Hostage in Iraq

Norman Kember was born in 1931. At Sunday School he was inpired by stories of Christians who undertook hazardous missions overseas, and as a young research scientist he discovered the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor hanged by the Gestapo in April 1945 for his participation in the resistance movement. With his wife Pat he joined the Ban the Bomb march to Aldermaston in 1959, and they were both active campaigners for nuclear disarmament in the 1980s. After retiring as Professor of Biophysics at St. Bartholemew's Hospital School of Medicine, Kember became a full-time voluntary worker with Christian peace movements, including the Baptist Peace Fellowship, the Catholic peace organization Pax Christi, and the inter-church Fellowship of Reconciliation.
In March 2005 he attended a day's workshop about Christian Peacemaker Teams, who place violence-reduction teams in crisis situations and militarized areas around the world at the invitation of local peace and human rights workers. His decision to join the group led to his kidnapping in Iraq. He lives with his wife in England.