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The Fearless Passage of Steven Kim: The True Story of an American Businessman Imprisoned in China for Rescuing North Korean Refugees
Until the age of fifty, Seung-Whan (Steven) Kim, a Korean-American businessman dedicated his life to financial prosperity at the expense of both family and faith. He had earned and lost millions several times over until, in China, his business in shambles, Kim returned to Christian fellowship, rediscovered the value of family, and received a calling to help North Korean refugees escape from human trafficking, torture, and execution. In 2003, Kim was arrested and convicted of harboring refugees and leading them along an underground railroad, and he spent the next four years in Chinese labor camps. In his suffering and hardship, he immersed himself in Scripture and led a secret prison ministry, serving fellow inmates, a guard, and even a mob boss. Since his release, Kim has been a powerful advocate for North Korean refugees, especially women and children, raising awareness about their plight and fighting for their human rights. Kim's story is a thrilling, heart-breaking, and inspirational account of the spiritual victory of a real-life freedom fighter.
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 31, 2015
Steven Kim, a naturalized US citizen originally from South Korea, lived the life of a highly successful New York businessman. Along with his wife, Helen, he built several furniture businesses, all averaging worth in the millions. When a business deal sent Steven to China, he met four people who would change his life. Two were a pastor and his wife, who would lead him to Christ. Two others were refugees from North Korea, seeking the help of the church. Steven wouldn't idly sit back and watch these two men struggle. Nor would he just pray for their well-being, blessing and safety. He put his faith into action. Before his arrest, Steven would successfully smuggle over 48 North Korean refugees through China into South Korea. Even in prison, Steven, as a modern-day Joseph, worked for the Lord. This beautiful story of the Active, Committed Christian life is sadly rare, and greatly inspiring.
CAUTION: the plight of unsuccessful refugees is plainly stated, and prison conditions are accurately described; this could be a bit much for the "tender" reader.
CAUTION: the plight of unsuccessful refugees is plainly stated, and prison conditions are accurately described; this could be a bit much for the "tender" reader.
February 12, 2014
Always love when Jesus grabs a hold of someone and allows them to fulfill His purposes - this is one of those books.
September 7, 2013
In 1975, a twenty-seven-year-old Korean man stepped into New York and an adventure no one in their right mind would ever want. Kim Seung-Whan (who later adopted the Americanized Steven Kim) had been an eager, hard-working young man bent on becoming rich, a goal which he achieved. He married the perfect girl (Helen) who not only supported him in his dreams but worked beside him. He attended and supported his church but remained unmoved by any of the messages.
His prosperous ventures eventually led him into China, and here his life began to change. He began going to a Chinese-Korean church there when his business failed. And then he found a Korean church, which is illegal in China, and as his business and his faith began to grow he began to help a few North Korean refugees in need find jobs--again illegal. When the Chinese government found out, he was thrown into prison.
Find out how this experience strengthened rather than demolished him as well as benefited others around him in his four years of deprivation, slave labor, and blessings.
His prosperous ventures eventually led him into China, and here his life began to change. He began going to a Chinese-Korean church there when his business failed. And then he found a Korean church, which is illegal in China, and as his business and his faith began to grow he began to help a few North Korean refugees in need find jobs--again illegal. When the Chinese government found out, he was thrown into prison.
Find out how this experience strengthened rather than demolished him as well as benefited others around him in his four years of deprivation, slave labor, and blessings.
June 27, 2013
This book is a very real accounting of Steven Kim's persecution in China. Once you've read it though, you cannot plead ignorance to the suffering of many in North Korea and China. An excellent read all the way around. The Fearless Passage of Steven Kim is an example of what living the gospel looks like when one man lays down his life for another.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2013
Good book. Very enlightened regarding treatment of the Northern Koreans by China. Hard to read at times.
November 25, 2013
Excellent! Very informative about the situation in North Korea and China. Also, the message of God's great love and mercy in all circumstances was beautiful.
March 31, 2018
Interesting story about a Korean-American businessman’s journey from selfish greed to compassionate service.
Steven moves to the US in his mid-twenties in pursuit of the American dream. However, as he becomes more consumed with the accumulation of wealth and influence, he begins to drift further and further from his Christian faith.
20 some years later God begins to pull Kim back to Himself. As Steven begins growing in his faith once again, he begins to cross paths with a very needy group of people during his business dealings in China: North Korean refugees. Feeling God’s urging to help these people, he begins doing small things here and there until day by day he is pulled further and further in. Eventually he finds himself facilitating the escape of refugees from China to South Korea.
This obviously doesn’t sit well with the all-controlling Chinese government, and they quickly arrest Kim for his work. He would then spend the next several years traveling from prison to work camp to prison where his faith would prove to be his only sustenance at times. Kim recounts many instances in which he would see the hand of God moving in his life and using Kim to spread his faith to others.
After many years of legal battles and political pressure Kim is finally released. And after reuniting with his family and friends, he quickly began working to do even more for North Koreans. He went on to create his own foundation focused on rescuing trafficked women and children in China and began partnering with other organizations to advance the spread of the gospel to the North Korean people.
Overall the story is quite interesting and easy to follow. The writing is lackluster at times but not enough to really take away from the story. It does, however, provide a valuable perspective on the human story that is often overlooked due to the political tension that constantly envelopes this section of the globe.
Steven moves to the US in his mid-twenties in pursuit of the American dream. However, as he becomes more consumed with the accumulation of wealth and influence, he begins to drift further and further from his Christian faith.
20 some years later God begins to pull Kim back to Himself. As Steven begins growing in his faith once again, he begins to cross paths with a very needy group of people during his business dealings in China: North Korean refugees. Feeling God’s urging to help these people, he begins doing small things here and there until day by day he is pulled further and further in. Eventually he finds himself facilitating the escape of refugees from China to South Korea.
This obviously doesn’t sit well with the all-controlling Chinese government, and they quickly arrest Kim for his work. He would then spend the next several years traveling from prison to work camp to prison where his faith would prove to be his only sustenance at times. Kim recounts many instances in which he would see the hand of God moving in his life and using Kim to spread his faith to others.
After many years of legal battles and political pressure Kim is finally released. And after reuniting with his family and friends, he quickly began working to do even more for North Koreans. He went on to create his own foundation focused on rescuing trafficked women and children in China and began partnering with other organizations to advance the spread of the gospel to the North Korean people.
Overall the story is quite interesting and easy to follow. The writing is lackluster at times but not enough to really take away from the story. It does, however, provide a valuable perspective on the human story that is often overlooked due to the political tension that constantly envelopes this section of the globe.
August 14, 2014
This was no great work of literature - just one man's testimony of his encounter with God while going through the crucible and being refined, and every such testimony is like gold. It does me good to read such things. His quotation from Psalm 119:71 resonated for me as I recalled hardships in my past: 'It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.' For Steven Kim, it was his process of transformation. Four years in Chinese prisons brought him out purified (who would have guessed?). Now he is able to 'present himself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed' and 'an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work' (2 Timothy 2:15 and 21). At the end of it, Mr Kim is no longer a businessman taking advantage of economic conditions in China to make money, but a compassionate humanitarian who realises all that God has done for him, and commits himself to helping North Korean refugees escape brutality and exploitation to reach safety.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews