Pastor Yonggi Cho dies at 85

Popular South Korean pastor, David Yonggi Cho, has passed on at the age of 85.

This was announced via his official Facebook page on Tuesday.

The announcement read, “Dr David Yonggi Cho has gone to be with Jesus. At the age of 85 (1936-2021).

“David Yonggi Cho (born 14 February 1936 as Paul Yungi Cho) is a South Korean Christian minister.

“With his mother-in-law Choi Ja-shil, he is cofounder of the Yoido Full Gospel Church (Assemblies of God), the world’s largest congregation.

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“You are forever in our hearts, we thank God for your life which was lived in total submission to God.

“Let’s support his family with prayers. Continue to rest in the bosom of the Lord, God’s general.”

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Though the reason and time of death were not disclosed in the notification, a post from a prominent Singapore preacher, Kong Hee, revealed that Cho died on Tuesday morning.“At 7:13 a.m.

“This morning, my pastor and spiritual father, Dr David Yonggi Cho (1936-2021), just went home to the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the post said. Dr. Cho, I adore you.”

Moreso, apopular Ghanian pastor, Dag Heward-Mills, also shared a lengthy tribute to Cho.

A Part of the tribute reads, “Twenty-five years ago, the Lord led me to zero in on Dr. Yonggi Cho and caused me to learn from him and get close to him.

“Perhaps, that was one of the most important decisions of my life as a pastor.

“I had decided to become close to the pastor of the largest church in the world after God showed me his ministry to copy and follow. That association has affected me in more ways than I can think.”

Pastor David Younggi Cho was brought up as a Buddhist. He became critically ill from tuberculosis when he was 17 years old.

He recovered and became a Christian after crediting his healing to the God of Christianity.

He graduated from Seoul’s Full Gospel Theological Seminary (now Hansei University), which was run by the Pentecostal Assemblies of God denomination, in 1958, and established a tent church on a mountainside outside the city.

As a result of the Korean War, many Koreans were homeless and jobless at the time. Cho’s upbeat message and claims of faith healings drew a large number of the unhappy to his church.

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Cho relocated his church, first to downtown Seoul, and then, in 1973, to a new sanctuary on the city’s Yoido Island.

Cho, who spoke English and Japanese fluently, preached the Gospel in sermons broadcast on television and radio in South Korea, the United States, Japan, and other countries.

Yoido Full Gospel Church had over 200,000 members by 1981, and by the first decade of the twenty-first century, it had approximately 1,000,000 worshippers and had sent over 700 missionaries to hundreds of congregations around the world.

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Cho resigned as senior pastor of YFGC in 2008. Six years later, he was found guilty of stealing $12 million (US) from the church.

He received a three-year suspended sentence and a roughly $5 million fine. One of his sons was also convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.

Pastor Yonggi Cho giant achievements in ministry was also felt in Nigeria. Many Nigerian pastors have always quoted lines from him books.

Pastor David Oyedepo of Living faith Church world wide, had admitted that he started the winners homecell system after the order of Yonggi Cho’s Ministry.

No doubt, his impact would remain felt globally for a long time to come.