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This Week in AG History —September 7, 1969
By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 08 September 2022
David (Paul) Yonggi Cho (1936-2021) was a Korean Assemblies of God (AG) pastor, evangelist, author, church planter, and international church growth pioneer. Starting from a small tent in an impoverished neighborhood outside Seoul, his congregation grew exponentially until it became the largest church in the world, with three quarters of a million members.
Cho was born into a Buddhist family in Pusan but found that the religion of his ancestors did not meet the need for peace, joy, and love within him. When war came to Korea during his teenage years, money and food were so scarce that only one small meal a day was common. In 1953, the malnutrition and unsanitary conditions led to an enlarged heart, and tuberculosis invaded his lungs. Sent home to die at the age of 17, Cho’s father prayed to Buddha, but the young man had little confidence in his father’s prayers, having never seen them answered.
A young woman came to visit the Cho home one day and asked to tell the dying teen about Jesus. Cho ordered her out of the house, but she returned for several days each day praying for him, despite his cursing and intimidation. On the fifth day, Cho began to cry and said that he wanted to know this Jesus that brought her to his home. She left her Bible with him and instructed him to read the story of Jesus in the New Testament gospels. In his weakened state, he walked to an American mission and responded to the call to accept Christ.
His family renounced him as an “unholy Christian dog,” but an American missionary, Louis Richards, took him into his home and began to disciple the dying man and encouraged him to look to Jesus for healing. One night in prayer, Cho had a vision of Christ that overwhelmed him with love for the God of his new faith, and this love bubbled up through his mouth and he began to speak in another language. This frightened him until the missionary explained that this phenomenon was biblical and many others had also experienced “speaking in tongues.” While there were still effects in his body from weakness, the doctor soon noted that his lungs no longer showed signs of tuberculosis and his heart was returned to its normal size.
Cho enrolled in the Full Gospel Bible School in 1954, and in 1958 he and his future mother-in-law, Jashil Choi, put up a tent in a war-torn, poverty-stricken area outside of Seoul. There were no seats, only straw mats strewn on the ground, but Choi began to pray and Cho began to preach. On Sunday morning, he would go to the top of the hill and cry out over the rooftops, “It’s time for church, Come to church!”
The people responded. In three years, the church needed to move to a 1,500-seat auditorium in the Sodaemun area. The growth happened so quickly and the work of the ministry so exhausting, that the young pastor experienced a breakdown in 1964 while trying to juggle the demands of multiple services a day. Realizing he could not manage the ministry alone, he adopted Jethro’s advice to Moses in Exodus 18 and divided the membership into geographical districts and assigned workers as pastors over these flocks. By 1982, there were 12 districts, each divided into 10 to 17 sections, with 157 full-time ministers over these “cell groups.”
In 1968, the church purchased property in Osanri, 45 minutes north of Seoul, for a church cemetery. However, it quickly became a place of life rather than death. Sister Choi, the associate pastor, began making nightly trips to Osanri to pray. From that time, more and more joined her until “Prayer Mountain” became a place of prayer for thousands, eventually containing hundreds of “prayer caves” to provide for secluded times of intense praying.
In the Sept. 7, 1969, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, Cordas C. Burnett, president of Bethany Bible College (Santa Cruz, California), reported on his trip to Seoul to participate in the groundbreaking of a new 10,000-seat church building in the Yoido area. Burnett spoke for the church during the week between Palm Sunday and Easter of 1969. He reported preaching for 27 services in that week to approximately 65,000 people. “Although we soon lost count, we know of at least 500 who were converted and 600 who were filled with the Holy Spirit, not to mention the hundreds who testified of being healed.”
Fluent in English, Japanese, and Korean, Cho broadcast sermons on radio and television and soon became internationally known. The church’s welfare programs, senior living centers, vocational training, and financial help for medically needy people brought political influence and great respect throughout South Korea. Reports from 1981 showed the church growing at a rate of 10,000 people per month. Of that number seven out of 10 were accompanied to church by their neighborhood cell group leader.
Cho had significant influence worldwide. He taught that prayer, lay-led small groups, biblical teaching, and evangelism are essential for spiritual and numerical growth. As chairman of the World AG Fellowship from 1992 to 2000, Cho encouraged AG national superintendents to believe God for vision that would see millions converted, Spirit-filled, and living a life of overcoming victory.
Upon Cho’s retirement in 2008, Yoido Full Gospel Church’s membership approached 1,000,000 members with almost 700 pastors. The sickly young man who cursed at the visiting female evangelist had written more than 100 books on the Christian faith and left an indelible mark upon the entire Korean nation and on the broader Pentecostal movement.
