A Korean gathering place in Madison
Madison Sah-Lang Church
Madison Sah-Lang Church
By Richard Yoon
Every Sunday afternoon, there is one place where hundreds of Korean people gather. Many seem to be
undergraduate students in the University of Wisconsin-Madison. However, there are also many children and
parents. Not surprisingly, the place is the Madison Sah-Lang Church, a Presbyterian Church located at 5501
University Ave. Madison, Wisconsin.
In 1995, five Korean families started the church. They were graduate students in Madison. Since there were only
few Korean communities in Madison, the church functioned not only as spreading the gospel but also helping
local Korean students settle down in the Madison community.
With the development of the Internet, the church came up with its own website to answer many questions from
people in Korea who plan to immigrate to the United States of America. The church specifically lists the items that
people should have in Madison because the weather is too different from that in Korea. If people need, the church
helps people open new bank account because many of new immigrants are afraid to speak in English. Moreover,
the church provides space where people can spend few nights before getting their own residents. These
examples show how the church helps new immigrants settle down in Madison and how the church contributes to
Korean community buildup.
When Korean students are apart from their family, they tend to feel lonely. They usually get homesick and miss
Korean food. Some students cannot afford to fly back home during winter and summer vacations. For those
students, the church organizes a group meeting on Friday nights. Every Friday, the church serves Korean food
and sometimes shows Korean movies to fulfill students’ needs. People also meet in the church and continue
their social life outside the church. The social life helps students soothe their homesickness. Therefore, the
church also plays and important role in inspiring Korean students to succeed in school and make their life easier.
Korean students also help the local Korean community. The church hires undergraduate Korean students to help
children learn Korean language because many children have been born and raised in U.S. The program helps
these children keep their identity as Korean American and reminds them of where their parents are from. Helping
children learn the Korean language and culture not only reminds them of their origin, but also improves their
relationship with parents. Korean students have also contributed to the local Madison community by organizing a
volunteer group to visit homeless people and serve free meals, and visit hospitals to help sick people regularly.
The church also spends part of its collected contributions to those poor people in order to build a better
community in Madison.
In addition, the church also helps harmonize the relationship between old and young generations. The church
organizes a bible study every Saturday for both generations. Participants in the bible study share their stories with
one another and pray for each other. By doing that, the old and young generations take the time to build up a
relationship outside school and get to know each other. If anyone in the group needs help, he/she can get help
easily. For instance, there was a student who had to call 911 for emergency help. He did not speak English
fluently at the time, and was afraid to call 911 by himself. He called one of members from the bible study to help
him. Luckily, he got in touch with one of the members and was safely taken to the Emergency Room. If he did not
know anyone from the church, he could have died. Therefore, new students are recommended to leave their
information to the church every year when they arrive at Madison.
Moreover, the church has extended their help to reach out internationally. The church is associated with another
volunteer organization, called International Cross. It leads the Korean Community to participate in supporting poor
children all over the world by donating certain amount of money every month. The organization is trying to help
children in poor countries have proper education and daily meals. The church donates certain amount of money
from the collected contributions every week for this purpose.
In conclusion, Madison Sah-Lang church is where Korean students and local residents gather to attend a
religious service, as well as to share their difficulties in adapting to a new environment. It tries to help build a
better Korean community in Madison. It also tries to link the Korean community to many other Madison local
communities so that the Korean community can be respected and find harmony with the locals. This church is a
spiritual shelter, as well as a place of refuge, for all Koreans in the Madison area.
Richard Yoon is a student at UW-Madison. He wrote this piece for Asian Wisconzine, as a project for an Asian
American Studies course, under Asst. Prof. Jan Miyasaki.
Every Sunday afternoon, there is one place where hundreds of Korean people gather. Many seem to be
undergraduate students in the University of Wisconsin-Madison. However, there are also many children and
parents. Not surprisingly, the place is the Madison Sah-Lang Church, a Presbyterian Church located at 5501
University Ave. Madison, Wisconsin.
In 1995, five Korean families started the church. They were graduate students in Madison. Since there were only
few Korean communities in Madison, the church functioned not only as spreading the gospel but also helping
local Korean students settle down in the Madison community.
With the development of the Internet, the church came up with its own website to answer many questions from
people in Korea who plan to immigrate to the United States of America. The church specifically lists the items that
people should have in Madison because the weather is too different from that in Korea. If people need, the church
helps people open new bank account because many of new immigrants are afraid to speak in English. Moreover,
the church provides space where people can spend few nights before getting their own residents. These
examples show how the church helps new immigrants settle down in Madison and how the church contributes to
Korean community buildup.
When Korean students are apart from their family, they tend to feel lonely. They usually get homesick and miss
Korean food. Some students cannot afford to fly back home during winter and summer vacations. For those
students, the church organizes a group meeting on Friday nights. Every Friday, the church serves Korean food
and sometimes shows Korean movies to fulfill students’ needs. People also meet in the church and continue
their social life outside the church. The social life helps students soothe their homesickness. Therefore, the
church also plays and important role in inspiring Korean students to succeed in school and make their life easier.
Korean students also help the local Korean community. The church hires undergraduate Korean students to help
children learn Korean language because many children have been born and raised in U.S. The program helps
these children keep their identity as Korean American and reminds them of where their parents are from. Helping
children learn the Korean language and culture not only reminds them of their origin, but also improves their
relationship with parents. Korean students have also contributed to the local Madison community by organizing a
volunteer group to visit homeless people and serve free meals, and visit hospitals to help sick people regularly.
The church also spends part of its collected contributions to those poor people in order to build a better
community in Madison.
In addition, the church also helps harmonize the relationship between old and young generations. The church
organizes a bible study every Saturday for both generations. Participants in the bible study share their stories with
one another and pray for each other. By doing that, the old and young generations take the time to build up a
relationship outside school and get to know each other. If anyone in the group needs help, he/she can get help
easily. For instance, there was a student who had to call 911 for emergency help. He did not speak English
fluently at the time, and was afraid to call 911 by himself. He called one of members from the bible study to help
him. Luckily, he got in touch with one of the members and was safely taken to the Emergency Room. If he did not
know anyone from the church, he could have died. Therefore, new students are recommended to leave their
information to the church every year when they arrive at Madison.
Moreover, the church has extended their help to reach out internationally. The church is associated with another
volunteer organization, called International Cross. It leads the Korean Community to participate in supporting poor
children all over the world by donating certain amount of money every month. The organization is trying to help
children in poor countries have proper education and daily meals. The church donates certain amount of money
from the collected contributions every week for this purpose.
In conclusion, Madison Sah-Lang church is where Korean students and local residents gather to attend a
religious service, as well as to share their difficulties in adapting to a new environment. It tries to help build a
better Korean community in Madison. It also tries to link the Korean community to many other Madison local
communities so that the Korean community can be respected and find harmony with the locals. This church is a
spiritual shelter, as well as a place of refuge, for all Koreans in the Madison area.
Richard Yoon is a student at UW-Madison. He wrote this piece for Asian Wisconzine, as a project for an Asian
American Studies course, under Asst. Prof. Jan Miyasaki.