Desc: Smyrna: Paradise is Burning, the Asa K. Jennings story: Directed by Mike Damergis. With Mike Damergis, Roger Jennings, Niki Karavasilis, Alexander Kitroeff. Then there is the Reverend Asa K. Jennings, the frail YMCA employee, who fed, sheltered and led an evacuation of nearly 350,000 people from Smyrna to neighboring islands and mainland.