01/14/2026
It has already been two years since we held the farewell service for our beloved friend, Pastor D**g-seon Chae, who was our family's pastor and whom we miss so much.
newspaper in LA asked me to write a tribute to the late Pastor D**g Sun Chae, and the article I wrote as a tribute, , was published in the newspaper, so I am posting it here. .....................................................................
'There is no one else like him!'
In memory of (the late) Pastor D**g-sun Chae
Jay Oh (Pastor, President of Daybreak University)
My good friend whom I love so much, Pastor D**g-sun Chae, the founder and senior pastor of the “Church of the Poor in Heart (Mark Church)” who readily gave us the first location to start DayBreak University, has returned to the Kingdom of God. He is a person who has always warmly and humbly served the poor and marginalized throughout his life, as if they were the most precious people in the world. It was a great inspiration and example to me. When I came here in LA and was at my most difficult time, he was my best friend with whom I could confide in and share my inner feelings, a companion on the same path, my senior pastor, and DayBreak University (DBU which I founded and serve as President). He was the best supporter who always supported DBU. Pastor Chae's sermon was an amazing, living message that was so vivid, as if he had just met the resurrected Jesus who died on the cross on the other side of the street.
Thanks to this, while listening to his sermons, my wife and I were often filled with tears and wept bitterly. I really can't believe that I will never be able to hear Pastor Chae's amazing sermons, spirituality, and bright, boyish laughter ever again. I really want to question God. Why on earth did you take this wonderful person away so quickly and suddenly instead of keeping him with us a little longer?
Pastor Chae gives his all to the poor and those suffering in pain without asking or questioning them, and he regrets not being able to give more... He was that kind of person. A person who is really anxious for not being able to hug those people and share their pain more... In fact, I have never seen a person like that very much in my life. As I was holding the final farewell service to send off him, I vividly remembered him once smiling and saying, “What I want most is for only Jesus to be revealed through my life and ministry, and I don’t want anything else of me to be revealed.” It occurred to him, and I felt confident, 'It has come true just as he had hoped!'
As I was about to go down the mountain after the lowering ceremony, the last song someone had played came on, and the title of the song was “There is no one else like that.” As I listened to this song, I felt like it was singing about Pastor Chae. Among the many people I have met so far, I don't think there is no other person like him. His life is like the lyrics of this song, “Because I can give everything, because I can love… I feel like I’ve lived a life that says, “I’m really happy.”
“The Church of the Poor in Heart (Mark’s Church)” is not only for the poor in spirit, but also for those who have no money or for various reasons, are sick, suffering, poor, lonely, and powerless, regardless of whether they are believers or non-believers, and who have what they have.
There was one Pastor who gave everything and gave it again and again, but was sad that he could not give more. We are now mourning and mourning the loss of him who suddenly left us. Like Reverend Ahn Maeng-ho’s sermon at Pastor Chae Jeon’s farewell service to heaven, “we must now live the rest of our lives by practicing the spirit that he has shown through for the past 24 years. “I promise to do it.”
My very dear friend, my Pastor Chae! We run to our Lord with our arms wide open and embrace each other. Goodbye until we meet again!! I love you, Bro!!