- Korean
- English
- Japanese
- Chinese
- French
- Spanish
|
|
| |
|
|
History
|
|
I. 1958 - 1961, The Early Years - the Tent Church
The founding of the Yoido Full Gospel Church can be dated back to May 18, 1958, when the first worship
service was held with the attendance of Pastor Cho Yonggi and Pastor Choi Jashil, in the living
room of Pastor Choi Jashil. The first service was more a home worship service than what many
conceive as a Sunday worship service.
On the morning of the first service, Pastor Choi Jashil put
together a pulpit by covering an apple box with a cloth, and went around the neighborhood
announcing the service to be held. However, her efforts were in vain as the first service was
attended by, other than Pastor Cho Yonggi and Pastor Choi Jashil, three of Pastor Choi Jashil's
children and an elderly woman who had come in to escape being drenched by the rain.
About a month after that fateful day, Pastor Cho Yonggi and Pastor Choi Jashil happened
to hear of a woman who had been paralyzed for the past seven years. This woman had suffered
from paralysis during the birth of her son seven years earlier, and had never been able to stand on
her own since then.
The moment the two pastors entered her residence, their lungs were filled with foul odor making it
difficult for them to breathe. The children were uncared for and filthy beyond belief. Pastor Choi
Jashil immediately embarked on washing and cleaning the woman and her children with water.
Then with Pastor Cho Yonggi, they placed their hands on top of the woman and began praying in
tongues. Pastor Cho Yonggi shouted from the top of his voice, "In the name of Jesus, you shall
overcome your paralysis." After several days of prayer and spiritual warfare, a miracle took place.
The woman began grabbing on to the wall and slowly began to stand. Then, ever so slowly and
carefully, she kicked up her feet and began to walk step by step. That day she was completely
healed of her paralysis and began to take an interest in the church.
Such sweat-filled prayers and unwavering dedication of the two pastors began to bear fruit and the
membership of the church increased to 50 at which time Pastor Choi Jashil's living
room became no longer adequate to contain the worshippers. As a solution, a tent was pitched in
the front yard of Pastor Choi Jashil's house, and with empty rice sacks serving as flooring,
worship services were held. As time passed, the membership in the tent-church continued to grow,
necessitating bigger tents to be pitched to accommodate the growth, all funded by the meager
offerings of the congregation who mainly consisted of those who were in need themselves.
Beginning in the living room of Pastor Choi Jashil, the church experienced phenomenal growth as
the work of the Holy Spirit was manifested in the church since the pitching of the first tent, making The
first tent church symbolic of the now Yoido Full Gospel Church.
As many members of the congregation were healed through the power of the Holy Spirit and
many others found solace and solutions to their problems, the church grew day by day. A paralytic
patient for seven years recovered from the paralysis, and a shaman priestess repented of her sin and
accepted Christ as Saviour. Many suffering illnesses were healed as they experienced the great
power of the Holy Spirit. There were even thugs_members of local gangs, who repented and
turned their lives toward God, becoming His servants. Day by day, the church grew.
In the 1950's however, especially toward the close of the decade, Korea's situation, both
economically and politically, was not rosy by any means. It was not long after the Korean War and
there were many suffering poverty and chaos from the war's aftermath. Pastor Cho Yonggi was
no exception. It was not uncommon for Pastor Cho Yonggi to satisfy his hunger with nothing
other than three meals of porridge given him by an American evangelist. He also battled poverty
along with the members of his congregation. In such desperate times, Pastor Cho Yonggi called
out to God for messages appropriate for such harsh reality.
One day as he was reading the Bible, he heard the voice of the Holy Spirit and the message of
the Three-Fold Blessing (the blessing of the Spirit, the soul and the body). Filled with confidence
and certainty, he delivered the message of faith which led the congregation to positive, creative
and productive lives. His messages provided faith, hope and confidence to those suffering from
despair and hopelessness. The promise of God driven by his intense faith in God, led the
church to experience incredible growth in three years.
With the dawning of the new year, 1961, Pastor Cho Yonggi and Pastor Choi Jashil were filled
with exuberance and hope for the new year. By then, the church had 1,000 registered members
with 600 of them attending on Sundays.
Then the unexpected happened. Pastor Cho Yonggi received a draft notice from the army
requiring him to honor mandatory service. This was a devastating blow to Pastor Cho Yonggi,
as he had thought he would be exempt due to his ill health. It seemed as though all the plans
he had made for the church crumbled much like a tower of sand under the weight of the draft
notice. Pastor Cho Yonggi and Pastor Choi Jashil began fasting and praying everyneght for the will of God.
About two or three days prior to the day of his enlistment, an unexpected visitor came to the
church from Pusan, an American evangelist, Pastor J. W. Hurston. He told them he was irresistibly
drawn by the voice of the Holy Spirit every time he prayed to visit the tent church. God had
brought him from hundreds of kilometers away, a Spirit-filled servant of God who would keep lit the
fire of the Holy Spirit during Pastor Cho Yonggi's absence.
Having been comforted, Pastor Cho Yonggi entered into the army. After two months of
boot camp, Pastor Cho Yonggi was fortunately assigned to an American army base near Seoul,
allowing him to participate in the ministry of his church. However, in the Spring of 1961,
as Pastor Cho Yonggi was baptizing the members of the church, the accumulation of overwork
and exhaustion caused him to collapse in the middle of the service.
|
|
 |
|
Dr. David Yonggi Cho
Biography