Marshall King has shone a light on a brave man and a tragic conflict. This moving story of a young American who lost his life in trying to contribute to peace in a deeply troubled country reminds us of a kind of courage that is all too rare in this world.
ADAM HOCHSCHILD , author of King Leopolds Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
Inspiring! Just as sixteenth-century Dirk Willems turned back to rescue his pursuer from drowning, knowing full well the potential consequences, so the story told in this book details a personal pilgrimage in peacebuilding that illuminates the humanity obscured by conflict. Get an inside view of violence and suffering that attends to the unconditional value of a person and posts the waymarkers for healing and building a more peaceful world.
MIKE SHERRILL , CEO of Mennonite Mission Network
Too often, our heroes are misidentified according to wealth and power. Disarmed offers a clear alternative. Within its pages, author Marshall King meticulously details the mysteries surrounding Michael MJ Sharps murder while illuminating the contours of his ordinary life. There, in that curious contrast, a modern-day hero emerges, the kind who leaves seeds. Disarmed is a pasture of wildflowers in wait. I cant wait to put this book in the hands of many, including my own teenagers.
SHANNAN MARTIN , author of The Ministry of Ordinary Places and Falling Free
Michael Sharp came to the Democratic Republic of the Congo with an invitation letter signed by me. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has suffered far too long under the worlds watcha world that has enjoyed the countrys natural resources. This book tells a story of a courageous and inspirational young man who did not want to be counted among good people who do nothing over this horror and who boldly worked to contribute to peace and recovery of the Congo, working with both local and international actors. This is a moving and inspirational story. Tolle lege!
REV. DR. AMBASSADOR MILENGE MWENELWATA , national vice president of the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC) and main representative of Kataliko Actions for Africa (KAF) at the United Nations Office at Geneva, Vienna, and New York
We cant bring peace on earth using human weapons of war. MJ Sharp knew this deep in his bones. Be disarmed as MJs story breathes new life into how sacrificial love is still the most powerful weapon on the planet to disarm and challenge the violence we see around us today.
DIANA K. OESTREICH , combat soldier turned peacemaker, founder of the Waging Peace Project, and author of Waging Peace: One Soldiers Story of Putting Love First
In our fractured, divisive, and power-hungry world, dare we dream that there are still authentic heroes, pioneers, and martyrs advancing peace against all odds? Can one young, brilliant and compassionate peacemaker from an infinitesimally small countercultural Christian denomination (the Mennonites) really make a bold and beautiful difference on the world stage? Marshall Kings Disarmed gives us ample proofin the form of compelling stories and revealing interviewsthat the answer, from state departments to on-the-ground guides, is a resounding and brave yes.
SUSAN SCHULTZ HUXMAN , PhD, president of Eastern Mennonite University
All of us are born with a peacebuilding superpower. We use it too rarely. MJ Sharp understood the transformative power of listening deeply to, seeing the humanity in, and showing respect for those with a radically different worldview from his own. At a time of deep cultural and political divisions and mistrust, Disarmed is the gripping story of how using this superpower allowed MJ to engage others in astonishing and mutually life-changing ways.
J. DARYL BYLER , advisory board member for the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University and former executive director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University
In an era when those who dedicate their lives to championing social justice and peace around the world are ridiculed as warriors, even by those meant to be leading the free world and safeguarding democracy, MJ Sharps story should be shouted from the rooftops. In the passionate and capable hands of veteran journalist Marshall King, Sharps life and legacy are reanimated through a story readers will surely never forget even as it inspires them toward deep introspection and self-evaluation.
CATHLEEN FALSANI , religion journalist and author of The God Factor and Sin Boldly
In this book, we have a gift. A gift both for those of us who knew MJ in the flesh and for future generations who will know of this legendary man through the stories we tell. After reading this text, so beautifully situated in the contexts that formed MJ to be who he was, may we all recommit to living fully engaged lives for peace, justice, and joy-filled pranking of violent systems.
SARAH NAHAR (NE THOMPSON) , MJs friend from high school and professional colleague
Herald Press
PO Box 866, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22803
www.HeraldPress.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: King, Marshall V., 1970- author.
Title: Disarmed : the radical life and legacy of Michael MJ Sharp /Marshall V. King.
Description: Harrisonburg, Virginia : Herald Press, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021047485 (print) | LCCN 2021047486 (ebook) | ISBN 9781513808338 (paperback) | ISBN 9781513808345 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781513808352 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Sharp, MJ (Michael J.), 1982-2017 Mennonites Biography. | PeaceReligious aspectsChristianity. | Nonviolence Religious aspectsChristianity. | BISAC: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Social Activists | RELIGION / Christian Living / Social Issues
Classification: LCC BX8143.S433 K56 2022 (print) | LCC BX8143.S433 (ebook) | DDC 289.7092dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021047485
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021047486
Study guides are available for many Herald Press titles at www.HeraldPress.com.
DISARMED
2022 by Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22803. 800-245-7894. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021047485
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-5138-0833-8 (paperback); 978-1-5138-0835-2 (ebook)
Printed in United States of America
Cover and interior design by Merrill Miller
Cover image by Merrill Miller. Portrait of Michael Sharp is adapted from a photograph by John Sharp, used with permission. Background banana leaves adapted from an image by Thanabodin/iStockphoto/Getty Images.
All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the copyright owners.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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