IN THE BEGINNING
How the Good News Mission was founded
IN THE BEGINNING
How the Good News Mission
was founded
The Good News Mission sprouted from the faith of the forgiveness of sins that Pastor Ock Soo Park received by the grace of God.
“Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” (Psalm 2:8)
Now, through tremendous faith and grace, we can see the many fruits of the gospel across the globe.
THE QUESTION
“Did you receive salvation?”
“What? Salvation?”
“How can you evangelize to others when you are not even saved?”
“……”
Ock Soo Park, a student at Seonsan Middle School at the time, was shocked by the surprising question from missionary Kays Glass.
The missionary was the first missionary to Korea from WEC International (England), an organization that had already sent thousands of missionaries worldwide.
This question made young Ock Soo think about his current spiritual life and it became a milestone that guided him to find the path of being born again.
SALVATION
At that moment, the faith that “all of my sins are washed as white as snow by the blood of Jesus” came into my heart.
“My mother started to go to church ever since she was single. Thus, I grew up in a Presbyterian church. I tried hard to keep the law and dedicated myself to live as a good person. However, I struggled to get out of sin, and the sin would overcome me all the time. Whenever I committed a sin, I felt so much pain and shame. I would confess and repent for my sins and ask for forgiveness every early morning, however, I continued to commit sin and would wind up repenting once again. God was pouring his special grace to such a person like me and He blocked all of my attempts to save myself. Amazingly, when I no longer had any way, Jesus became my way and salvation.
In the early morning of October 7th, 1962, I was in deep despair. I went in front of God and started to pray for my sins. At that moment, the faith that ‘all of my sins are washed as white as snow by the blood of Jesus‘ came into my heart. That day, the Holy Spirit worked in me – I was freed from the sins that tortured me for so long and received true peace in my heart.”
DEDICATION
“Lord, please accept my body”
“After I received salvation, I was so thankful and wanted to give an offering to God but I had no money. Since I had nothing else to give, I decided to give my body to the Lord. But then I thought, ‘What can I possibly do? I am such a useless person.’
I thought about it and I realized that I could at least organize shoes for the kids at Sunday School, clean their runny noses, take care of the church garden, and help the widows in my village by fixing their broken heaters, roofs and windows of their houses. I thought that I would be so happy if I can at least do those things for the God. ‘I cannot repay the grace that I have received, even with my tears. I have nothing but my body but I dedicate it to you.’“
TRAINING
Pastor Ock Soo Park was part of the first missionary school class for Gospel-centric missionaries.
When Pastor Ock Soo Park received salvation, he prayed and discussed with other born again missionaries about the realities of churches in Korea and evangelism in Korea.
Among the missionaries who established the Missionary School were Case Glass of the Netherlands, Derek Earl of the UK, Marlin Baker from the Christian in Action mission of the USA, Dick York from the Shield of Faith Misison of USA and Harry Wyman from Christian Literature Crusade of the UK. The missions that they were from are known worldwide to be very gospel-centric.
The missionaries recruited students, and Ock Soo Park was chosen for the first class in 1962. He was trained in the theology and practical life of faith based on the gospel. For over 50 years, God has used pastor Ock Soo Park to help countless people escape the clutches of sin and live by faith, according to His promise.
THE PRAYER
“God, please let us start missions overseas. Please let us start a missionary school. Please let us publish books and broadcast our sermons.”
The beginning of the Good News Mission was a time of difficulty, hunger, cold, and poverty. At first, Pastor Park would start by praying, “Father God, please give us food. Please give me a new pair of shoes because mine are in tatters.” But a little later, he started to pray a strange prayer through the movement of the Holy Spirit without even noticing: “God, please let us start a mission overseas and a missionary school. Please allow our sermons to be published into books and to be broadcasted.”
When he would end his sermon, he would be surprised with himself. However, he could see how the Lord was leading his prayers in that direction. When he looked at his own image and situation, his prayers were nothing more than delusions of grandeur. Despite this feeling, he would continue to give this testimony by faith in front of his church.
THE PROMISE
“God has given me the promise of ‘Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.’“
“This promise will lead us to publish books, broadcast sermons, and start a missionary school. We will establish churches in every part of Korea and we will dispatch missionaries all over the world. Almighty God will fulfill all these things.
God started to open the way before me just as he promised. We started a missionary school, dispatched ministers, and established churches all over the country. We broadcasted our sermons on the air, established overseas mission, and published sermon books. God also opened the way to establish churches in countries around the world.”
