[USA] “Pastor Park, It’s an honor to have you here on CTN!”

The Christian Television Network (CTN), a leading U.S. Christian broadcasting station, invited Pastor Ock Soo Park, the founder of Good News Mission.

On November 18, 8 AM local time, there was an interview recording with Pastor Ock Soo Park at CTN headquarters in Florida, USA.

CTN’s “It’s Time with Herman & Sharon” show is an authoritative program in the top 10 ranking amongst shows on Christian cable television. The show has won several Angel Awards , an award for excellence in programing.

The interview with Pastor Ock Soo Park, author of the show and founder of the Good News Mission, was conducted via ZOOM at the office of the show, host Herman Bailey, accompanied by five people, including Herman’s wife and cohost Shelly, CTN’s top broadcasting engineer Rick, program manager Linda and a host assistant. Pastor Ock Soo Park participated from the Good News Gangnam Church together with Pastor Joseph Park, an interpreter.

For the first time in CTN’s 40-year-old program’s history, this was the first time for an interview with a foreign guest and an interpreter. The broadcasting official said, “There are many difficulties because of the corona, but I’m happy to have this amazing opportunity to meet each other that we couldn’t have imagined before.”

Pastor Park and the host, Herman, greeted each other, and Pastor Park said, “I respect the United States very much because many American soldiers fought for Korea during the Korean War. Thank you for being able to broadcast on CTN.”

Herman asked Pastor Park to pray before the broadcast recording started. Pastor Park prayed, “We are thankful that, we, who were supposed to live in the midst of sin, can walk with the Lord and deliver the Word of God through his will. We hope that through CTN, many people will hear the Gospel, and that Jesus will be planted in the hearts of people around the world, so that they would not be lead by human thoughts but be lead by Jesus. Please help them to become the children of God that God is pleased of and for them to receive precious blessings. Let many people hear Jesus through this broadcast.” Herman agree with an “Amen” throughout the prayer.

The special interview begun for the first time in the program’s history. Introducing Pastor Park as ‘Korean Billy Graham,’ Herman said, “When I first saw Pastor Park on TV, I was fascinated by the gray-haired pastor, and I was surprised that he freely preached the gospel in Korean in any country through interpreters.” Then he said, “I was wondering how so many people gathered to listen to you. It’s an honor to finally have an interview with you.”

In particular, he mentioned about how the title of Pastor Park’s book drew his attention. He said he accepted Jesus as his savior in 1958, and since then, he would always think about how to get out of sin. He said he was able to understand it precisely after he read Pastor Park’s book. Herman said he read Pastor Park’s book from beginning to end, and read it again from the back to the front because he wanted to read it one more time. He asked Pastor Park how he came to write the book and how he was able to achieve such great accomplishments as he was used by God.

Pastor Park answered, “The year 1962 was a big crisis for me and God prevented me from achieving anything other than finding him.” Pastor Park talked about his difficult times when he lost his mother when he was young, how he went through war, and how he didn’t know how to live. As he told his life story, broadcasting officials were drawn to his story as their hearts connected with Pastor Park’s heart. Pastor Park went on to say, “I was hungry, so I stole food, and suffered so much from guilt. I found God’s heart while reading the Bible, and I was saved by the faith that all my sins were washed away by the blood of Jesus.”

After that, Pastor Park entered the missionary school under the guidance of God, and spent nine months in Apgok-dong without any money. He shared the story about how God fed and protected him, the story of how he preached the gospel in Jangpali, the story of the fellowship he had with a British missionary, and the story of establishing a church in Daegu. Herman and the broadcasting officials were surprised by his testimonies on how he only relied on God when his son was born, how there were times when he was hungry, and was in hardships but how he only relied on God and prayed.

Then Pastor Park said, “Many people say they believe in Jesus but still believe they are sinners because they commit sins.” He shared the story about when he preached the gospel to former president of Ghana, John Atta Mills, and said, “We should not judge our own sins, but God, the presiding judge, has judged our sins. Jesus does not appear in Romans chapter 3 verse 23, but He appears in verse 24. Through Jesus in verse 24, we who were sinners became righteous and holy.” Herman shouted “Amen” in agreement over and over throughout Pastor Park's explanation.

In addition, he explained the words of Corinthians 6:10-11 about how those who believed Christ have been made holy and righteous. In the sacriices of the book of Leviticus, he explained how sin was placed upon the animal sacrifice through the laying of hands. In the same way, Jesus bore all the sins of the world and fulfilled all righteousness through his baptism. He then spoke about eternal atonement shown in Chapter 9-10 of Hebrews, "Since we live on earth in the realm of time, when we make an offering for sin, time flows and the offerings goes to the past. However, Jesus fulfilled eternal redemption by spinkling his own blood in the eternal tabernacle in the realm of eternity."

"People say that although the blood of Jesus has washed away our sins, I am still a sinner because I have committed sins. However, God is saying that our sins have been washed away forever by Jesus' blood and that he does not remember our sins. When you believe this, you change and become free from sin. Many people were saved in the Bible Seminar in May and October, not by their works but by the preaching the gospel of grace of Jesus." Pastor Park said, "The first Bible seminar was held in Busan and the sermons from that Bible Seminar were published into that book you (Herman) read. Just like that, God led us to preach the gospel through broadcasting sermons on CTN, through CLF (Christian Leaders Fellowship) events and through the Mahanaim Bible training center."

After hearing Pastor Park for a while, Herman said, "As I heard about your ministry for the past 58 years, it is a story of an inexplicable miracle. It's so amazing to lead numerous pastors and preach to many people only with the power of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ." Then he asked, "Does your ministry have anything to do with music."

Reverend Park explained how the IYF was founded by talking about Andy, a student he met in Los Angeles in 1994. Pastor Park said referring to chapter 8 of John's Gospel, "Jesus did not condemn the woman who committed adultery and sent her away after he had filled her heart with gratitude. Her heart was so filled that no other heart could enter. Andy's heart was filled with gratitude, and in the same way, IYF has changed so many students in the same way." Herman was deeply impressed.

Pastor Park went on to say that many students had anger and anguish in their minds due to their parents' divorce and family feuds. Pastor Park wanted to wash that anguish away through faith and music so he founded the Gracias Choir. God made the Gracias Choir the best choir in the world and they had won grand prizes at International Choir Festivals and performed in 29 cities in the U.S. Herman responded with a "Wow!"

Herman said, "Everything you have done was in God's plan, and I can see how God lead you every step of the way." He added, "It was the honor of CTN to have you here, and it is historic moment to think about you are going to preach the gospel here in America." He also said, "Just as God had always led your life, I felt God lead this program today." For the final remarks, Herman said, "Please pray that not only the viewers but also countless people can be saved. A lot of terrible things are happening in the United States right now, and Pastor Park's prayer is needed."

Reverend Park prayed for blessings upon the U.S. and upon CTN broadcasting. He said, "I hope that many people in the U.S., which is a nation that began with the gospel, will be saved, that many people will become one with God, and that the gospel will be delivered through CTN broadcasting."

The interview was recorded and although it was originally scheduled for a 30 minutes segment, the special was increased to one hour. It will broadcast for two consecutive days for 30 minutes each. The broadcast will be aired twice a day at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. for two days on Dec. 28 and 29.