Richmond man who died at NC beach dedicated his life to 'joyful service'

RICHMOND, Va. -- Chris Kennedy is overseas for work, and that's where he got news that his colleague and friend Minh Ha Nguyen had passed away in a drowning incident in North Carolina. Baptist leaders across the country are mourning the loss of Nguyen, who Kennedy said is, "like nobody else I've ever met.”

“A world without Minh Ha seems incredibly empty, and he's just a light. I remember when I got the news, it was late, where I am overseas, and I just sat on the in my bed just speechless," Kennedy said.

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Officials in Surf City, North Carolina, were called to a beach there Monday just before noon.

"When Ocean Rescue personnel arrived, they found bystanders attending to a victim in the water. The bystanders had already started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Rescue personnel started a medical assessment and continued with CPR efforts," the statement from a Surf City spokesperson said. "Pender EMS and Fire and the Surf City Fire Department administered advanced life support. The victim did not survive."

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The 57-year-old Nguyen worked at the International Mission Board, which carries out missionary work on behalf of the Southern Baptist Convention and is headquartered in Richmond. Kennedy said he has known Nguyen for 10-plus years.

"Everything was joy. Everything was met with a sense of hope and promise, and that's how his life was framed," Kennedy said.

Recently, Nguyen shared his personal testimony on video for IMB. As a child, his family fled Vietnam during the war after his father was imprisoned by communist authorities for more than a year. Nguyen's family escaped on a small fishing boat crowded with people through harrowing conditions in the South China Sea.

“My 12-year-old body was weary by hunger and my throat parched with thirst," Nguyen said in the video. "I believe if it was not for God’s miracles, I and the hundred other souls on the boat would have sunk and died.”

Nguyen dedicated his life to "joyful service" after surviving the ordeal and spending the rest of his childhood as a UN refugee. Kennedy said Nguyen was able to share his story as a way of better connecting with people around the world during mission work.

"Really to allow him to see into other people's lives with a greater degree of empathy and care. And for him to be able to speak that, that hope and that truth that he knew and had into their lives, and to really bring that light of Christ into others," Kennedy said.

Southern Baptist leaders and pastors praised Nguyen's work in growing diversity within the church.

"There will be no replacing him,” First Southern Baptist Church in Anaheim, Calif. pastor Victor Chayasirisobhon wrote in the Baptist Press . "Let us pray for his family, his friends, and his church as they navigate this sad time. Life is short, heaven is eternal, so let’s continue to serve God together until the day we are together forever."

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Nguyen leaves behind his wife and two daughters, who Kennedy said Nguyen shared daily stories about their life.

“I wish they could see every one of the messages of people that are reaching out just to me alone," he said. "Just as there's a huge hole in our lives with Minh Ha being gone, I can't imagine the hole with that infectious smile and just zeal for life that Minh Ha had will be missing with them.”

Family members said they would like to thank everyone who reached out with love and support so far.

This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.

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