이인재 목사 李 仁 宰 牧師 A defender of Christian faith against the Japanese Shinto worship during WWII in Korea, a loving pastor and consummate preacher of the Gospel |
During the Japanese occupation of Korea in the early part of the 20th Century, the Japanese government forced Shinto worship upon Korean people. As a seminarian, Rev. In Jae Lee actively campaigned against the Shinto worship, believing that the Shinto worship (bowing toward the Shinto shine) is a violation of the first three Commandments. As result of his opposition, he was arrested on May 13, 1940 in Pyung-yang (N. Korea) and was imprisoned for 5 years and 4 months. When he was released on August 17, 1945 (after the Japanese government's unconditional surrender to the U.S.), he and 16 other surviving prisoners suffered near starvation (see the photo taken after the release). It is estimated that some 200 churches were forced to close and about 2000 Christians were imprisoned--of which about 50 died in the prisons--for refusing to bow at the Shinto shrine. Subsequent to the prison release in 1945, Rev. Lee traveled throughout the Korean peninsula, preaching the Gospel and planting churches. He immigrated to America in 1974 at age 68 and remained active as a preacher and a church planter throughout the United States until his death in April 2000 at age 90 in Philadelphia. He was born in 1906 in Mil-yang, S. Korea, and fathered 2 daughters and 4 sons through two consecutive marriages. “Meek as a lamb,” Rev. Lee was a humble servant of God who loved the Word and inspired scores of people with the Gospel he tirelessly preached and earnestly tried to practice. This website is dedicated to his life and memory, and (as planned) to the lives and memories of his friends and fellow defenders of Christian faith in the early Korean church history. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
A Korean art work purchased
and owned by Rev. Lee
이목사가 구입 소유하던 동양화
and owned by Rev. Lee
이목사가 구입 소유하던 동양화