Korean Language Camp Doubles as a Cultural and Spiritual Opportunity

The Global Korean Studies Department of Sahmyook University and the Youth Department of the Taiwan conference organized the Korean language camp ‘Winter of that Year.’

From January 15-20 on the campus of Sahmyook University, a total of 92 university students and youths participated in the camp. Participants included 63 Taiwanese youths, 16 students from Sahmyook University’s Global Korean Studies Department, and 13 youths from the ACT (Adventist Collegians with Tidings) organization.

The camp operated with a program based on small group interactions, with the 92 participants divided into eight groups. In the morning, participants engaged in Korean language classes, which were divided into five levels, from beginner to advanced. Classes covered self-introduction, places participants would like to visit, Korean drama dialogues, and introducing personal belongings as topics.

In the afternoon, participants engaged in cultural experiences such as K-beauty, traditional games, and Korean food. Organizers also offered activities such as learning K-pop dances and touring Korean tourist attractions.

Morning and evening sessions included lectures by Yang Yo-han, from the Sahmyook Adventist University Church, followed by small group discussions for spiritual reflection and training. On the final day, two Taiwanese youths accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and got baptized.

Sahmyook University and the Youth Department of the Taiwan Conference have closely collaborated on campus mission work in Taiwan for some time. Currently, there are missionaries from Sahmyook University, including Pioneer Mission Movement Missionaries (PMM) pastors and Public Campus Ministries Missionaries (PCM), dispatched to seven churches in Taiwan. They have established Korean language clubs on nearby university campuses, using the Korean Wave and Korean culture as points of contact to actively engage in campus missions.

About Sahmyook University

Sahmyook University is a Seventh-day Adventist coeducational school located in Nowon-gu, Seoul, South Korea. The higher educational institution is part of the network of Adventist schools, academies, colleges, and universities around the world.

The school was founded in 1906 as Euimyung College by Adventist missionaries in Sunahn, Pyeongan-namdo, in what today is part of North Korea. Its primary goal was to improve the education of the workers of the Adventist Church in Korea. Today, it is one of the largest universities owned by the Adventist Church.

Each January, thousands of students apply to Sahmyook University. Only a small percentage of them are accepted. Most of them are from other faith traditions. At the institution’s centennial in 2016, only one in six students were baptized church members.

The original version of this story was posted on the Northern Asia-Pacific Division news site.