Yoido Full Gospel Church supports young mothers, children globally
Megachurch gives helping hand for those in need
Near Dangsan Station on Seoul Metro lines 2 and 9, there is a welfare center for single mothers. Occupying three floors from sixth to eighth in a building there, it’s a place where single mothers can rest and get help from the community. The place, the Vine Center, is equipped with a living room, bathroom, private space for mothers and children, and facilities for recovery after childbirth.
In Korea, 2,101 of 22,056 single mothers are teenagers, accounting for 9.5 percent of all single mothers.
The Vine Center was established and is sponsored by Seoul’s megachurch Yoido Full Gospel Church for these young mothers under the age of 24, with babies under 6 months old.
It is one of the rare facilities for unwed teenage mothers.
The “vine” from Vine Center came from the biblical verse John 15:5.
They provide basic accommodation and meals for the young mothers for a year and a half to help them recover after childbirth and become independent.
The center offers all the livelihood support and medical services for the mothers as well as their babies. They also support assistance for postnatal recovery upon request. The young mothers can stay there for one year and extend their stay for up to six more months.
“We tried to make a pleasant environment for the mothers within boundaries while respecting their privacy,” said Lee Hee-joo, the head of the center. Along with the Vine Center, Yoido Full Gospel Church provides other facilities for teen mothers and their children, such as the Vision Center.
The church also established the Meister Center for vocational training. A total of 80 teenagers are benefiting thanks to the church’s support.
Yoido Full Gospel Church started as a small church in a tent in 1958 and has been continuing its activities to support the poor.
Especially this year for the 20th anniversary of the church’s relief group Good People, their goal is to expand the number of supporters to 100,000 and support 30,000 more children in 20 countries abroad.
Good People, an International Relief Development NGO, was established in 1999 in order to spread awareness of global problems such as poverty, disease, and disasters that especially harm marginalized people due to their social alienation.
Fighting poverty
Besides the church’s usual business, they have been joining to fight the low birthrate in Korea, by providing incentives to young mothers. From 2013 to 2017, they provided 2.9 billion won to 3,044 households.
Lee Young-hoon became senior pastor after emeritus pastor Cho Yong-gi retired from the post after decades. Lee has been looking after the church for 11 years.
Currently the NGO has around 40,000 supporters in Korea and other countries, and 13 headquarters overseas, including in Kenya, Rwanda and Bangladesh, to provide international relief and development assistance.
Especially in places suffering hygiene problems, they have founded hospitals to provide medical equipment and medicine.
They also provide kits that can diagnose malaria with one drop of blood. Education support is also provided.
Good People runs job training and after school classes in countries where education infrastructure is lacking.
In Vietnam, they established a welfare center in Phu To and culture center in Hai Duong to provide good quality medical services and various education programs for children.
The welfare center was opened in a building that was previously another welfare center opened in 1982.
The culture center was also built in the 1980s, but the building was not used for a long time due to danger of collapse.
By rebuilding the welfare center, it allowed the residents to receive better quality medical services and vaccinations.
“From the newly built culture center, we hope the residents who lacked access to cultural activities can have access to a better quality of cultural experience again. Through the welfare center, we hope the residents can live happy and healthy lives,” said Kim Cheon-soo, the president of the organization.
“No children should give up their hope because of poverty, disease or lack of education. It is important to help them as much as we can in order to prevent this situation,” said
Lee Young-hoon, the senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church. “In order to prevent this situation, Good People will run businesses in various approaches to support children in the blind spots of society.”
Domestic aid is also very active. For victims of child abuse and child labor, they provide educational and psychological support programs in Ttangkkeutmaeul in Haenam, South Jeolla Province.
Since 2012, the organization started a “boxing day” in which they have been supporting people by providing 100,000 won worth of essential products. Around 100,000 boxes have been provided to people in need. Since 2017, they have been organizing marathons to fundraise for children with rare diseases.
“Good People hopes to spread further and meet neighbors to empathize with their sadness and bring back hope and smiles,” Kim said.
“Good People will support children in the blind spots of society.”