Landing Upside Down - by Sunghoon Park (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

In a culture that couldn't be more foreign, a family finds a fresh expression of Jesus' upside-down kingdom.

Sunghoon Park is a successful publisher in South Korea, and his wife, SoonOk, directs a daycare center. They hear of a Christian intentional community in New York whose values and lifestyle seem too good to be true. A crisis of faith compels them to travel across the world to see if it is.

The Bruderhof, the Parks find, really is an upside-down country. Elsewhere, well-educated, capable, wealthy, and healthy people are valued, but here the sick and weak receive more love. There are smart and capable people here as well, but that isn't as important. Whether you're a CEO, doctor, lawyer, accountant, teacher, electrician, plumber, carpenter, farmer, factory worker, or cleaner, are all brothers and sisters, none is paid, and each is needed. Is it possible to become free from the power of money by laying down one's possessions and sharing them?

In this rare glimpse into a unique community, Sunghoon Park recounts adventures and misadventures from his family's first years as members of the Bruderhof. Weaving personal anecdotes to illustrate the community's beliefs, history, and traditions, he gives a cultural outsider's description of the group's daily life that is both candid and humorous. This book is an excellent introduction to the Bruderhof community, as well as a valuable reflection on how churches might bring their values more in line with the gospel.

Review Quotes

A good book stays with us for a long time. The Bruderhof community may seem like an upside-down land. But as you read, you will realize that that land is not strange at all and instead the place you live is the one that feels strange. In a distorted world where the abnormal seems normal, this book brings us closer to the concrete image of God's kingdom.

--Prof. Mi-hee Yang, Sookmyung Women's University

This book reveals what it truly means to live a profoundly human life, distinctly different from a world of endless desires and competition, alienation and frustration, conflict and strife, oppression and exploitation, violence and war.

--Prof. Won-beom Jeong, Daejeon Theological University

The Park family living together in the Bruderhof community is like a drama and Sunghoon Park is a natural storyteller. However, it is meaningful that the story is not fiction, but real.

--Hyun Cho, Hankyoreh newspaper

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who hopes that God's will can be carried out on earth just as it is in heaven.

--Rev. Paul Yang, Pilgrim Mission Church

As I read this book, I felt even the subtle movements of the Christian community's power shake my soul to its core and I was filled with a strong desire to join in the "worship through life" that the author lived.

--Prof. Jae-mok Ahn, Hanlym University