From The Top Pt. 1

Now that I have begun to process my trip, I thought that I would start at the very beginning. I have been asked "how did you come to go on a mission trip to Cambodia anyways?” Well, the trip found me actually. My friend Aaron Mondok was about to sign on as Musicianaries’ videographer and was told by the organizations founder, Bobby Michaels, to keep an eye out for musicians. So Aaron being a good friend, asked if he was looking for any Hip-Hop musicians too? Bobby laughed and said why do you know any? That was the beginning of a very long journey. Aaron then asked me if I was interested in going to Cambodia. Then he told me about his convo with Bobby. I gave Aaron a CD (A Common Man’s Opus) to give to Bobby. This led to some phone tag and eventually a 30 minute plus phone convo with Bobby. He was very excited at the prospect of having me on the trip. He told me he loved the CD and that the Cambodians would love the music as well. He also stated that I would probably be the first Hip-Hop artist to visit the country. Of course I was a little skeptical at that statement but ok I’ll roll with it for now. So I told I would love to go but need to talk with my wife and pray (in my heart though, I was in 100%, it’s not like the devil is going to invite me to go preach the Gospel in another country right?). So I did just that and let them know later that I was in. This was the first and last time I would ever talk to Bobby.

After our convo, Bobby was leaving for Asia and Australia for a month, but had been very sick with the flu. He was traveling in Cambodia when he suffered some very serious heart issues. A web update on Bobby's condition said: "This morning he woke up and said that he was 'feeling the best he had in 2 weeks.” Around noon (Cambodia time) Bobby passed out. They took him to the local health clinic as there is no hospital in the small town they were in. "After running a few IV's through him, it was evident that he needed to get to a hospital," said a family spokesperson. An ambulance brought Lee (Bobby’s wife), Bobby and a Doctor and his wife (who's a nurse) that were attending the conference to the main hospital in Phnom Penh which was a few hours’ drive. Jim and Cheryl McCandliss met up with my parents at the hospital in Phnom Penh. They soon found that Bobby's heart is only working at 30 percent, there is fluid around his heart and there is not much blood flow to his heart. He had an infection in his cardiac artery. But, he had the best cardiologists in Cambodia looking after him! Jim McCandliss, who was traveling with Bobby, was asked what he thought of the hospital and he said, "The conditions are very basic, but that he was confident in the Doctors' and nurses' abilities."

The spokesperson said the rest of the tour was on hold right now and it looks like they will be in Cambodia for a few more days than scheduled. In the morning the Doctors took Bobby out of the room to go run some tests. On their way down to the exam room, Bobby's heart stopped beating and they resuscitated him and took him immediately into surgery. They put 2 stents in his heart and removed a blood clot. After recovering from this surgery, he was then transferred back to his room where his wife was waiting for him. While they were setting him back up in his room, his heart failed again and once again they resuscitated him. The reason for this was that the muscles were too weak to do their job. His heart was accepting the stents though, and Bobby did really well for the next 6-8 hours. He had tubes down his throat and needed to rest and stillness. He had been quite restless though during all of this. Bobby was resting in Thailand, trying to regain enough strength so that he could undergo surgery. But because Bobby's organs were beginning to shut down, the doctors had no choice but to try to repair his heart. Shortly after going into the operating room, before the surgeons could start the operation, Bobby's heart stopped with an instant 'flat-line.' The medical team tried for 45 minutes to resuscitate him but his heart did not respond.

Then I got this email: "Our hearts are aching as we tell you that Bobby passed away this evening.”We are deeply saddened by our loss...but rejoice that Bobby did get totally healed...with a new heart, kidneys, and any other part that might have needed fixing. The Lord knew the plans He had for Bobby...and today was his graduation day as he went to the One he loved the most and served so faithfully. We know he was carried away in the arms of Jesus.

Wow, I didn’t know what to expect next. I knew I was called to go but what was going to happen to the trip now? The rest was a test of faith. How it turned out was amazing! Stay tuned for part 2.