Korea was liberated from Japanese rule in 1945. In March of the same year, Pastor Jung Myung Seok was born in the mountainous region of Wolmyeongdong, in the Seongmak-ri village of Jinsan, from the Kumsan County in Chungchong Province. He is the third son in a family of six boys and one girl. Born into a socially tumultuous Korea that awaited national restoration, he experienced poverty since childhood, as his family did not have even a decent plot of land to farm on. Even though all their efforts were put into cultivating their land, the harvest was still scarce. It was common for their family to have just one bowl of watery porridge as their sole meal of the day. Therefore, Pastor Jung would have to hike up the mountains during the day to look for kudzu vines to eat. In elementary school, he would often go to the school’s sports field during lunch to fill his stomach with tap water. Though he was only 10 years old, the continual harshness of reality he faced and the numerous frustrations of life made him repeatedly ask in his heart, “Why did God create life?”