30 May 2009, 10:30 am by Sarah Lim

On 20 May, a group of six City Harvest Church (CHC) staff travelled to South Korea to visit the world’s largest church — Yoido Full Gospel Church (YFGC). The five-day trip may have been short, but it was certainly impactful.

YFGC was founded by David Yonggi Cho and his mother-in-law, Choi Ja-shil in 1958, in a living room, with just six people. It has since grown exponentially to a congregation of about 830,000, making it the world’s largest church.

PHOTOS: Tan Kim Hock

The next day, they were invited to Hansei University, for a theological symposium. The University was founded in 1953 to nurture leaders in the Christian faith. Besides offering courses in Theology, humanities and social sciences courses are also available.

The theme of the symposium was on Dr Cho’s understanding of social salvation, which is the sharing of love and happiness to others.

Cho believes that when one loves his neighbor as himself, love will thus be extended to oneself, society and the nation. He added that it was something biblical and substantiated in the Bible (John 3:16).

“It was a really enriching experience to hear the professors from various universities espousing their views and writing theological papers in response to Cho’s understanding of social salvation,” shared Zone Supervisor Lee Yi Lun.

“I feel so encouraged and comforted in knowing that as we reach out to the lost and needy, we will surely be blessed by God,” she added.

The team also had the chance to have dinner with Dr Cho and his wife, Dr Kim Sung Hae, after the symposium. During the dinner, Cho shared about his trip to Siberia a few years ago, where 20,000 people, who have never heard the name of Jesus, got saved. Miracles took place — a man who was paralyzed from the neck down was healed and could walk by the end of the meeting.

As Cho had a burning desire to preach the gospel around the world, he did not take a single vacation throughout 50 years. To date, he has traveled and preached in 70 countries and more than 400 cities.

Cho’s dedication and love for God impacted one of the team members, Bobby Chaw, the dean of students in CHC’s School of Theology (SOT).

“I feel so inspired to do more for the Lord as I see Dr Cho’s great love for the lost, poor and the needy. To preach the gospel in 70 countries and 400 cities is really phenomenal!” he said.

The trip was an eventful one, with the team having the opportunity to study the history of North and South Korea in a visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a strip of land that serves as a buffer zone between the North and South. They also attended several worship services and prayer meetings in YFGC, a 12,000-seater hall.

The team gained valuable insights during the trip and had an unforgettable experience.