Episode 22 - Eugene Cho, Humanitarian|Author|Speaker|Pastor

68 CULTURE

Today’s guest is a global humanitarian, author, speaker, pastor, and visionary. Wearing many hats, he spends much of his time circling the globe speaking about the intersection of faith, justice, and leadership.

He is the current President/CEO of Bread for the World and Bread Institute, a prominent non-partisan Christian advocacy organization urging both national and global decision makers to help end hunger – both in the United States and around the world.

He is also the founder of One Day’s Wages (ODW) – a grassroots movement to alleviate extreme global poverty. ODW was initiated after he and his wife launched a Facebook group, Fight Global Poverty, and agreed to give $1 for every member who joined, up to $100,000. Within months more than 1,000,000 individuals joined. As a result in 2009, he ended up giving his entire annual salary, $68,000, when the US economy was in a significant downturn. Since its launch in October 2009, ODW has raised over $8 million dollars for projects worldwide.

Eugene is also the founder and former Senior Pastor of Quest Church – an urban, multi-cultural and multi-generational church in Seattle, Washington. While at Quest, he was also the founder and Executive Director of the Q Café, an innovative non-profit community café.

He’s been featured in multiple news outlets including Good Morning America, The New York Times, The Seattle Times, Relevant Magazine, NPR, ABC World News, Christianity Today, The Guardian and numerous other media outlets. For his entrepreneurial work and spirit, he was honored as one of 50 Everyday American Heroes and is a recipient of the Frederick Douglass 200—a list of 200 people around the world who best embody the spirit and work of Frederick Douglass, one of the most influential figures in history. A graduate of University of California and Princeton Theological Seminary, he was also the recipient of the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award from Princeton Theological Seminary.

His first book, Overrated: Are We More in Love with the Idea of Changing the World Than Actually Changing the World?, was released in 2014. His second book, Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christian’s Guide to Engaging in Politics, was released in March 2020. A third has just been released entitled, “No Longer Strangers – Transforming Evangelism With Immigrant Communities”. He and his wife have been married for 23 years and have three children. Together, they live in Seattle, Washington.

www.eugenecho.com