Today is the third class in your current four class set. We will begin class with a casual conversation. Our reading this week is about temple food. Our listening is about Christianity in Korea. Please listen and follow the transcript. This story is from 2005. Please listen only once. Please write your grammar sentence on a separate piece of paper. This is one of the best ways to study at home. We will review the grammar exercises in class.
Click HERE for the reading
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
Korea has strong Buddhist and shamanist roots. For many centuries, it was known as the Hermit Kingdom because of its resistance to outside influences. But in the last 50 year Christianity has taken hold in South Korea. The number of Christians has grown exponentially, and there's one church that's especially influential. NPR's Reena Advani sent this postcard from Seoul.
REENA ADVANI reporting:
The Yoido Full Gospel Church isn't your typical place of worship. With more than 800,000 members throughout South Korea and even overseas, it claims to be the biggest church in the world. At any one service 12,000 may crowd into the main sanctuary. Finding a seat is a bit of an ordeal, wading through all the people and squeezing onto elevators if you want to sit in the balcony. Ushers guide visitors to stadium-style seats that look down on a stage decorated with flowers. Gospel singers accompanied by a full orchestra are already warming up the crowd with upbeat numbers.
(Soundbite of music)
Choir: (Singing in Korean)
ADVANI: Some in the congregation wave their arms or clap along.
(Soundbite of music)
Choir: (Singing in Korean)
ADVANI: And just before the sermon begins, a tenor gives a graceful performance.
(Soundbite of music)
Unidentified Man #1: (Singing in Korean)
ADVANI: It's a summer day. Many worshipers fan themselves as there's no air conditioning and it's stifling hot in the pews. All the services are in Korean, but simultaneous interpretation is available in English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, Russian, Indonesian and Malay. Pastor Cho Yonggi, who also calls himself David Cho, founded the church and is leading the service on this day.
(Soundbite of service)
Pastor CHO YONGGI (Founder, Yoido Full Gospel Church): (Korean spoken)
ADVANI: In his sermon titled "How Rich Am I," Cho says money doesn't necessarily lead to happiness. Cho's dynamic presence in the pulpit brings to mind Billy Graham in America fervently claiming that only through God can believers achieve salvation. And the congregation is quick to embrace his words.
(Soundbite of service)
Unidentified Congregation: (In unison; Korean spoken)
Pastor CHO: (Korean spoken)
Unidentified Congregation: (In unison; Korean spoken)
Pastor CHO: (Korean spoken)
Unidentified Congregation: (In unison; Korean spoken)
Pastor CHO: (Korean spoken)
Unidentified Congregation: (In unison; Korean spoken)
Pastor CHO: (Korean spoken)
Unidentified Congregation: (In unison; Korean spoken)
ADVANI: Christianity gained a greater foothold in the country only after the Korean War. Cho says church membership skyrocketed because of American missionaries who offered a way to escape the miseries of war through faith.
Pastor CHO: Korea has been Buddhist country from beginning. But through the Japanese occupation and Korean War, all of those religion and tradition have been destroyed. And then especially America propagated Christianity here.
ADVANI: It's easy to feel anonymous in a church the size of Yoido. That's why there are much smaller weekday, faith-related meetings in homes and offices. But Sunday service, Cho says, is a time for celebration.
(Soundbite of music)
ADVANI: And that's exactly what happens every two hours within the vast halls of the Yoido church.
(Soundbite of music)
Unidentified Man #2: (Singing in Korean)
ADVANI: Reena Advani, NPR News.
(Soundbite of music)
Unidentified Man #2: (Singing in Korean)
ROBERT SIEGEL (Host): You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.