WEBVTT - Ché Ahn - Oct 26 - 9:00 am 0:00:00.030 --> 0:00:04.990 Chapter 2. My Mother, Jung Suk Cho, an Anointed Woman 0:00:05.030 --> 0:00:10.889 of God. Born on May 13, 1933, my mother, Jung 0:00:10.940 --> 0:00:15.340 Suk Cho, was an amazing woman, marked by an unmistakable 0:00:15.420 --> 0:00:19.239 anointing from God. Although my dad was the pastor in 0:00:19.300 --> 0:00:23.299 our family, I saw Christianity walked out most clearly through 0:00:23.340 --> 0:00:28.220 my mom. Her faith was vibrant, visible, and alive, not 0:00:28.260 --> 0:00:31.380 just a matter of words only, She grew up in 0:00:31.420 --> 0:00:34.760 a devout home, read her Bible daily, and was given 0:00:34.820 --> 0:00:39.339 to prayer. Her father and mother, my maternal grandparents, were 0:00:39.460 --> 0:00:44.989 evangelical Presbyterians, both serving as elders in their church. Within 0:00:45.030 --> 0:00:49.790 that denomination, becoming an elder required an examination and was 0:00:49.870 --> 0:00:55.050 considered nearly equivalent to pastoral leadership. When my mom discovered 0:00:55.090 --> 0:00:57.670 that she was pregnant with me, she wanted to have 0:00:57.710 --> 0:01:01.190 a home birth. even though my older sister, Chong He, 0:01:01.510 --> 0:01:04.830 had been born in a hospital. In the latter stages 0:01:04.890 --> 0:01:07.490 of her pregnancy, my mother went to stay with her 0:01:07.550 --> 0:01:12.410 parents in Gwangju, also spelled Kwangju, while my dad remained 0:01:12.470 --> 0:01:15.990 in Seoul. This was at the request of her stepmother, 0:01:16.290 --> 0:01:19.570 who was a registered nurse and midwife with a college degree, 0:01:19.590 --> 0:01:23.330 a rare pedigree for a female in those days. She 0:01:23.420 --> 0:01:26.940 had invited my mom to come to Gwangju so that 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:30.250 she could help to deliver me. And my mom agreed. 0:01:31.330 --> 0:01:37.429 When the day finally arrived, January 17, 1956, all the 0:01:37.490 --> 0:01:41.460 preparations had been made in my grandparents' home, and things 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.740 were going smoothly leading up to my birth. However, my 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:49.380 father was running late that day. He had to travel 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:53.380 by bus because he didn't own an automobile. And the 0:01:53.460 --> 0:01:57.880 three-hour trip from Seoul to Gwangju caused him to miss 0:01:57.980 --> 0:02:02.350 my arrival. In his absence, my grandfather was the one 0:02:02.410 --> 0:02:05.990 who dedicated me to Jesus just a matter of minutes 0:02:06.150 --> 0:02:10.090 after I was born. Years later, my mom told me 0:02:10.150 --> 0:02:12.790 that she had a dream when she was pregnant with me. 0:02:13.730 --> 0:02:17.130 In the dream, she had a prophetic encounter in which 0:02:17.230 --> 0:02:20.970 God showed her that I would become a pastor. Her 0:02:21.050 --> 0:02:25.630 words and my grandfather's dedication would take decades for me 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:30.300 to fully understand. but they were seeds planted long before 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:34.160 I knew my calling. For years, I lived under the 0:02:34.220 --> 0:02:37.850 lie that I had been rejected at birth. The enemy 0:02:37.930 --> 0:02:40.710 whispered that into my heart because of the lack of 0:02:40.770 --> 0:02:45.209 relationship with my absentee father, who was stern and didn't 0:02:45.270 --> 0:02:48.389 show affection. He was away for nearly three of my 0:02:48.490 --> 0:02:52.050 formative years, and then when he was present, I often 0:02:52.090 --> 0:02:56.230 encountered his anger more than anything else. I always felt 0:02:56.270 --> 0:03:00.150 like I was doing something wrong. Only many years later 0:03:00.190 --> 0:03:03.410 did I learn the truth that my father was merely 0:03:03.470 --> 0:03:06.910 being the Korean father that his culture had shaped him 0:03:06.970 --> 0:03:09.560 to be and that I had been set apart for 0:03:09.660 --> 0:03:14.560 Jesus and celebrated as a firstborn son in a Christian home. 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:19.900 Through it all, though, my mom was nurturing, steady, and prayerful. 0:03:20.700 --> 0:03:23.520 She and my father prayed me into the kingdom. I 0:03:23.580 --> 0:03:26.769 am convinced of that. When I was a young child, 0:03:26.850 --> 0:03:29.290 my mother would read to me from a picture Bible. 