With his wispy black hair and slight build, the Rev. Phillip Jun Buck, 68, rested his hands momentarily on the frosty fiberglass pulpit, slouching his shoulders and gazing at the congregation through his square, gold-rimmed glasses. Buck was a guest speaker at the Horizon Korean Church in downtown Seattle, and the congregants sat in rapt attention.

“Jesus is alive! Jesus is alive!” he repeated in Korean, pumping his fists in the air and bringing them down in unison with a resounding bang. A wave of “Amens” cascaded through the crowd. Buck had much to be thankful for — namely, that he had been held for 15 months in a prison in Yanji, China, and survived.

On May 9, 2005, Buck and a small group of three other volunteers were shepherding 14 North Korean refugees across the Chinese border and into a third country (which Buck declines to name so as to protect all parties involved) to seek asylum at the South Korean embassy. Only four, however, were able to find safe passage, while the rest of the group, including Buck, was arrested. Under Chinese criminal code 318, Buck was charged with illegally transporting North Korean refugees out of China without visas. After 15 months in prison, he was released and sentenced to deportation and a fine of $5,000, though he spent upwards of $30,000 in legal fees.

After braving 15 months of captivity, a gaunt and exhausted Buck returned to Washington last August to waves of balloons and flowers from friends, relatives and supporters. Buck told reporters at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport that he felt like he was in a “dream state.”

But just four months after his release, Buck is thinking of returning — a move that his family is adamantly against.

“If he tries to go back, we’re going to tie him up!” said Grace, the youngest of Buck’s three children. “I think it’s about time for my dad to retire, he will be 70 soon. I want him to just relax at home, to go fishing and play with his grandchildren. But I know him. He will work as a missionary until the day he dies, and I cannot stop him from doing so.”

Buck’s tenacity and devotion to his ministry may have gotten him jailed, but those same traits have earned him the reputation of a modern-day hero.

“I think that people like Phillip Buck will go down in history as the Harriet Tubmans and Raoul Wallenbergs of today, and I’m very honored to know him,” said Suzanne Sholte, president of Defense Forum Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit educational foundation that sponsors programs on foreign affairs, defense and human rights issues.

The Rev. Phillip Jun Buck stands in front of the Rayburn building on Capitol Hill after speaking at a public forum in October 2006.

“It’s people like him that are the real heroes and really put themselves at risk. Sadly, the Chinese government calls him a trafficker. We call him a hero and a humanitarian rescuer.”

In addition to the Defense Forum Foundation, the Wholistic Peace Institute and Helping Hands Korea are other organizations that took up Buck’s cause and fought for his release. They participated in letter-writing campaigns, protests and congressional testimonies and pressed for Buck’s freedom.