Why South Korea is so distinctively Christian

The Economist ^ | 08/21/2014

SOUTH KOREA, a dynamo of growth, is also a fire with faith. This week Pope Francis will spend five days there, for Asian Youth Day and to beatify 124 early martyrs. About 5.4m of South Korea’s 50m people are Roman Catholics. Perhaps 9m more are Protestants, of many stripes.

Yoido Full Gospel Church’s 1m members form the largest Pentecostal congregation on Earth. Belief’s farther shores include the Unification Church, soon to mark the anniversary of its founder Sun-myung Moon’s “ascension”.

The late Yoo Byung-eun, the shifty and versatile tycoon behind the ferry Sewol which sank in April, killing 304 mostly teenage passengers, had also founded his own sect (and the website God.com, now in other hands); its followers hid him during Korea’s largest-ever police man-hunt.

All this is particularly striking, because Asia is mostly stony ground for Christianity. Spanish rule left the Philippines strongly Catholic, but Korea is less simple.

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6 Ways to Prevent an Embarrassing Ministry Scandal

Is the next generation prepared to avoid ministry scandals2/26/2014 J. Lee Grady

The recent sentencing of Dr. Yonggi Cho of South Korea is a reminder that we need a fresh commitment to integrity.

I was devastated to learn last week that South Korean megachurch pastor David Yonggi Cho was found guilty of embezzling $12 million in church funds. I was aware that the famous hero of faith was struggling with problems at his massive congregation, Yoido Full Gospel Church, which is in Seoul. Cho’s 56-year effort to build what is now the world’s largest church made him one of the most respected spiritual fathers in the Pentecostal movement.

Some American leaders knew that Cho’s problems were linked to his son Cho Hee-jun, who was also convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for his role in an elaborate stock scheme that involved millions of dollars of church money. Hee-jun was immediately jailed. Thankfully, the elder Cho will not have to serve his prison sentence (it was suspended), but he will have to pay a $4.7 million fine.

I still respect Dr. Cho. A former Buddhist, he had a dramatic conversion to Jesus and was used by the Holy Spirit to bring the gospel to a nation that for centuries was closed to Christianity. Cho remains a legend. But the events of last week serve to remind us that even the greatest spiritual giants have feet of clay, and even the biggest ministries can fall into scandal if principles of integrity are not practiced.

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This Pastor Made a Box for Unwanted Babies, and You’ll Praise God for What Happened

This Pastor Made a Box for Unwanted BabiesBy Eric Corpus – January 8, 2014

Every year, hundreds of unwanted babies are abandoned on the streets of Seoul, South Korea. To do something about the crisis, Pastor Lee Jong-rak at the Jusarang Orphanage created the Baby Box.

The Baby Box is a drop box on the side of the orphanage where someone can safely leave an unwanted infant. Lined with blankets, the box is heated to keep the baby warm. When an infant is placed in the box, an alarm alerts a staff member to bring the baby inside.

The culture in South Korea places heavy value on physical perfection, so many of the infants left in the Baby Box were born with disabilities, including deafness, blindness, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome.

Since 1998, the orphanage has taken in dozens of children, and raised and loved them. That’s dozens of miraculous stories of faith and love, dozens of tragedies averted.

“One of the mothers told me that she had poison to kill both herself and her baby,” Lee said. “So I told her, ‘Don’t do that. Come here with your baby.'”

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Korean pastor fighting epidemic of abandoned babies with anonymous ‘Baby Box’

Life Site ^ | Natalie N. Brumfield – Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Lee Jong-rak is a Korean pastor in South Korea. A simple man with a huge purpose, Pastor Jong-rak saw a devastating problem. He thought of a way he could change it, and he became a prophetic voice to his society. His story is a story of faith. A story of hope. A story of love. And when you hear this heroic tale, you just may never be the same.

Lee Jong-rak is the creator of the Baby Box. His Baby Box is the first and only box in Korea that is for collecting abandoned babies who are physically or mentally handicapped or are just unwanted by their mothers.

