Pastor David Yonggi Cho, Seoul, south Korea

Another of God’s Generals goes home!

By Helen Jesze, 18^th September 2021

“Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Phil. 4:20 KJV

In January 2008, some of our family members who had been living and working several years in Auckland, New Zealand, very kindly bought us tickets to go and spend three months with them, and to get to know our grandchildren, whom we had never seen! They were five and three years old at the time. This was wonderful news and in May we flew from Frankfurt on Korean Airlines, so that on the way back, we could stop some days in Korea, and visit Pastor David Yonggi Cho and Yoido Full Gospel Church. We had got to know Pastor Cho when George had been asked to interpret for the German group at a French Assemblies of God conference in Strasbourg. He invited George to have breakfast with him and took interest in his ministry. Pastor Cho later wrote the Foreword for our book Winning over Worry, and we met him several times on his visits to Germany.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in New Zealand with the family, also ministering in Aglow groups and churches, but all too soon it was time to say Goodbye and board the plane. We arrived in Seoul, south Korea on a Friday night in July 2008, and were driven to the church by the son of George’s distant relative, who was in charge of the Financing Dept for Mercedes in Seoul, and stayed that night near the church. On Saturday we travelled to the Prayer Mountain, where we were going to stay. It was monsoon time with heavy rainfalls and humidity.

The vision of the Prayer Mountain had been given to Pastor Jasil Choi, Mrs. Cho’s mother. People were constantly coming and going, either to the individual Gethsemane Prayer Grottos or to the larger meetings in one of the chapels. When we woke in the night we could hear them still praying, loud earnest crying out to God. After the last service many slept on thin mats on the chapel floor until the next one. At 5am the bell from the church tower was rung, calling the people to prayer. “Amen” and “Hallelujah” were the only words we could understand, but the presence of the Lord was tangible in the meeting we attended.

On Sunday morning we drove to Seoul for the service, where a secretary was waiting to hurry us in. We were swept along on the human tide of thousands of worshippers up the ramps to the Foreigners’ Section where we could have earphones and translation into English. Several years before, George had had a dream, where he saw us sitting in a balcony in this church. An usher came running, “Come here! We have reserved seats for you!” When he saw the seats, George realised this was the very place he had seen in his dream! It was the 1 pm. service (there were 7 services every Sunday) and Pastor Cho preached under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

On Tuesday we had a short interview with Pastor Cho. When he heard we were at the Prayer Mountain, he cried. “Too far! Too far! You will stay in Lexington Hotel here, and on Friday you must preach for us, George!” Soon we had fetched our luggage and booked in. All expenses were kindly paid for us. In the following week we got to know some of the other pastors and church members. We did not have time to visit all of the buildings and facilities they had there, a hospital, daily newspaper, Bible Seminaries – to name a few.

How did this all start in a land decimated by the Japanese and Korean wars, with millions homeless? Yonggi Cho had been a 17 year old Buddhist Korean boy, in bed with Tuberculosis, waiting for Death. One day he was visited by a Christian schoolgirl. This was against their culture for a woman to come into his bedroom, and against his religion, when she began to read aloud out of her New Testament. Then she prayed for his salvation, with tears streaming down her face. Yonggi was furious! He shouted, cursed and spat at her, but he was too weak to throw her out. After coming several times, one day she said, “This is the last time I will come to you. I am leaving you my New Testament!” She laid it down on the bed and left the room.

Curiosity about this Book and why a girl who did not know him should be so concerned for his welfare caused Yonggi to start reading. The Lord Jesus revealed himself to this young man. He was soon saved, baptised in the Holy Spirit and healed of his sickness! He went to Bible College where he met Mrs Jasil Choi, then on graduation, together they started visiting and ministering to the poor. They started the church with 5 members in an old army tent, with more frogs coming to the meeting than people! The tent was full of holes and there were many privations. War had taken all the people had. Fasting was a necessity for often they had no food anyway!

Through much suffering and many miracles of God, when we were there, Yoido Full Gospel Church now had 750,000 members. Pastor Cho always said: “The Holy Spirit is my Senior Partner!” He had retired in May 2008 but was still active in ministry, and also with his new organisation “Spreading Love and Happiness”, which helped elderly, sick, handicapped and needy people. They had now started to build a hospital in Communist North Korea. The new Senior Pastor was Rev. Young Hoon Lee, a disciple of Pastor Cho and we were able to spend some time with him and hear some of the things the Lord had laid on his heart.

On Friday evening, George and I sat on the platform in the big church. What a sight met our eyes, and how tremendous to see the huge crowd praising God with all of their hearts. They sat on benches, squashed together like sardines! We were told there were up to 20,000 people present; it was impossible to count. The service was beamed out to adjoining halls and daughter churches in other parts of the country, then by their own satellite to USA, Japan, China and other countries.

It was a great joy and honour for George to preach. His subject was “The Storms of Life”. Pastor Kim, his interpreter said: “On Friday nights, the people are often tired after their week’s work, but tonight there was no danger of them falling asleep. They enjoyed your British humour too much!” We were also told the people enjoyed hearing how George and I met and about ministry as husband and wife, which was normally never preached. We were given a DVD of the service, also of the amazing celebrations in Jamsil Stadium, celebrating Pastor Cho’s 50 years of ministry and the Yoido Full Gospel Church. We also had the privilege to spend some time with Mrs. Cho, whom we had not met before. She said that without the help of the Holy Spirit it would never have been possible to go through all those difficulties, but God was always faithful to her and her husband. She was the head of their university, a preacher, author and a concert pianist.

Now this couple have gone to meet their Saviour, Mrs Cho earlier this year, and Pastor Cho on 14th September 2021. We thank God for their lives and ministry to so many around the globe. Yet none of this would have happened, if that young girl had not been obedient to the Holy Spirit, and visited Yonggi on his sickbed.

So let’s be encouraged today that if we bring our small “loaves and fishes” to Jesus, following his leading, he can multiply them to feed multitudes. Whether the task he asks of us seems small and insignificant, or great and impossible to our eyes, every act of obedience will bring its reward and give glory to our Heavenly Father!