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| Yoido Full Gospel Church Senior Pastor Lee Young-hoon speaks during a press conference to celebrate the church's 65th anniversary at Fairmont Ambassador Seoul hotel, Thursday. Courtesy of Yoido Full Gospel Church |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
As part of activities marking its 65th anniversary, Yoido Full Gospel Church expressed commitment to expand support for the needs of underprivileged people in society.
Yoido Full Gospel Church, which started in 1958 by holding services under a makeshift tent in northwestern Seoul, grew to become the world's largest congregation. It now has around 580,000 members.
"In the past 65 years, the church has reached out to thousands of people providing relief materials and food for them. Our mission lies in helping marginalized communities," Lee Young-hoon, senior pastor of the church, said during a press conference held at Fairmont Ambassador Seoul Hotel, Thursday.
"I recently became aware of groups that need our assistance. They are North Korean children born to defectors who were sold to Chinese men by traffickers. They have no access to citizenship, health care and schooling. We also need to provide support to multicultural families, especially children of undocumented migrant workers and foreign brides."
Under the theme "Re-Bible, Revival," the church will hold an anniversary worship service until May 21. This year also marks the 120th anniversary of the 1903 Great Spiritual Revival that took place in Wonsan in present-day North Korea in August.
With the development of a strong digital and online presence, Lee said the church should evolve to meet changing needs.
"Membership is increasing at home and internationally. However, in order for the church to continue to prosper, it must make transitions online and expand our outreach to young people," Lee said.
He also called for the government to come up with policies to tackle the low birthrate. "The low birthrate is a disaster for the church and the country. I recommend that we give up to three years of parental leave like Germany, pay for the cost of raising a child until he or she is 17 and gift a free house when young adults get married," he said.
Lee also expressed his wish to resume building a cardiac hospital in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Since 2007, Yoido Full Gospel Church has been undertaking a project to establish a hospital in Pyongyang. Unfortunately, the construction has been on hold as inter-Korean relations have soured in recent years. "We really hope to complete the construction as soon as possible. However, inter-Korean relations must improve first." he said.
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