Hundreds of unwanted babies are abandoned on the side of the street in South Korea every year. Jong-rak knew he needed to set up a way to save the lives of these precious babies. He built a drop box on the side of his home with a humble sign reading, “Place to leave babies.”

The inside of the box contains a thick towel covering the bottom, and lights and heating to keep the baby comfortable. A bell rings when someone puts a baby in the box, then Jong-rak, his wife, or staff associates come to immediately move the baby inside. His aim was to provide a life-giving alternative for desperate mothers in his city of Seoul. He even admits that he didn’t really expect that babies would come in– He was mistaken. The babies came. In the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, some with notes, some without a word, and only a very few mothers actually spoke to him face-to-face.

Pastor Jong-rak stated that one of the mothers said she “had poison to kill both herself and her baby.” He responded, “Don’t do that. Come here with your baby.” One single mother left this heart-wrenching note with her baby. The english translation follows.

“My baby! Mom is so sorry. I am so sorry to make this decision. My son! I hope you to meet great parents, and I am very, very sorry . I don’t deserve to say a word. Sorry, sorry, and I love you my son. Mom loves you more than anything else. I leave you here because I don’t know who your father is. I used to think about something bad, but I guess this box is safer for you. That’s why I decided to leave you here. My son, Please forgive me.”

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Korean pastor’s books are a main draw at the New Delhi World Book Fair

Friday, March 2, 2012 – ASSIST News Service 

NEW DELHI, INDIA (ANS) — The 20th World Book Fair in New Delhi, the capital of India, began on Saturday with the Honorable Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal, who inaugurated the nine-day book fair, being held Feb 25-March 4, at the Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

Organized biennially by the National Book Trust (NBT), India, a hundred years of Indian Cinema is the focus at the World Book Fair this year.

The fair is also celebrating two important events: 150 years of Rabindranath Tagore with a display of books on and by Tagore and 100 years of Delhi as the capital of the country.

There are 1300 exhibitors, including 30 foreign exhibitors from foreign countries like South Korea, Germany, France, Spain, Belarus, Iran, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, UAE, China, Thailand and United Kingdom and international bodies like WHO, UNESCO and World Bank.

The books of Korean evangelical author Dr. Jaerock Lee, Senior Pastor of the Manmin Central Church in Seoul, South Korea including “Heaven”, “Hell” and “The Message of the Cross” and were featured and impressed many visitors. (more…)

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Amazing Church Growth in South Korea

Dan Wooding : Oct 12, 2011 : Assist News

“We have those at our church who are preparing to take the Gospel into North Korea which I believe will soon open up, but possibly just for a short time. These people realize that the door may not be open for long and they are willing to lay down their lives—become martyrs—for Jesus Christ.” -Dr. Jaerock Lee

(Seoul, South Korea)—The church began in 1982 with 13 members and, even by Korean standards, it has experienced amazing growth.

Manmin—it means “all people”—Central Church in Seoul, has grown to 100,000 members and has over 9,000 branch churches around the world, two television networks (which will soon merge) and a full-time professional orchestra.

This past weekend, members celebrated the 29th anniversary of the church.

The various anniversary celebrations began with an almost “all-night service” on Friday, October 7, 2011, which started at 11:00 PM and finished at 4:00 AM the next morning, with a short break part way through.

It featured more than 400 singers, colorful dancers and musicians plus the Nissi Orchestra and a large church choir who, between them, produced a dazzling display of multi-media worship presentations whose productions standards were the highest I have ever seen in a church anywhere in the world.

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Kangaroo Island in SA Catches the Fire of the Holy Spirit!

Kangaroo Island Catches the Fire of Holy Spirit!Dear family & friends in Christ,

So much has happened right across our nation over the last weekend, but amongst it all, we thank our Lord Jesus Christ for His powerful hand at work in our nation of Australia!

Although we are experiencing only a little of God’s manifest presence right now in the Body of Christ and Nation of Australia, we are sure we will soon experience a mighty spiritual outpouring of His Holy Spirit throughout our Great South Land with a supernatural flood of Living Water from Heaven’s Throne Room, washing and cleansing our Nation, preparing her for the soon coming of our Bridegroom Saviour, Lord, Judge, and King!