0:03:30.070 --> 0:03:35.240 Night after night, she told me the stories of Jesus, Moses, Abraham, 0:03:35.620 --> 0:03:39.580 the cross, and the resurrection. Though I would walk far 0:03:39.660 --> 0:03:43.940 from God in my teen years, my conscience never remained silent, 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:48.090 for the truth had already been planted early on. As 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:50.390 I got older, my mom didn't know what to do 0:03:50.450 --> 0:03:53.630 with my rebellion or my years of drug use, but 0:03:53.710 --> 0:03:57.770 she never stopped praying and never stopped loving. She was 0:03:57.890 --> 0:04:02.070 also remarkably brilliant. My uncle, who served as a cabinet 0:04:02.110 --> 0:04:06.890 member for two South Korean presidents, once told me, your 0:04:06.930 --> 0:04:10.530 mom was the smartest in our entire family. She got 0:04:10.610 --> 0:04:14.270 nearly perfect grades, but in those days, even the top 0:04:14.310 --> 0:04:19.170 students were often married off through matchmakers. So at 19, 0:04:19.170 --> 0:04:22.650 she married my father, who was 28. They were married 0:04:22.790 --> 0:04:28.210 on May 20, 1952. Around a year later, she became pregnant, 0:04:28.410 --> 0:04:32.210 and consequently, she never had the chance to continue her 0:04:32.290 --> 0:04:36.550 education in a university until much later when my parents 0:04:36.630 --> 0:04:39.730 became empty nesters. My mother went on to get a 0:04:39.770 --> 0:04:43.750 bachelor's degree and a master's in education. My mom had 0:04:43.790 --> 0:04:47.610 a natural gift for leadership in business. Once we were 0:04:47.650 --> 0:04:51.050 living in the United States, she encouraged my dad not 0:04:51.089 --> 0:04:54.740 to remain a dental technician working for others, but to 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.200 start his own dental lab. With her help, he launched 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:01.670 On Dental Laboratory, and it grew into one of the 0:05:01.710 --> 0:05:06.210 most successful labs in the Washington, D.C. area. My parents 0:05:06.310 --> 0:05:10.490 prospered financially because of her insight. Later, my mother had 0:05:10.570 --> 0:05:13.870 another idea. Why don't we buy a restaurant? Let me 0:05:13.950 --> 0:05:18.210 run it. So they opened the Three Kings, an American-style 0:05:18.270 --> 0:05:21.860 breakfast and lunch place in the capital. My sister worked 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:24.990 there as a waitress during the summer months. My mom, 0:05:25.029 --> 0:05:29.150 a phenomenal cook, added Korean specials to the menu every day, 0:05:29.650 --> 0:05:34.000 fried rice, noodles, dumplings, and more. People lined up out 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:37.720 the door and around the block during lunchtime. The restaurant 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:41.580 succeeded wildly. My parents ended up selling it at an 0:05:41.660 --> 0:05:45.880 extraordinary profit, and they invested the earnings into several homes 0:05:45.940 --> 0:05:49.849 in the area and paid for our college education. My 0:05:49.890 --> 0:05:52.150 mom always cared for me and did her best to 0:05:52.210 --> 0:05:56.100 understand me. She knew I was strong-willed and struggled in school. 0:05:56.740 --> 0:05:58.740 When we came to the United States, I was on 0:05:58.779 --> 0:06:02.040 a steep learning curve. I had to start learning English 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.020 as a four-year-old adjusting to life in a foreign culture. 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:09.860 My academic performance started out with difficulty, and my struggles 0:06:10.020 --> 0:06:14.000 often triggered my father's anger. He was volatile and demanded 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:18.270 excellence because he believed academics were the key to success. Meanwhile, 0:06:18.350 --> 0:06:22.589 my mom provided a gentler, quieter presence in the home. 0:06:23.980 --> 0:06:29.180 My mother passed away on May 3, 2002, after courageously 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:33.719 battling cancer. During minor surgery, she had received a blood 0:06:33.779 --> 0:06:40.700 transfusion containing undetected hepatitis C, which eventually caused cirrhosis and 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:45.260 then liver cancer. She was 67 when she had the operation, 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:49.100 and doctors gave her six months to live. But by 0:06:49.180 --> 0:06:53.350 God's grace, she lived until 10 days shy of her 0:06:53.690 --> 0:06:57.830 69th birthday. She was even able to attend The Call 0:06:57.990 --> 0:07:02.270 in Washington, DC in the year 2000, despite fighting cancer. 0:07:03.310 --> 0:07:06.700 Both of my parents were there. I'll never forget my 0:07:06.779 --> 0:07:10.900 father initiating the washing of my feet. It broke me 0:07:11.060 --> 0:07:15.800 in the most beautiful way. My mom's life shaped mine 0:07:15.900 --> 0:07:19.550 more than I ever understood as a child. Her prayers, 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:25.790 her brilliance, her sacrifice, her faith, these became the foundation 0:07:25.870 --> 0:07:28.310 on which God fulfilled my destiny.