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| David Yonggi Cho, right, and Lee Young-hoon, two of the most influential Christian leaders in Korea and senior pastors of the Yoido Full Gospel Church, smile during a recent interview at the church office in Seoul. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Jung Min-ho
The challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic is not only medical but also profoundly spiritual.
With many people around the world suffering from the disease, some may wonder: where is God's love in this?
David Yonggi Cho and Lee Young-hoon, two of the most influential Christian leaders in Korea and senior pastors of the Yoido Full Gospel Church, do not know the answer. However, they say, what they know for sure is that "God will bring good out of this difficult time."
For the first time in its 62-year history, the church ― the country's largest with more than half a million members ― has closed buildings over the past month to help contain the virus and suspended plans for all international events this year.
But Cho and Lee remain hopeful for the future and their visions during and after this plight. They encourage their members and other Christians to stay positive and take it as an opportunity to find and help people in need "as we all go through this together."
"Christianity is the religion of love and hope," Lee said. "I believe we should talk about hope and dreams even ― and especially ― in most difficult times. The dark night of the coronavirus will end and the sun will certainly rise."
The following are the questions and answers from a recent interview with Cho and Lee.
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Question: What made you decide to close church buildings?
Lee: First and foremost, we thought it was important to protect our members and everyone else who may contact them outside our church. It was a very difficult but necessary decision.
Giving sermons in the empty hall (for online services) have made me realize how important and precious it is to worship together in one place. Many church members have also told me they could not wait for the next worship together.
Q: How have the church members reacted to the shift to online services?
Lee: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the number of visitors to our website (for Wednesday, Friday and Sunday services) has soared. The shift to online has been accelerated by the crisis and will likely remain so even after it is all over. Is this a good thing? We do not know. But for now, we are grateful that we have the system. The situation would have been even worse if the pandemic had occurred 10 years ago.
Our immediate concern is missionaries who are now in dire situations as countries around the world restrict their borders. We are trying to find ways to help them.
Q: What has your church done for the community so far?
Lee: On March 3, we donated 1 billion won ($820,000) to support virus containment efforts and medical services in Daegu, the country's worst-hit city. We have also allocated 1.2 billion won to help 2,000 small churches that are struggling to pay their rents.
Cho: There were many struggling churches even before the pandemic, which has aggravated the situation. I admire Lee's leadership and compassion for those in need.
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| Church officials wearing face masks attend an online worship service in the main hall of the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul on March 15. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the church has shifted to online services to help curb the spread of the disease. Korea Times file |
Q: Korea's economy has taken a massive hit. Given that the crisis is affecting the whole world, it may take a long time to recover. How should we respond?
Cho: Since the end of the Korean War (1950-53), the generation of baby boomers, including myself, have gone through many crises and overcame them all. Even then, I was grateful for what I had and believed there would be a better future. That was the spirit we shared in the tent church where I worked as a young pastor 60 years ago.
We should give thanks to all circumstances. If we all play our parts as leaders and followers, I believe we will overcome this crisis like we did many times before.
Lee: If you think about Korea's development after the war, it is truly amazing how we, as a country with GDP per capita of $67, have come this far (to more than $30,000). We do not need to be afraid. The economic situation may get worse, but we have seen worse and have the experience of building our country from scratch. We know we can pull it off again if we have to.
In fact, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Korean detection kit firms have received the global spotlight. The idea of drive-through testing, which was started in Korea, has also been adopted by many other countries. I'm glad that Korea played such an important role and hope it does more for the world.
Q: Throughout history, mankind has gone through devastating pandemics. From the biblical perspective, how do you view such events?
Cho: When the Black Death emerged and killed one third of Europe's population in the 14th century, many people asked where God was. But Europe became stronger after overcoming the plague.
God allows such events for the reasons we cannot see. In times like this, it is critical for us to keep our faith that He has good intentions and that He would give us what may seem bad at the moment but will turn out to be good eventually.
Q: Are there any particular Bible verses that you meditate on these days?
Cho: 3 John 2 says: "Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well." Fundamentally, God wants us to be healthy, spiritually and physically. He also wants to give us hope. Sometimes God wants us to change, which often comes with pain.
Lee: Romans 8:28 says: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." In all things, including this crisis, I believe God works for the good.
Q: What do you think of Korea's response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Lee: All in all, Korea is doing well in terms of working together to battle the virus. I think two groups of people have particularly shone through the crisis: doctors and deliverymen. While doctors try their best to save lives and prevent the spread of the virus, deliverymen risk their health to bring daily necessities to the doorsteps of the people, which has prevented panic buying ― a serious issue that has occurred in almost all infected countries but Korea.
Q: Some churches have been criticized for refusing to follow COVID-19 guidelines.
Lee: I think it is critical to comply with government guidelines to curb the spread of the virus and to protect the public. That's why our church made an early decision to suspend services within the buildings and I believe all churches should be keen to protect the public safety.
Nevertheless, I'd like to point out that the government made a mistake by focusing too much on preventing church gatherings while ignoring other crowded places such as pubs and clubs during the initial phase of its response.
It was also an error to call the Shincheonji group "a church," a term that confused many with real churches that tried to comply with the government. As a result, many churches unfairly became a target for criticism, which was disheartening and unhelpful for fighting the disease.
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| The main building of the Yoido Full Gospel Church / Korea Times file |
Q: What are the visions of Yoido Full Gospel Church during and after the COVID-19 crisis?
Lee: One of our visions is to build a general hospital in North Korea. We mapped out the plan in 2007 and top North Korean officials approved it. But it has been halted as tensions started to rise between two sides later.
We have not given it up. More recently, North Korea invited us to build hospitals in its 240 administrative districts, including Pyongyang. As soon as the sanctions are lifted, we'd like to start working on it.
We also have a long-term vision of being more attentive to people's needs, especially as we go through the COVID-19 crisis together.
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| This is how the Yoido Full Gospel Church once looked. This photo, taken in 1959, shows the expanded version of the 'tent church' that Cho set up in 1958. In 20 years, the church grew into the largest congregation in Korea with more than 200,000 members. Courtesy of Yoido Full Gospel Church |
Q: Can you tell me more about how you started your spiritual journey?
Cho: At 17, I suffered from a lung disease, which almost killed me. I prayed for recovery and God responded by healing me, an event that changed my life forever. In 1958, I set up a tent in northwestern Seoul and served as a pastor for the next 50 years.
Lee: My family left North Korea before the war to settle in Seoul. Years later, my father went to Cho's church and was touched by his message and brought his family there later. Growing up, I listened to his sermons. It is such a blessing that now I serve in that church.
