Some of you may remember the following blog, posted on June 17, 2008. Let it serve as an introduction to the book I am reading, The Christ of the Korean Heart, by Missionary Arch Campbell, 1954.

Then you can go directly to the first in the series of audios: Chapter one

When my book was mailed to me, I retrieved it much like a dog who has just been thrown a juicy bone, or a squirrel who has found a choice acorn. I wanted to get away with it and savor every word. This was one I just knew I would love. I think you will enjoy it too.

Arch Campbell was a pioneer missionary to Korea from 1916. He became the president of Kei Myung Christian College and the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church of Korea. More importantly, Arch Campbell loved Jesus and the Koreans with all of his heart, and he was there during the great trials of the War Years.

The brother who wrote the foreword to this book said that "few men have the God-given combination of effectiveness in soul-winning, vision of the world's spiritual famine, and ability to tell of the pulsating events of the mission fields" as Dr. Campbell.

He goes on, "The chapters of this book are destined to awaken missionary zeal under the blessings of the precious Holy Spirit. I unhesitatingly commend it to every lover of the Lord Jesus Christ."

And I add in this day, a full 54 years after its publication date, that lovers of the North Korean people should consider this classic book as "must" reading too.

I was able to track it down at Amazon. A good Google search will be well worth your time.

Can I quote only the first paragraph to whet your appetite for more:

"Amid the rubble and ruin of Korea's blasted and burned cities (1954), in the crowded squalor of the refugee camps, in the bleak and bare makeshift army hospitals, along the dusty roads, through the narrow alleys of the hastily rebuilt mud villages, in the congested, odoriferous markets, and in the crumbling bunkers and dugouts of the stalemate-battle front walks the Lord Jesus Christ today...enshrined in the hearts of hundreds of thousands who know Him...

"...Although He treads the crowded or the lonely thoroughfares, he is not just the Christ of the Korean Road. He is the Christ of the Korean Heart."

And from there, Dr. Campbell goes on to prove his point with story after story of the faithfulness of Christ during years of the horrors of men.