Crash claims war camp survivor
TORONTO–David J. Michell, who survived a World War II Japanese war-camp along with Scottish Olympic hero Eric Liddell, met death instantly in a head-on collision the day before Christmas.
Michell, 64, was returning from what was a typical activity for him–a weekend with international students at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Pioneer Camp near Huntsville. He had just dropped off a Korean university graduate and fellow OMF missionary in Woodbridge early Wednesday morning. On the way back to his home in Newmarket, he was killed instantly when an oncoming vehicle crossed the median line and struck his car. His relatives received the news as they were gathering from across the nation for their yuletide celebration.
Michell’s interest in befriending international students stemmed from his own multi-cultural experience. He was born in China on October 7, 1933, to Australian missionaries serving with China Inland Mission (now Overseas Missionary Fellowship). During World War II, David, his sister Joyce, and other school children were interned in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in China for three years. Olympic athlete Eric Liddell, whose story is told in the award-winning film Chariots of Fire, was among the prisoners and became "a hero," Michell used to say.
After pursuing his education in Australia and England, Michell joined OMF in New Zealand (where his father had become home director) in 1960 and later met Albertan Joan Petrie in Singapore, where both were attending OMF orientation. After marriage, the Michells served in church and student work in Japan and New Zealand until 1975, when Michell became director of OMF Canada.
In 1993 he retired from that post to become OMF director for Ontario and coordinator for IVCF’s International Student program in Ontario. During the 1995 Billy Graham Crusade in Toronto, Michell chaired the multi-language committee. He was adjunct professor of World Mission and evangelism at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, and visiting lecturer at Ontario Bible College and Theological Seminary.
Michell wrote A Boy’s War, his own life story, and a biography, The Spirit of Eric Liddell. He chaired the Eric Liddell Foundation, and in 1995 was permitted by China to place a wreath on Liddell’s grave.
"David Michell was an inspiration to us all," says OMF Canada director Bill Fietje. "If David ever said he would do something, he always did it–a man of integrity. A historian at heart, David was our OMF archivist. He was planning to write a history of William S. Clark, who founded Hokkaido University in Japan in the 1870s. While engaged in student ministry in Japan in 1964, David and student Naoyuki Makino had revived Clark’s weekly Bible study at the prestigious university."
"David’s death represents a great loss to the church and missions in Canada," says Brian Stiller, former president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, on whose general council Michell had served. "He was a senior missionary statesman."
Michell is survived by his wife, Joan, and four children, as well as five grandchildren.
