More Than Witnesses

The efforts and devotion of the missionary community provided democratic activists, including me, a ray of light and a source of hope and courage. The inspiring achievements of these "Foreigners with Hearts of Koreans" have helped lay a firm groundwork in Korea for freedom, peace, and justice to come into full bloom like pretty, tenacious wild flowers. ¬¬- Kim Dae Jung, Former President, Republic of Korea and 2000 Nobel Peace Prize Winner This splendid volume is a collection of stories about Korean Christians and missionaries, a powerful example of contemporary witness to the faith. Knowing many of the authors personally, I was deeply moved by their courage and constancy under such cruel oppression. All who read these accounts cannot but be inspired. - James T. Laney, U.S. Ambassador to Korea 1993 - 1996; President Emeritus of Emory University. As an activist for democracy and as a spouse and sister-in-law of political prisoners, I am personally indebted to the authors of this book, who provided safe breathing spaces for us in the grip of suppression and who kept information pipelines open to the outside world. Their deep involvement in our struggle made them truly "More than witnesses" and shortened the number of years it took to birth our democracy .- Heisoo Shin, author, scholar, teacher, human rights activist, women's rights activist, and member UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). There are times in history when small groups of Christians take seriously the biblical command to "bring good news to the oppressed, and ... release to the prisoners." That was the case with a group of Western missionaries in South Korea in the mid-1970s during the Park Chung Hee dictatorship. More than Witnesses tells the stories, some never before told, of how this courageous group informed the world of what was happening. It is a challenging and humbling account of being faithful in the worst of times, and has important lessons for all of us. - Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners and author of The Great Awakening.