Pr Daniel ministered on the weekend gone by on Kangaroo Island in South Australia in revival meetings which were organised by the Uniting Church leadership on the island. Many Churches and Pastors from the island united as one to seek the Father’s heart for our nation as the Spirit of God moved most powerfully touching many lives and healing many others. The people gathered were absolutely blessed and were set on fire for Jesus!

Pr Daniel stated, ‘I am so glad to see the body of Christ unite as one to seek the Father’s heart. Particularly, I was very excited to see the 2 Uniting Church Ministers, both ladies, so much on fire for Jesus. They even prophesied over me and challenged me to keep standing for Jesus. I was wondering to myself, is this really happening? Uniting Church Ministers praying in tongues and prophesying. Well, glory to God there are many Uniting Church Leaders who have refused to compromise their stand for Jesus. They are under constant attack, but praise God they are part of the remnant rising up to take a stand for Jesus. I believe that the Lord is rising up His remnant from every denomination as the Kingdom of God. I thank the Lord for the opportunity he has given me as I travel all over Australia to work with the body of Christ, and not just one particular denomination. They are a faceless and nameless people who I believe will rise up and lead an end-time revival move of God’s Holy Spirit!”

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TEN-DAY PRAYER GUIDE FOR THE GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER 13-23 MAY 2010

Global Day of Prayer on Pentecost Sunday 23rd May AUSTRALIAN  PRAYER  NETWORK  NEWSLETTER

TEN DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE WORLD AND GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER

 

The Global Day of Prayer is a call to Christians to unite in a day of  repentance and united prayer. On Pentecost Sunday 23 May 2010, Christians across the world will respond to the invitation of 2 Chronicles 7:14 to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways in order that He may fulfil His promise to hear our prayers, forgive our sin and heal our lands.

The Australian Prayer Network is coordinating prayer across Australia for this Global event. Preparation for the Global Day of Prayer begins on Ascension Day, 13th May. That is when Christians across the world will begin 10 days of prayer leading to Pentecost. On Pentecost Sunday 23rd May 2010, Christians in almost every country of the world will assemble to pray, many in small groups in homes, some in Churches, outdoor venues, and other public places.

The Global Day of Prayer is a call to encounter God with others so that He can change us and bring forth all that He desires among the nations. We are encouraged to Pray globally, Gather locally.

The following prayer points will serve as a guide to those wishing to participate in this global event. (more…)

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Korean President Lee Is Seen As A Man Of Faith

By Dan Wooding: Assist News/Baptist Press

Korean PresidentHe has been encouraged to have a time of prayer with President Bush and Laura Bush at their summit.

“Some say it is a new day in South Korea. After a landslide election in November, Myung-Bak Lee was sworn into office on February 19.”

So wrote Ann Lovell, a media worker based in Seoul with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board in a story for Baptist Press. She continued, “This has been good news for many of South Korea’s Christian leaders since Lee also is a member of the 70,000 member Somang Presbyterian Church in Seoul. One of the president’s chief advocates is Billy Kim, president of South Korea’s Far East Broadcasting Company and pastor of Suwon Central Baptist Church from 1960-2004. Kim, a former Baptist World Alliance president regarded as one of the world’s most influential Christian leaders, first earned international attention when he served as an interpreter for the 1973 Billy Graham crusade. (more…)

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New President-Elect of South Korea is an Outspoken, Committed Christian

By Teresa Neumann: Feb 7, 2008

President Elect - Lee Myungbak“God must have been so pleased with Lee’s outspoken endorsement of Him because the divine entity blessed Lee in his running for the presidency. Otherwise, how else can Lee—a person who attributes all matters of life to God’s divine providence—explain his victory?”

(Beijing)—The new president-elect of South Korea, Lee Myungbak, is a committed Christian. As mayor of Seoul in 2004, Myungbak declared: “I declare that the City of Seoul is a holy place governed by God; the citizens in Seoul are God’s people; the churches and Christians in Seoul are spiritual guards that protect the city…I now dedicate Seoul to the Lord. (more…)

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