Testimonials – Mission Beloved

Encouraging the Encouragers. Strengthening the Weary. Championing the Called.

Over the years, Dave Choi’s ministry has touched countless lives—encouraging missionaries on the field, equipping pastors in the city, and inspiring individuals to walk boldly in their faith. The stories below are just a glimpse of how God has worked through his teaching, mentorship, and encouragement. These testimonies reflect not only Dave’s heart for people, but also the faithfulness of God in transforming lives.

I have known Dave for 20 years now. He came and mentored me when I was a young campus minister in Carson and Compton, California. His impact on my life is one of the reasons that I’m alive in Jesus today and am a pastor today. He is able to teach me and walk me through discipleship because he is a deeply rooted disciple of Jesus. I’ve never met anyone who loves the Bible more than Dave. He has encouraged me through conversations, prayers, and his sermons to love the Word with all my heart. As a mentor, Dave has taught me how to suffer faithfully. Very few people have been through the type of suffering he has and come out alive in Jesus. Dave is one of the few who not only has suffered greatly, but has persevered and at the same time continued to pour into other people and pastors around him.

Dave became so much more than a mentor. He became one of my favorite and most loyal friends I have ever had. He has shown me the way of Jesus ever since I met him. As a friend, Dave cares deeply about me. He is one of the best question askers I’ve ever met. He really cares about my soul. He’s always encouraging me to love the Bible and love Jesus. Dave is also one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. He is full of the joy of the Lord and that fullness overflows whenever I’m around him.

Dave is one of the most faithful to Jesus people I’ve ever met. He cares what Jesus thinks and not what the world thinks. Because of that, he has consistently chosen downward in ministry as opposed to ambitiously climbing the Christian ladder. This is probably the thing I respect most about him. His gift of preaching is seen by everyone who hears him. To me, he is the best preacher preaching the Word today. His ability to teach with clarity and with the power of the Holy Spirit, to convict hearts while presenting the Gospel is unmatched. I don’t know anyone more gifted in preaching than Dave is. His preaching is one of the things that I love and admire most about him. Even if it costs him dearly, he remains loyal to the standards of Jesus in his preaching.

Joe G. Pastor
Compton, CA

My family has been serving for the last eight years as missionaries in South Asia among people groups that have zero gospel witness beyond us. As we minister both directly and mobilize the less than 1% of local believers to venture out to the hardest places, it’s been an uphill journey with intense spiritual warfare, constant social and practical challenges, and walking with those in deep suffering.

We could not last or be fruitful without the community of faith praying for and supporting us. Dave has been a source of both for all of our field years. With his experience as a minister and missionary, as well as his powerful gifts of teaching and encouragement, he has held us up and moved us forward in our calling. He empowers us to thrive, centered in the Lord, so we can pursue disciples and church planting movements in our field. As Jethro to Moses, Dave is a minister to ministers. May the Lord bless his crucial kingdom work.

Paul M.
Missionary in South Asia

David is like a breath of fresh air for me and my ministry in Greece. His sermons and his presence always bring me back to that one important point, as it is written in the book of Revelation: back to first love with Jesus. With David, you not only hear the Gospel, but you see it in his life, and that is what motivates me. God has used David to encourage me when I have grown weary from serving on the mission field for such a long time. He is a true enrichment and a blessing in my life that I wouldn’t want to miss.

Petros

Missionary to the Arab world, Athens, Greece

I have known Dave for over 25 years, and throughout that time, he has pointed me back to Jesus again and again. He has helped me love Jesus more, and be reminded of my identity as Abba's beloved son, because of Christ alone. I'm grateful for his friendship and partnership in ministry, including helping me plant my current ministry eleven years ago. I'm excited to see how God will move in and through this brother in the years ahead.

Daniel S.

Pastor, Seattle WA

I’ve known David for about twenty years, and we have had the chance to have him come and speak to our singles. Our singles ministry was blessed to have him come and speak honestly about the challenges of this stage of life as Christians, while creating a place where people could be vulnerable, understood, and not feel like they were alone in the struggle. One of the differences was having a speaker that was walking through it and was able to share from his own experience.

