David Yonggi Cho born on 14th February 1936 was born as Paul Yonggi Cho. He was a South Korean Christian Minister and was a co-founder of Yoido Full Gospel Church, a branch of the Assemblies of God Church which has the world’s largest congregation. As of 2007, the church has a total membership of over 830,000.
David Yonggi Cho was born in Ulji-gun, which is now part of the Ulsan metropolitan city. He is the first born among the five children of his parents, Cho Doo-chun and Kim Bok-sun. He is the only male amidst four girls.
David grew up as a Buddhist but converted to Christianity at the age of 17, after a lady visited him to tell him about Jesus. He graduated middle school and later enrolled in a technical high school to learn a trade after his fathers business went into bankruptcy.
David Yonggi Cho started to interpretation for the American evangelist Ken Tize after he sensed the call of God upon his life. He later had a scholarship to study theology in the year 1956 at the Full Gospel Bible College in Seoul. He graduated from the bible school in March 1958.
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The Ministry Of David Yonggi Cho
David was initially a Buddhist but later converted to Christianity after a young lady preached to him about Jesus Christ while he was in the hospital at that moment treating tuberculosis. He later recognized the call of God upon him. He is the founder Church Growth International, which is dedicated to teaching the principles of evangelism and church growth to pastors across the world.
David Yonggi Cho was also the chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship from 1992 to 2000. He also served as a chairman again at the Korean Christian Leaders Association since November 1998.
Yonggi Cho retired in 20068 and had Young Hoon Lee succeeding him as senior pastor.
Who Was Yonggi Cho’s Wife?
Yonggi was married to Kim Sung Hae, a renowned Korean Pentecostal. Kim Sung Hae and David Yonggi Cho married in 1965 and had three children Cho Hee-jun, Cho Min-Je, ad Cho Seung-Je.
His wife did on the 11th February, 2021 of a chronic disease at the Seoul National University Hospital in Daehak-ro.
Death of David Yonggi Cho
Cho died at the age of 85 on the 14th of September 2021. His death was as the result of the stroke he has suffered from over the years.
David continued to preach at the church until his health began to deteriorate in 2020 and become so severe that he died in 2021. He is survived by three strong and energetic sons.
