The great 99-year old pioneer Korea missionary Sam Moffett passed into heaven yesterday. I remember “Uncle Sam” (what we called him growing up) as a gentle, kind, and tender gentleman (and excellent tennis player). The world knew him for his masterful two-volume history of Christianity in Asia, written while teaching at Princeton Seminary. Moffett’s parents were among the earliest Protestant missionaries to Korea. In Seoul in 2011 I visited a museum at Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary dedicated to Moffett’s father. He and his wife served in Pyongyang for 46 years and were present during the great 1906 Pyongyang revival (around the same time as the renowned Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles).

Along with recent passing of Syngman Rhee, we see fragile giants of faith walking into the sunset, calling we who remain to deeper faithfulness. We must take in our hearts and future vision their fidelity to the ground of Pyongyang–where Syngman was born and returned as an apostle of peace, and where Sam Moffett grew up and began missionary service.

See P.S. to this blog post…