Spirit Moves West

With the extraordinary growth of Christianity in the global south has come the rise of "reverse missions," in which countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America send missionaries to re-evangelize the West. In The Spirit Moves West, Rebecca Kim focuses on South Korea as a case study of how non-Western missionaries evangelize Americans, particularly white Americans. Known as the "Asian Protestant Superpower," South Korea now sends more missionaries abroad thanany country except the United States; there are approximately 22,000 Korean missionaries in over 160 countries. Drawing on four years of in-depth interviews, participant observation, and surveys of South Korea's largest non-denominational missionary-sending agency, University Bible Fellowship, Rebecca Kim gives us an inside look at reverse missions. Conducting her research both in the US and South Korea, she studies the motivations and methods of Korean evangelicals who have sought to "bring the gospel back" to America since the 1970s. She also explores how a mission movement from the global South couldevolve over time in the West. The Spirit Moves West is the first empirically-grounded examination of a much-discussed phenomenon, which concludes by considering what the future of non-Western, especially Korean, missions will bring.

This is a highly informative book that would benefit any student of religion...this clearly written, well-organized book is a welcome addition to the growing literature on missionizing and the globalization of religion., imaginative, rich, and thought-provoking study, A powerful tale of a growing movement-missionaries to the United States. Wonderfully researched and written, The Spirit Moves West is engaging, important, and a page-turner. For most readers, what is contained in these pages is stunning.

Rebecca Y. Kim is the Frank R. Seaver Associate Professor of Sociology and the Director of the Ethnic Studies program at Pepperdine University.