The Life and Times of Teacher Joshua Jung Myung Seok
Teacher Joshua Jung (Jung, Myung Seok) was born as the third child
among six sons and one daughter. He was born in 1945, at the fourth
hour of the day. The address where he was born is 151, Sukmak-ri
(Wolmyung-dong or Dalbak-gol), Chinsan-myun, Guemsan-gun,
Choongchungnam-do. Sukmak-ri is a high-altitude mountain village at the
foot of Mt. Indae. Mt Daedoon stands behind the village like a backdrop.
At age six, Teacher Jung began calling God although no one had
taught him about God. At age nine, he started going to church. From
early on (since elementary school) he came to understand the emptiness
of life. He searched for the answer to the fundamental question of
human life and from the fifth grade he started to hear the voice of
Jesus. As a teenager, Teacher Joshua Jung committed himself to a life
of prayer and serious faith.
He traveled to many churches in order to listen to revival speakers.
Their themes were mostly apocalyptic: the judgment of fire, the
Rapture, etc. They preached a literal belief in the bible. Teacher
Joshua Jung hoped for the coming of the Lord Jesus more eagerly than
anybody else because he felt hopeless due to extreme poverty.
From age 17, driven by the agonies of life and severe poverty, he
engrossed himself in mountain prayer. During the day he tilled the
ground and labored with heavy loads on his back. At night, inside a
deserted mine, he pushed himself to pray and read the Bible. Until he
was drafted to the army service he was absorbed in a profound level of
prayer. He prayed in the mountains after farming and finishing up the
chores around the house. His fiery faith took him to church 20 times or
more per week. At age 19, he served as a Sunday school teacher at
Sukmak Church. He dedicated himself to caring for lives and evangelism.
At times he went to Mt. Samgak Prayer Camp and prayed while fasting for
70 days at a time.
In his twenties, he focused on street evangelism. He performed a
sign of evangelism for God when, in one year, he brought ten thousand
people to God, preaching to hundreds of people per day. At age 21, he
began a life of prayer atop Mt. Daedoon, later resuming it after the
Vietnam War. He prayed and lent his ears to the Word of Heaven despite
rains, winds and blizzards. For many years he sought enlightenment
while exposed to severely low temperatures throughout the night. On a
certain peak of the mountain where he prayed - called Eagles Peak - it
was so cold that even a pine tree froze to death. During his two
prolonged decades of life of seeking enlightenment, he came to realize
the profound truth of the Bible, the truth that breaks through both the
physical and spiritual worlds.
During the life-or-death crisis in Vietnam (1966 to 1969), Teacher
Joshua Jung learned the value of life and first handedly experienced
the love of heaven. As an eyewitness to the tragic miseries of war, he
highly valued the dignity of life. With God's help he escaped death
hundreds of times and made a resolution to dedicate his whole life to
God. During the war he served as a Private in the Scout Company of
White Horse Corps. He would capture an enemy alive instead of gunning
him down. Stories about how he contributed to saving his comrades are
powerful and inspiring as they are retold by his surviving comrades. As
a Private he was an outstanding patriot earning four medals including
the Wha-rang-mu-gong medal and In-hun medal.
After returning from Vietnam, he destroyed his family's 150 year old
mud house and built a new house. The Lord Jesus inspired him to do the
same in terms of faith as well. According to the inspiration he offered
everything he owned to build Sukmak Church (located in Sukmak-ri,
Chinsan-myun, Geumsan-gun) in 1973. Between 1973 and the time he went
to Seoul in 1978, he frequented Mt. Daedoon as well as other prayer
caves, where he prayed and fasted for 40 or 70 days.
Through the fasting prayers, he directly experienced and learned
about the suffering from hunger and illness. He once lived with
beggars, rending them aid and service. These experiences and hardships
taught him to deeply feel God's sorrow that had not been told or
understood for 6,000 years, as well as the grievance that Jesus would
have felt through the unavoidable death on a cross. He also broke the
seals of 120 principles of the Bible, as precious as hidden treasure,
in regard to salvation.
On June 1st, 1978 Teacher Joshua Jung went to Seoul. In one hand, he
was carrying diagrams explaining the principles. Getting food was a big
problem now. He barely soothed his empty stomach with cheap instant
noodles or plain wheat noodles for two years. Finding one person that
understood the Word was as difficult as picking a star from the sky.
Led by Jesus, he moved to Shin-chon to establish the town as the main
ground for evangelism, in August 1980. As people came to realize the
Word there, the history of life began on a significant scale.
In March 1982, he established MS Missionaries (Christian Gospel
Mission today). The following November he graduated from Wesley
Theological School. Within a few years the size of the Missionaries
quickly grew from a few hundreds to a few thousands, then to tens of
thousand. It became urgent to get a place where all the members could
get together. After much prayer, he with his disciples began developing
his hometown of Wolmyung-dong into a retreat in 1989. This site
eventually transformed into the natural temple that numerous visitors
admire today.
 Soccer and Evangelism through sports in Europe. |
 Clearing a water way in Hong Kong. |
He worked hard for the countless youths and college students who
were evangelized; he spent night and day preaching and providing
counseling to them. After the domestic foundation was firmly laid, he
set off in January 1999 to travel the path of worldwide mission
following God's lead.
In February 2001, he founded CGM Volunteer Group. He instilled peace
and love in the minds of worldwide youths, through international
cultural exchanges centered on God. Mr. Jung has been dedicated to
development of culture, art and sports incorporating heavenly ideals
with them.
He published Spiritual Poems in 1989 which drew much attention. In
1995 he took the platform as a poet since his poetry was introduced in
the literature magazine Moonyeh Sajo. He inspired many with not only
literature, but also calligraphy, oil and porcelain painting, ink and
water colors. He held a worldwide soccer festival to provide a forum
where various ethnicities and nationalities could join in peace through
soccer games.
With faith in God and prayer, he healed a 25 year long disease for
which no one had found a cure, some other diseases difficult to cure,
mental illness, etc. that modern medicine cannot cure.
In Sri Lanka 2002, Teacher Joshua Jung was granted a doctorate in
Philosophy by The Open International University for Complementary
Medicines which is under UNESCO. This institute awards a doctorate in
Philosophy only to those who already have a doctorate either in
medicine or psychology. Emoto Masaru, widely known as the “Water
Doctor” around the world, was also awarded a doctorate by the same
school. Today, Pastor Joshua Jung tirelessly continues to spread the
gospel to different parts of the world and pursue world peace together
with 200,000 members spread in 50 countries.
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