Choi Ja-shil or Choi Ja-sil (; 25 August 1915 – 8 November 1989) was a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

pastor. She and her future son-in-law, Cho Yong-gi, founded the

Yoido Full Gospel Church Yoido Full Gospel Church () is a Pentecostal church affiliated with the Assemblies of God on Yeouido (Yoi Island) in Seoul, South Korea. With about 480,000 members, it is the largest Pentecostal Christian congregation in South Korea. Founded by ...

Biography

Choi was born in 1915 in

Hwanghae Province Hwanghae Province (''Hwanghae-do'' ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon era. Hwanghae was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Haeju. The regional name for the province was Haeseo (). It is a reg ...

, in what is now part of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. As her father died when she was young, Choi assisted her mother in her sewing business to earn an income for the family. When she was twelve years old, Choi and her mother attended the tent revival meeting led by the holiness preacher Lee Sung-Bong and became a Christian. She pursued education in nursing and, after moving to

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, started a new business. Despite her successes, Choi suffered the death of her mother and eldest daughter within a week and a half of one another, as well as the failure of her business. Under these stresses, Choi attempted to commit suicide in 1956. During this desperate time, she heard Lee Sung-Bong was leading another revival meeting. She went to the meeting and had a spiritual encounter, committing to enter Full Gospel Bible College to be trained as a great woman evangelist. When she was in seminary, she met Cho Yong-gi, her future son-in-law. After Choi and Cho graduated in 1958, they started a tent church with the two of them and Choi's three children. This would eventually grow to become the largest church in the world, the

. From the early stage of the church, Choi visited and cared for the poor, the sick, and the demon-possessed. She also became known for her ministry of prayer and fasting, and wrote a number of books on the topic. Choi died of a heart attack on 8 November 1989 in Los Angeles, when she was attending a revival meeting. Yoido Full Gospel Church dedicated one of their facilities for prayer the Osanri Choi Jashil Memorial Fasting Prayer Mountain.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Ja-shil 1915 births 1989 deaths South Korean Assemblies of God pastors South Korean evangelicals