Single Missionary, East Asia

Pastor David Choi has been my mentor for almost 20 years. After I received my MDiv in 2011, no church would hire me because I was honest about how my marriage was struggling, in that my wife and I did not get along. When Pastor David heard my story, he chose to choose me for the core team of his church plant because he saw that I was clinging on to the gospel, and the Holy Spirit used him to fan that flicker of hope into the flame of faith. When my wife left me at the end of 2012, my world was crushed and my faith was paralyzed. God used Pastor David to be one of the friends who carried me back to Jesus like the four friends carried the paralyzed man to Jesus, and my faith was resuscitated. My life and ministry will forever be marked by how God used Pastor David to help me remember to rejoice in the beauty of the Gospel even in the darkest valleys of life.

Mike Y.

Pastor, Chicago IL

Dave Choi is a gifted pastor, preacher, leader, coach—and a dear friend. In 2023, during one of the most difficult seasons of my life, I seriously considered stepping away from ministry. Dave was the one who showed up not just with sympathy, but with wisdom. He asked the right questions, pressed gently but deeply into my answers, and loved me enough to speak the truth. I honestly don’t know if I would’ve made it through that time—or remained in ministry—without him. Time and again, God has used Dave to inspire, guide, and strengthen me in my calling to lead well and love Jesus and others with integrity and joy.

Edwin C.

Pastor, Brooklyn NY

Dave has been instrumental in my growth as a pastor and preacher. He helped me incorporate the Gospel message into every sermon, thinking about the Bible as a whole and God's overarching plan that we are Beloved because of Christ alone. As we planted churches together in inner-city Chicago, Dave was someone I could trust to build me up when I was overwhelmed and provide wisdom and guidance as I navigated being new to pastoral ministry. He is a dynamic preacher who is able to connect the Word of God with people's hearts and minds, and I am truly grateful for this brother!

Daniel C.

Pastor, Jacksonville FL

I travel and evangelize almost every day of my life, but when I see David traveling almost 24 hours to edify us spiritually and serve us practically, I’m very happy because I see the character of Jesus Christ in him. He is a spiritual example for me, just as Paul was for Timothy. I thank God for him!

Amar

Missionary to Muslims, from Iraq

Pastor Dave met me when I was a broken man with a broken spirit. After my divorce, I lost my whole family, and I felt so alone and empty. I felt like I had lost my reason to live. He helped me find a new family and new friends. It’s hard to explain what his ministry has meant to me. He created an atmosphere at our church that is unlike anything I’ve ever known. He has been a great preacher, but he has been so much more. He is family to me and always will be. HE IS WHAT A PASTOR SHOULD BE!

Wade P.

Single, Searcy AR

Pastor Dave’s messages are always a seamlessly balanced mixture of passion, humor, knowledge, and conviction, but what truly makes them special is that he relentlessly gives all the glory to Jesus and pleads for us to yearn for a relationship with him. He is a pastor I could relate to, who came unashamed, with his brokenness on his sleeve. He made me feel like I could be myself. That I could say my fears and my flaws out loud. He has become family to me, and even now as the tears are flowing, I can rejoice knowing he will always be my family. I love Pastor Dave, and I am blessed beyond measure to have him in my life.

Jason S.

Single, Vallejo CA

Dave has been an incredible source of encouragement for me, especially during my lowest and most difficult times in life and ministry. He has the gift of not only verbally communicating the gospel, but more impactfully, he embodies it with his life. His love and care for church leaders and missionaries comes out of the intersection of his own ministry hardships and the gospel.

Matt Y.

Pastor, Washington D.C.

I’ve always wanted God to use all my life and yes, most important, the broken and lonely places. I’ve been married three times. I have been divorced three times…I just needed God and someone to show me that no matter what I had done in my past that God already knew. Pastor Dave came into my life at just the moment God wanted. He showed me that my past didn’t define me, but God approves of me and His love defines me. I am so thankful for his friendship and ministry.

Denise D.

Single, Cave City AR