Resources

The Hope in the Color Purple in English and Korean (Thousand Pains and Ten Thousand Troubles) is an autobiography of Rev. Dr. Jean Kim who was born to a wealthy family with an abusive father in North Korea in 1935 in the era of Japanese occupation and WW2. Age 11 she experienced a brutal communist regime, poverty, hunger, political threat in North Korea and escape, refugee life and war, homelessness, loss of a family member in South Korea. In her immigrant life in the U.S since 1970, her grave devastation was the death of her teenage son. Her story is God’s and Jesus’ story who picked her up from the valley of dead bones to a new life; they carried her on their backs to serve the poor/homeless in the United States for a half century. This devastating and yet hope-filled story can be a reference to the Women's Department in colleges as well as hope to many women of the world experiencing thousand pains and ten thousand troubles. 

Jubilee Handbook is an Introduction to the Mission of Ending Homelessness. This book is born out of Jean Kim’s own experience in serving the poor/homeless for a half century in the United States. She combs through the disturbing 35 realities and root causes of poverty/homelessness in the U.S. She introduces the consequence of economic disparity to the longevity and well-being of the rich and the poor. She compares our way and European way of dealing with poverty. For solution, she presents emergency interventions and creation of our political will and policies to achieve holistic democracy in political and economic justice lest we face the eruption of poverty volcano. With some mission samples this book can serve as a reference for professors and students in sociology, economics and social work and policy makers who care to develop a political will and constructive and relevant public policies for all people. 

Marching with the Homeless is about the whole Biblical Position on the Poor/Homeless. Being challenged and encouraged from her early teen years as to what Jesus had done with the poor in his days, she matured in Christian faith to serve the poor/ homeless for half a century. She walks through the whole Bible deeply and widely and discloses the heart of God and Jesus who care so deeply about the poor/homeless. She even goes down to St. Paul, St. James and the first century church to bring to light many hidden and rarely spoken truths about the poor/ homeless. This book can be the most eye-opening Biblical reference to know what God and Jesus require of us to do for the poor/ homeless in our own backyard. It can be a good reference for theology professors and students in seminaries and preacher’s reference for their sermons and Bible study guide. 

Message of Grace is sermons and keynotes Jean Kim spoke to public Church throughout the nation, and homeless congregations mostly in Seattle, WA. Jean Kim’s motivation to preach such sermons came from her experience in encountering most discouraged, hopeless, lost, poor/homeless people on the streets. She tries to preach a challenging sermon to the public church to awaken their complacent conscience and help transform their country club church to wide-open, fearlessly welcoming Jesus’ church. She also preaches to the homeless congregations to motivate them to get up and walk in faith and become permanently free from poverty and hopelessness. She brings homeless friends closer to Jesus so that they can meet each other and the homeless may find hope in Jesus to get up and walk. This book can be a reference for preachers and homiletic students for their relevant sermons to the public and homeless people in our time. 

보랏빛사람들: 1935년에 태어난 나의 육신이 전쟁과 피난, 가난과 온갖 병고에 시달리며 파란만장한 천신만고의 85년을 살았다. 이제 나의 에너지도 다 한듯하여 금년(2020년)에 서둘러서 책 3권을 영어로 출판하였으나 한인사회에는 한글로 쓴 책을 출간하지 못해서 죄송하다고 사과하기 바빴다. 그러던 중 수 년 전에 <기독신문>에 기고했던 짧은글 70여 편과, 이 나라의 빈곤과 홈리스 실태와 근본원인에 대한 나의 정의와, 그동안 제공했던 강의와 설교를 바탕으로 『보랏빛사람들』을 한글로 출판하게 되었다. 이 책을 통해 독자들이 현세대와 빈곤/홈리스를 생산해내는 사회상황을 어느 정도 이해할 수 있게 되기를 기대해 본다. 특히 코로나19가 우리네 삶을 침범하여 생명을 앗아가고, 사업들을 줄줄이 파산케 하고, 가난과 홈리스를 더 생산해내는 이때에 우리의 사회상을 돌아보는 일은 피할 수 없는 현실이라 하겠다. 대개의 사람들이 그들이 게을러서 홈리스가 되었다고 일축해버리지만 사회의 책임이 크다는 사실을 『보랏빛사람들』을 통해 인지하게 될 것이다. 이 책에서는 홈리스 상황을 다양한 모양으로 정의함으로서 홈리스가 어느 특정한 사람들만의 형편이 아니라 누구나 체험할 수 있는 일임을 강조한다. 『보랏빛사람들』은 설교자에게나, 학문을 하는 신학생이나, 성경공부자료로서, 또한 홈리스 사역개발에 유익한 자료가 될 것으로 믿어마지않는다. 이 나라와 이 사회에서 많은 축복을 누리는 우리들이 주위의 많은 홈리스들을 이해하고 그들을 돕고 싶은 열망이 일기를 바란다.