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Dr. Ché Ahn is the Senior Pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, California, and President of Harvest International Ministry (HIM), an apostolic family of
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The Korean Revival and My Great-Grandmother's Conversion 0:00 Chapter 5. My great grandparents and grandparents. Origins of faith. 0.5 a century before my birth, God was already moving powerfully in my0:11 family tree. Beginning around 19 o 3 and in the years leading up to 19 o 7, Korea experienced a series of local revivals within both the Presbyterian and0:23 Methodist churches. During this time, reports of the Welsh revival of 19 o 4 and the Kazi Hills revival in India in 19 o 5 stirred a0:35 deep hunger among American missionaries in Pyongyang and among the Korean believers for spiritual revival. The US missionaries were so hungry to bring the Welsh revival to0:47 Korea that they went on a 40 day fast from December of 19 o 6 into January of 19 o 7 determined to fast through Christmas and the New Year0:58 celebration. When the Korean pastors heard about this, they asked if they could join the fast. The missionaries emphatically told them that they needed to celebrate and eat with1:10 their family members during Christmas and the traditional New Year meal, including rice cake soup called tteokguk. Because the Koreans insisted on joining the fast, the American1:22 missionaries relented. When I read about this, it provoked me to ask how hungry I was for revival. I'm not sure if I would personally go on a fast over Christmas time and New Year's.1:34 This testimony tells me that God poured out the grace of supplication and prayer leading up to the revival, as it says in Zechariah 12 10, and I will pour on the house of David and on the1:46 inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. That longing culminated in January 19 o 7 when a powerful revival broke out during a 21:58 week bible conference held at the Presbyterian Seminary in Pyongyang, what is today the capital of North Korea. About 1500 Korean men gathered, and through the preaching of2:09 Kil Sanju, the foundations of what would become distinctives of Korean Christianity were laid, like early morning prayer and all night prayer. This revival would shape the2:21 spiritual identity of the Korean church for generations. My great grandmother was the 1st in our family line to come to know Jesus Christ. She was converted through the teaching of American missionaries2:34 and the Korean pastors that they raised up during that era. When I look at our family history through the lens of God's timing, I see a divine thread. My great2:45 grandmother was saved during the great Korean revival, and decades later, I came to Christ during the Jesus People movement in America. Both were watershed moments of2:57 awakening, separated by geography and time, but united by the same spirit. Thus, our family's spiritual roots were intertwined with revival.My Great-Grandfather's Dramatic Conversion 3:09 My great grandfather, for his part, lived a very different life before his conversion. He was a gold miner, but he was also an alcoholic and a womanizer. Much of his earnings3:21 were spent in geisha houses. This period in Korean history was marked by deep national trauma. From 19 10 to 19 45, Japan occupied3:33 Korea, forcibly absorbing it into its empire. The Korean language was banned, which even included Korean names, and as a result, the people endured3:45 profound psychological and spiritual wounds. It was a time of shame, oppression, and identity loss for an entire nation. Amid this darkness, my3:57 great grandmother became a woman of fervent prayer. 1 day, as she prayed earnestly for her husband, my great grandfather awoke from his sleep almost completely blind.4:09 According to my father's account, he could just see a pinhole's worth of vision. Instantly, my great grandfather knew this was an act of God. In desperation,4:21 he cried out for mercy and stumbled his way to the mission where my great grandmother was praying. There he repented of his sins and God restored his sight. That4:33 day marked his conversion. Besides Saul of Tarsus, my great grandfather is the only other person that I've personally heard of being struck blind and then having his4:44 sight restored when he gave his life to Jesus. Through his testimony, the rest of the family came to know the Lord as well, including my father. As my dad grew in his4:56 understanding of scripture, he sensed a calling into ministry. He became the 1st in our family to enter the ministry as a pastor. On my mother's side, my grandfather became 1 of the5:08 wealthiest individuals in Korea during his time. He built 1 of the 1st high rise buildings in downtown Seoul, owned a rice factory on Jeju Island, and was president of 35:20 banks. Years later, when I began my own business in 2010, I recognized that same anointing for enterprise in my life, a legacy passed down through theMy Father's Calling and My Maternal Grandfather's Legacy 5:31 generations. During the nearly 3 years my father was alone in the United States, my mother, my sister, and I lived with my grandparents in Gwangju before they moved to Seoul.5:44 At that time, my grandfather was overseeing a bank in the city. 1 of my earliest memories is wanting to eat with my grandfather. As a man of his generation, he ate his meals alone at5:55 a traditional Korean floor table in his bedroom. He was always served 1st while the rest of us ate afterward. 1 day, as a bold little boy, I slid open the door6:07 and walked in. My grandmother and mom came rushing over to pull me away, but my grandfather said, no. Let him come to me. He then lifted me onto his lap and fed me hisA Childhood Memory of Grace and the Discipline of Prayer 6:19 meal. I've used that moment to illustrate Matthew 19 14 when Jesus rebukes his disciples and says, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them,6:31 for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. When my grandparents moved to Seoul, they attended Yungnak Presbyterian Church founded by the renowned Reverend Kyungchik6:43 Han. This was a church that pastor Han planted in 19 45 to welcome the Korean refugees from North Korea. They also contributed funds for the building that6:54 Yongnak Church continues to use to this day. God blessed that church mightily. Yungnak grew to over 50000 members, making it 1 of the largest Presbyterian7:06 churches in the world. Billy Graham preached there when he came to speak to the US soldiers during the Korean War to 19 50. My grandfather loved the Lord and was a7:18 man grounded in the word of God. He studied theology and served faithfully in his church. He became 1 of the elders, and my grandmother was a Kwan Sanim, a female elder. When7:30 my grandparents visited me in 19 74, not long after my conversion, they slept in the same room that I shared with my brother. 1 early morning, I had to go into my bedroom7:42 to get a change of clothes, and I saw that my grandfather and grandmother were already awake praying fervently with an open Bible before them. I instantly felt the Holy7:54 Spirit impress on my heart that this was the key to abiding in Jesus, John 15. It is that image of the discipline of their devotion that has remained etched in my8:06 heart throughout my life.In this video 0:00 The Korean Revival and My Great-Grandmother's Conversion3:05 My Great-Grandfather's Dramatic Conversion5:30 My Father's Calling and My Maternal Grandfather's Legacy6:10 A Childhood Memory of Grace and the Discipline of Prayer11/12/2026 The Consequences of Recent Elections Become Clearer as We Move into the Final Months of 2026 Tony Perkins
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