Dr. David J. Michell was born in China, son of Australians Walter and Reba Michell of the China Inland Mission. He was at Cheffo School in Northeast China when the Japanese took students and staff captive. After liberation, he finished high school and college in Australia, then went to England for studies at London Bible College and London University. He joined Overseas Missionary Fellowship, served two terms in Japan, and he married fellow missionary Joan Petrie. Their four children were all born in Japan. The Michells later settled in Toronto, when OMF appointed David National Director for Canada in 1975. On Christmas Eve, 1997 David was tragically killed in an automobile accident in Torronot, a few years after he recorded this book on CD about his childhood experiences.