Comics: "Missionary" and "Unknown Soldier"
Last summer a friend told me about someone who had drawn their PhD out in comic form. I discovered Judy Han, who drew the whole thing out in 24 hours as part of 24 Hour Comics Day. You can read the comic here, discussing and exploring the reason for South Korean Christianity, their religious fervour and global missionary reach. Sounds dry, but it's actually very fascinating.
Why Christianity has caught on so well in Korea.
3 main regions of focus for missionaries.
I hadn't intended it, but the mention of Uganda above, ties in nicely to the next comic I was going to talk about, Joshua Dysart's Unknown Soldier. I learnt about it, like many people, through the NY Times article, but it broke on the BBC as well and rippled through the relevant blog community. (Incidentally, some great Africa-centric blogs mentioned there which I have now added to my blogroll).
His interview with Chris Arrant of Newsarama is what I found most interesting. From the intro, Uganda is, and has been for some time, a hot zone with several factions fighting for control. As if war wasn't atrocious enough, one side has even resorted to using children as solders. And the new Unknown Soldier is at ground zero.
A visiting doctor and pacifist, Dr. Moses Lwanga, is pulled into the struggle and finds he knows more about war than even he knew. A hidden voice and old reflexes coming to the surface put Lwanga in an uncomfortable place - a doctor pledged to save lives, forced to kill to survive and save others.
Joshua travelled to Uganda to speak to people and take photos for the illustrator (Alberto Ponticelli) - you'll see on his website that there's a lot of research, background information, and sustained following of the issues that I think gives this comic a credibility and integrity. I'll have to go find some copies around town. (And will probably need to give the history and politics a bit of a study as well).
Why Christianity has caught on so well in Korea.
3 main regions of focus for missionaries.
I hadn't intended it, but the mention of Uganda above, ties in nicely to the next comic I was going to talk about, Joshua Dysart's Unknown Soldier. I learnt about it, like many people, through the NY Times article, but it broke on the BBC as well and rippled through the relevant blog community. (Incidentally, some great Africa-centric blogs mentioned there which I have now added to my blogroll).
His interview with Chris Arrant of Newsarama is what I found most interesting. From the intro, Uganda is, and has been for some time, a hot zone with several factions fighting for control. As if war wasn't atrocious enough, one side has even resorted to using children as solders. And the new Unknown Soldier is at ground zero.
A visiting doctor and pacifist, Dr. Moses Lwanga, is pulled into the struggle and finds he knows more about war than even he knew. A hidden voice and old reflexes coming to the surface put Lwanga in an uncomfortable place - a doctor pledged to save lives, forced to kill to survive and save others.
Joshua travelled to Uganda to speak to people and take photos for the illustrator (Alberto Ponticelli) - you'll see on his website that there's a lot of research, background information, and sustained following of the issues that I think gives this comic a credibility and integrity. I'll have to go find some copies around town. (And will probably need to give the history and politics a bit of a study as well).