Pastor Yonggi Cho Biography: Church, wife, death
The latest reports have revealed that popular South Korean Pastor Yonggi Cho has passed on at the age of 85 years old.
The news of his death was made public via his Facebook account. The reports have since gone viral across various social media platforms as well as media outfits across the world
Yonggi Cho co-founded the Yoido Full Gospel Church, also known as the Assemblies of God, with his mother-in-law Choi Ja-shil. The church has the largest congregation in the world, with a report of 850,000 attendees in Seoul, South Korean Capital.
Famous figures from around the world have been reacting to the death of the respected man of God, with the likes of Pastor E.A Adeboye, Prophet Iginla, among others from Nigeria, also paying their last respect to Pastor Yonggi Cho.
Since his death, many people across the world have been willing to know more about the famous cleric; look no further as this article will supply you with every detail to know about him.
Profile Summary
Real Name | David Yonggi Cho |
Birth Name | Paul Yonggi Cho |
Profession | South Korean Christian minister |
Wife Name | Kim Sung Hae |
Age | Approx 85 Years |
Death | 14 September 2021 |
Height | In centimeters – 175 CMIn meters- 1.75 mIn Feet Inches – 5’8″ |
Weight | In Kilograms- 69 kgIn Pounds- 189 lbs |
Eye Colour | Black |
Hair Colour | Black |
Date of Birth | 14 February 1936 |
Birth Place | Ulsan, Korea |
Yonggi Cho’s Biography
His real name was Paul Yonggi Cho, and he was born on the 14th of February 1936 in Ulju-gun, now part of Ulsan metropolitan city to Cho Doo-chun and Kim Bok-sun
The records revealed he was the eldest of five sons and five daughters his parents had. Yonggi Cho was raised as a Buddhist but converted to Christianity at the age of 17 when a young girl preached to him.
Although the cleric finished middle school with honours, because growing up didn’t come easy as his parents could not afford the high school or university tuition. He would later enrol in an inexpensive technical high school to learn a trade.
Because of his love for education, he started to visit an American military base near his school, and it was there he learnt the English language. He soon became an interpreter at the military base as well as his school.
Calling
After he realised God was calling him to the ministry, Yonggi Cho took up the role of an interpreter for the American evangelist Ken Tize.
In search of more knowledge, he won a scholarship to study theology at Full Gospel Bible College in Seoul in 1956. It was during his time at the college he met Choi Ja-shil, who became his mother-in-law and a close ministerial associate. The two would later start what is today known as Assemblies of God ministry.
Yonggi Cho was the Chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship between 1992 to 2000.
The popular cleric, however, retired in 2008, with Young Hoon Lee becoming his successor as senior pastor.
Death
Yonggi Cho slept in the Lord on the 14th of September 2021 at the age of 85, with reports linking the death to complications from a stroke.