In 1953, South Korea was a devastated nation. The Korean War had destroyed the economy, killed millions, and left the country one of the poorest in the world. Christianity was a minority faith, representing less than five percent of the population.
The Fasting Mountain
What happened over the following decades is one of the most extraordinary church growth stories in history, and it was built on fasting. Korean pastors and church leaders established "prayer mountains" — retreat centres specifically designed for extended fasting and prayer. The most famous, Osanri Prayer Mountain founded by David Yonggi Cho's Yoido Full Gospel Church, drew hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
Korean Christians did not treat fasting as occasional or optional. Many churches institutionalized it: regular corporate fasts, forty-day fasting seasons, dawn prayer meetings where participants arrived having eaten nothing since the previous day. Fasting became woven into the fabric of Korean Christian life.
The Growth
By the end of the twentieth century, South Korea had gone from less than five percent Christian to roughly thirty percent. Seoul alone contained eleven of the world's twelve largest congregations. Yoido Full Gospel Church grew to over eight hundred thousand members — the largest single congregation in history. Korean missionaries were being sent to every continent on earth.
David Yonggi Cho's Testimony
Pastor Cho himself was open about the role fasting played. He described beginning his ministry in a tent church with five members, fasting for days at a time because he had no food — and then choosing to continue fasting once resources came because he had learned its spiritual power. He credited extended fasting with every major decision and breakthrough in the church's growth.
What This Means for You
The Korean church story shows what happens when fasting becomes a community norm rather than an individual exception. It was not one person fasting alone — it was an entire culture of believers who agreed together that seeking God through fasting was worth the cost. The result was not just personal breakthroughs but national transformation. If you are part of a church or community, the Korean example suggests that institutionalizing regular fasting — making it normal rather than extreme — could unlock growth that no programme or strategy can manufacture.