Meet the founder of Wolmyeongdong | Jung Myung Seok

“Through our actions, we can feel Jesus’ love.” ~ Jung Myung Seok

About Jung Myung Seok

Jung Myung Seok was born on March 16, 1945 and was the third eldest of seven children. He was born in the mountain valley of Wolmyeongdong. It was a dreadful place for him. Even though he wanted to farm, there was not enough land. Even though he worked to the point his body felt like collapsing, he could not fill his empty stomach. He grew up suffering.

Suffering from hunger in the midst of a dreadful poverty, Jung Myung Seok began his life of faith and started to believe in God at the beckoning of his eldest brother. Unlike others in his hometown, he was very curious about Jesus. Even in the midst of laboring to do the farm work he was responsible of, he would go to the top of the mountains behind his house to pray and read the Bible over and over. It was the only book in the house.

Coming to faith

Jung Myung Seok realized about the Bible more deeply through prayer and trying to live according to his realizations. It was the life of training God prepared for him. He realized that he should not stop at merely realizing, but that he needed to put those realizations into practice.

There was a time when Jung Myung Seok brought home a homeless man who was mentally ill. That man seemed out of his mind, but he washed the homeless man and slept next to him. He even allowed the beggar to sit together with his family for meals and ate with him. While putting the Word to practice, he realized deeply about Jesus’ love.

His days in war

“Love, the only way to achieve it is by throwing away our guns and swords.” ~ Jung Myung Seok

From 1966 to 1969, Jung Myung Seok served in the Korean Army and went to Vietnam as part of the White Horse Regiment. It was there that he experienced the atrocities of war. The cruelty of war made him think deeply about the fundamental issue of human beings, that is, about life and death.

He was desperate to survive the battles that pit him against death every day. In the face of death, he held onto the Bible he brought with him and read it again and again. Jesus made him realize the value of life, that it should never be traded even for the entire world. He engraved the value and preciousness of life deep into his bones.

At that time, Jung Myung Seok looked up towards the sky and prayed confessing with all his heart, “If I am allowed to return to my country alive without dying here, I will live preaching the gospel until I die.”

However, immediately after he completed his tour of duty and returned to Korea, he was sent back to Vietnam. By the time he returned to Korea for the second time, he had gone through hundreds of ambush operations, mountain reconnaissance operations, and numerous battles. He came very close to death on dozens of occasions.

What Jung Myung Seok realized

The Vietnam War taught him that humans cannot achieve peace with guns and knives. If we want to achieve peace, we have to throw away all our guns and knives. Jesus was always next to him, inspiring him with realizations. He taught him to love his enemies saying, “Although you are enemies to each other, they are not enemies to Me.”

When he came back from Vietnam alive, he continued to farm with his parents. He also went to Daedun Mountain, Darigol Cave, Gamram Mountain, and other places in order to pray. Through prayer and his life of training, the Lord unraveled the deep secrets of the Bible and allowed him to understand the Trinity in a new way.

Dedicating his life to the Trinity

“Action over words.” ~ Jung Myung Seok

Staying true to his life’s motto, “Action over words,” Jung Myung Seok preached the gospel by living according to the Word, and he spread the fire of the gospel in various college campuses where the youth were hungry for new truth. He delivered the perfect Word of life to those who found it difficult to discover the path of life and to those who once misunderstood and distrusted God because they did not understand the Bible correctly.

At this time, the new fire of truth that clearly teaches us about the essence of human beings, about faith, and about salvation is being spread not only throughout Korea but also to over fifty nations around the world.

Love and faith do not happen just with words alone. Faith is living according to the Word. God did not make up the Bible with empty and lofty words. It contains messages of miracles that are fulfilled even today. It is the definitive guide for our lives. Since the Lord’s words is living and active even today, he endeavors to continue to carry out the work of the Lord every day.

Learn more about Pastor Jung Myung Seok and his time in Wolmyeongdong.