could be distracted by opportunities for fun. Renato couldn’t answer the man.

On the sixteenth day, a Sabbath, Renato went to church and greeted the elderly couple, whom he now saw as his adopted parents. He wanted to chat, but he didn’t have time. First, he had to participate in the church worship service. Then he was leading a potluck for a young adult group. After that, he planned to go home for a nap at 3:30 p.m. He was exhausted.

While taking the nap, Renato got a phone call. It was the daughter of his adopted parents.

“Please pray for Dad,” she said. “He isn’t feeling well.”

Renato left the apartment in his pajamas. He saw two ambulances come and go. Then he heard the news that his adopted father had died. It was all so sudden. He wondered, “What will happen next? What will happen to Mom?”

Renato had a heart-to-heart talk with God during the funeral. “Give me strength to answer the question that my adopted father gave me,” he prayed. “Did I come here to be a missionary or a vacationary?”

After the funeral, Renato made a promise to his adopted mom. “I came here to be a missionary and not a vacationary,” he said.

He knew that it was a decision made through trauma. But it was the trauma that had given him the strength to make the decision. He wished he had made the decision much earlier.

After resolving to be a missionary, everything seemed to fall in place. Before, Renato had wondered if he was starting mission work late in life. He was 36, and many mission volunteers were in their twenties. He had wondered, “Why did I start now?” He also had been confused when people asked, “How long will you serve as a volunteer?” He had not been able to answer. When he had arrived in Thailand, he hadn’t been sure if he was a missionary or a vacationary. But not anymore. Now he would be a missionary in Thailand and anywhere God sent him.

“Even if I leave Thailand, I pray that God keeps me connected to Adventist Volunteer Service or any other ministry that will allow me to serve as a missionary and not a vacationary,” he said.

Pray for missionaries like Renato at Ekamai International School in Bangkok, Thailand, as they proclaim Jesus’ soon coming. Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering this quarter that will help spread the gospel in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division, which includes Thailand.