Read Cordas Burnett’s report, “We Saw Revival in Seoul, Korea” on page 8 of the Sept. 7, 1969, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.
Also featured in this issue:
• “Homes for Men in the Stars” by Raymond Cox
• “One Half Inch from Death” by David Atherto
Click here to read this issue now.
Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.
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Anonymous
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Carolyn Watts
Vision – The Army of God
At the beginning of October 1995 God gave me a vision of the Army of God. I had been to a Rodney Howard-Browne Revival meeting in which the presence of God was awesome! After leaving the meeting the presence of God was still strong, and I just kept praising Jesus the whole time. When I was in my room at home the room suddenly began to fade out until all I could see was a vision of the Army of God.
As far as my eyes could see into the distance, I could see the Army of God marching in pairs through a city, marching in unity to the beat of a drum. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, shone with the glory of God and were full of joy! Then the Spirit of God focused on the man who was at the front of the Army. He was a very tall, strong looking man with shoulder length wavy hair and ruddy complexion. He like all the others had on the armor of God, the helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, loins girded with truth, sandals of the gospel of peace, shield of faith and sword of the Holy Spirit. The Army was marching from one battle victorious marching into another battle knowing they were already victorious! They were advancing the Kingdom of God. They were going into enemy territory and taking back what the enemy had stolen! There was a crowd watching and cheering like it was a victory parade.
I felt that God was telling me to put this picture of the Army of God into print so that all Christians could see a picture of who they really are in Christ Jesus. A mighty Army marching, shining with the glory of God and victorious! The Holy Spirit also gave me these words to put at the bottom of the print.
“The Army of God – from strength unto strength, victory unto victory, glory unto glory!”
Several months later I was thinking about this vision and began to ask the Lord some questions. I wanted to understand what was keeping the Army walking in unity and why to the beat of a drum? I believe the Holy Spirit revealed to me that the beat of the drum was the leading or unction of the Holy Spirit. The Army of God was sensitive to the Holy Spirit and his gentle prompting, leading and teaching. Also, that they were walking in the fruit of the Spirit therefore in unity.
I also asked the Lord who was the first person at the front of the Army which the Holy Spirit focused on? I again believe the Holy Spirit revealed this person was the Apostle Peter. On the day of Pentecost Peter spoke out about what was happening to the followers of Jesus who had been filled with the Holy Spirit and were all speaking in other tongues. That day Peter preached the gospel message and led over three thousand people to Christ. (Acts 2:1-47). “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
I also believe that the Holy Spirit was showing me that the Army of God each had a revelation of what it really meant to be saved and that the Armor of God was a key to this. The helmet of salvation was like having a revelation of what was bought for them by the blood of Jesus and that it is only by the blood of Jesus, a free gift. They also had a renewed mind. The breastplate of righteousness was having a revelation that the blood of Jesus has made them righteous and as white as snow. Loins girded with truth was having a revelation of the truth of God on the inside so that they would not believe the lies of the devil. The sandals of the Gospel of peace, was having a revelation of the Gospel message and resting in their salvation. The shield of faith was having a revelation of our Lord Jesus and what he has done for us and who he is. The sword of the Holy Spirit was being full of a revelation of the word of God and using it. The most significant thing about the Armor of God is that every piece points to Christ Jesus. I believe this is part of what it means by putting on Christ Jesus and that the only way we can receive this kind of revelation is through the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 6:10-19).
I was born again in January 1994. Pastors from our Church in Brisbane, Australia travelled to Toronto Airport Church and caught the fire, “The Toronto Blessing” and bought it back to our Church. The result was glorious! There were so many salvations, healings and deliverances. But the most significant result of this sovereign move of God was the release or outpouring of the Father heart of God for his children. The love of God the Father through the mighty and precious presence of his Son Jesus! It was life changing for so many! There was also such a liberty of the Holy Spirit in the worship and the services. It was glorious!
Please keep in mind when reading this vision that I was still a relatively new Christian at the time the Holy Spirit gave me this vision, and I wrote it down on paper. In saying that thought this is exactly what the Holy Spirit impressed on my heart at that time.
I also sense it is relevant to share that at the time the Holy Spirit gave me this vision I was seeking the Lord with my whole heart! I would race home from work and go into my room where I was living with my parents at that time. I would read the word, worship and pray. The presence of the Lord would come so strongly into my room that I would end up prostrate before the Lord not being able to utter a word! The presence and infilling power of the Holy Spirit would come into my room so strongly that I felt like my body was going to come apart from the inside out! This is the atmosphere the Holy Spirit released this vision into.
Please feel free to share this vision as it is for the whole body of Christ!