The evangelical pastor, who turned Buddhist monk K, temporarily went through hell in his experiences of death, describing it as a barren wasteland filled with giant demons, “suffering” and “terror.”
In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, Steve Kang revealed that he had a face-to-face experience with the supernatural after he described the suicide attempt as an eight-hour descent into the dark realm of torture that he believes is hell.
“That’s not where you want to go,” Kang said. “I don’t want Kim Jong-il or Hitler to go there. I don’t want the worst enemy to go there.”
Get the latest news for free
Subscribe to get daily/weekly emails with Top Stories (plus special offers!) from Christian Post. I know first.
In September 1998, while fighting substance abuse and plagued by what he believed to be the property of the devil, Kang tried to take his life by cutting through his neck and stomach. Kang says his mind has plunged into what could only be called hell as the surgeon worked desperately to repair the damages in a California hospital.
“There was no light,” he said. “There were no plants. I’ve never seen even an ounce of grass. It was like a rocky floor. There are cliffs everywhere, and it looks like a purple-red.
The 20-minute experience, when the doctor later told him it lasted about 8 hours in real time, left a mark in the can.
“I don’t have the ability to talk to people. It was so much pain, so many accusations, so much terrifying. It was like an increase in anxiety and a fear of condemnation,” he said.
He remembered the giant demon and watched his soul in agony on the “3rd, 4th, 5th floor.” “I knew they were in charge of this place,” Kang said.
According to Kang, the emotional pain was worse than the physical torture he could imagine. “So many guilt, shame, fear. It was worse than death.”
Kang grew up in a Buddhist family and was once trained to become a monk, but his mother was turned away when he sought help from a Korean temple while in hospital. Instead, she reached out to her Christian friends, and the Christians brought a prayer group to the hospital.
“They started praying and the doctor later said this was a miracle,” Kang said.
According to Kang, his spiritual experience suddenly changed when he felt someone was praying for him. He said he felt an overwhelming sense of peace, washed him away and heard a voice he believed was yes.
“It was the moment,” he said, “I immediately left hell and returned to my body.”
Kang told the Daily Mail that the doctor who treated him later said.
Now calm for 25 years, Kang said, “I (…) I don’t drink, I don’t smoke anymore, don’t see stupid things online. God has given me this inner strength.”
Kang said he has been silent for years, not knowing how to deal with what happened. However, recently he has connected with others who have had similar experiences, many of whom have explained almost identical visions of hell and heaven, and gave him the courage to speak out.
“I started to see that this isn’t just Steve’s story,” Kang said. “This is the story of every nation, every nation, every nation, someone God has decided to get mercy.”
He now shares his story widely, hoping to warn others about what he calls “mental cancer.”
“I think our job is to share stories and tell people that there is a cure for mental cancer, sin and death,” Kang said.
A 2022 survey published in Frontiers in Psychology reviewed 465 near death accounts and found that nearly 10% were related to negative experiences, including hellish landscapes and suffering.
In a recent interview with the Christian Post, Michael Yousef, pastor of the Apostle Church in Atlanta, Georgia, said it is important to understand what Jesus is saying about hell through the New Testament.
“That’s very important,” he said. “No one wants to talk about hell today. They don’t think hell exists. No one is going to go to hell. And I said, “What? Are you saying Jesus is lying? Everything you know about hell is from Jesus.”
“The people who knowingly oppose God’s Word and are very big Santa Claus in heaven that God doesn’t care about, who are shaking with sin and don’t care how you live, are those who are extremely shocked at that last day or at the time of death.”
It is impossible to understand the beauty of heaven without acknowledging the fear of hell, Yousef said. He warned that the “Hollywood idea” of everyone going to heaven when they die is a “lie through a hole in hell.”
“Everyone thinks they are good. Anyone who says, ‘Am I a bad?’ says that in heaven there are bad people in heaven. Or be unsure or uncertain. ”
