Started this post a while back but couldn't quite finish it. But today, I think it's a good time to complete it. This is long overdue.

Mar 19 - I received a message from Da, "Hannah, are you there? Mickey passed away this morning."

I looked at his message again and again. What is this? Some kind of sick joke? April's fool was not here yet. But Da, he would not make this kind of joke. I said, "are you sure, Da? How, what happened?" It didn't make sense. How could this happen? I just received an e-mail from Mickey not too long ago regarding the paper that we were working on. He said the paper would fly with few changes. Could it be some kind of mistake? Mistaken identity? I have never known him to be very sick. He was always out and about running around working. Later it was found that he died of a heart attack in Bangkok.

For quite some time, I couldn't really comprehend the fact. Everytime I attended some interesting seminars or workshops in school, I'd think "Man! If only Mickey's here! He'd be sure to love all these neat ideas! He would probably make something fantastic out of this" And then I realized I would not be able to share this information with him and it was sad just to think about it.

I still remember the first time I met Mickey, back in August 2006 at the Phnom Penh Airport, when I set foot on Cambodia for the first time. It was after several months of communication with him that my plan to Cambodia finally came true. Pearly and I went on the trip as sort of a personal mission trip. It was almost 8 months after my first e-mail to him. Mickey came and picked us up at the airport. I remember feeling rather disoriented and anxious and didn't quite know what to expect but somehow it was reassuring to see him coming to pick us up personally. Later on I found out that he usually tried to pick up the guests/volunteers in person if he could. It was his way of easing the newcomers in to this fascinating land called Cambodia.

Looking back, that short 1-week in Cambodia was probably the major turning point of my life. It changed how I viewed mission work and gave me a chance to glimpse into the vision of a great man and his principle of living a life that impacts other lives. His life was one that inspired so many to live by example, and to understand the power of change, if one dares to put principles into practise. Nothing was too difficult for him; if there was a problem, his natural instinct was not to run away but how to solve it. Yet at the same, nothing was too trivia to him; the grass was overgrowing the pathway outside the lab and no one was doing anything about it, so he, the country director, went and cut the grass, even though it was someone else's job. His daughter was working on a science project and didn't know where to start; he took time out to teach her how to use the water testing kit and guided her, even though there were many people waiting to meet with him to talk about things that needed to be done for the day. His boys loved spending time with their dad; he would take them on fishing trips. He always took quick lunches and basically ate to replenish energy so he could get on to the next job. Ming always complained that he never took care of himself and didn't eat at regular time. People, young and old, loved to be around him and to hear what he had to say and I being one of them.

Sometimes (maybe quite often), he would offend people with the things he said when asked for his opinion, and sometimes it would be because of what he believed in, but he would not compromise. He always stood for what he believed in and given an opportunity, he would give his honest view, even though it would not be something that people like to hear. He was one of the hardest working individual I've come across, accustomed to spending his free time on trying to improve things around. When he played, he would play hard too, especially when he was devoting his time to his family. You know, there are some people whom you meet in the course in your life and you can tell when someone is genuine and truthful, confident but not proud, passionate but not overbearing, and Mickey was that kind of person.

The fact that he gave up a good job and a comfortable life in the US and uprooted his family to Cambodia in the 90s, a time when the country was still experiencing political instability with riots and gunshots and curfew being a common experience of life, it said a lot about his character, his courage, his faith and his beliefs. After he went on a mission trip to Cambodia, he made that decision and had never regretted since, because he believed that was where God wanted him to be. I can only imagine what it was like when they first established their home in Cambodia. Life was not as easy now. I remember Wendi, his wife, mentioned before, that they had experienced just about all the illnesses and funny things foreigners typically experienced. You name it, they had gone through it all. There're so many stories that the family can tell you that I'm not sure how long it'll take to hear them all. A story I'll always remember was how they got around town when they first arrived Phom Penh. They didn't have a car then but a motorcycle. Mickey would be driving and Wendi at the back with the twins one on each lap, and the 2 girls one in front and another in between Mickey and Wendi. I think that was the arrangement. So, 2 adults and 4 kids on a motorcycle. How crazy, eh? Even though "multi-stacking" is quite common in Cambodia still, that particular scene doesn't happen very often. Most of the time, it would be 4-5 people on a motorcycle.

God had blessed him with the special gift of generating endless bright ideas. It is absolutely amazing how someone can churn out ideas after ideas all the time. And even more amazing is that the passion never died, although I had seen him disappointed and frustrated. I asked him once what had kept him going all these years, apart from the special calling from God to be in Cambodia and his love for God? I remember asking this one day after he took yet another tour around and spent his precious time with them. Everytime he took a group, that was his time taken away from all the projects that needed his attention. Surely I thought, someone else can take the tour and show the guests around. Why waste the time? Of course, I knew few people around there can do as good a job as him, because he knew everything in RDI inside out and yet fewer can instill the kind of passion and impression that he created when he talked about all the projects going on. He looked me in the eye and said, "it has always been the people, Hannah. Even though very often my effort goes nowhere and worse, people don't appreciate it and it seemed futile, but there will be times something you say will hit something in someone's heart, and who knows? Seeds are sown and the person may just become someone who will make a difference in the lives of the people that I care about." (I'm paraphrasing a bit here of course). And so, he was willing to take tours whenever possible and he would go through the same drill everytime, and he never got tired of saying the same thing over and over again, day in day out, for years.

When I went to RDI the first time in 2006, the studio was still behind his old house. I was totally blown away by the stuff that RDI was doing. Mickey and the team at RDI obviously put in a lot of time and effort to create culturally sensitive life lessons as well as the gospel message. Simply cut and paste something from the western world just would not work in a place like Cambodia. And that was from years of observing the culture and experimenting with what worked and what didn't work. He started the studio work with just him alone. He did everything. And today the studio had blossomed into a reputable part of RDI that is sustainable, with great production like "New World".

I have learned much from Mickey. He taught me that no work is too small, because even something small can make a difference too. He reminded me the importance of people in the things we do. Sometimes we can get too caught up in doing the things that we do and neglect the people around us, when the whole purpose of doing the things are for the people! And it was also why he stressed the importance of doing things the right way. Too many people are eager to do good works but often they're too impatient to do things correctly but rather try to take short cuts and that often ended up hurting the very people they try to help.

Perhaps the important lesson I learned from Mickey is this: live your life to make an impact on others. Live by example with your life; impact lives with your life. And as Christians, that's what exactly we're supposed to do. What is Christian living? To live a life pleasing to God and follow the example of Jesus Christ. Show love and kindness to each other. Care for others. Tell the good news to others. Strive to live a righteous life. His love for God was evident in his gentle love for people by his action and his speech and that was his motivation for doing the things he did. I remember when my church elders came to visit and he showed them around and he shared about his experience with the compost toilet, that everytime he used the compost toilet, it was a reminder that he was doing it for God, because caring of the environment is what God has commanded too. And that was a daily reminder for him. He knew it was difficult to get the Khmers to get used to the idea of compost toilet, so he wanted to start by doing it himself and showed it to the people that it could be beneficial.

I guess I can go on and on about this very brilliant man but I'm afraid it would be too long and I will never post it. So this would have to do for now. His extraordinary life was one that made a difference in the lives of countless people he had come in contact with. I feel so privileged to have met him and had the unique opportunity to work with him for a year, even if it was really too short a time.

I read a post by Darren, a close friend of Mickey's family, and he mentioned that Mickey is the one person that he wanted EVERYONE that he knows to meet. I share the same sentiment. He really was such an inspiration.

Rest in peace, my friend.

"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Tim 4:6-8)