Missionary Introduction

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  • Jean Butler Sibley

  • Korean name : Son Jin-Hee
  • Year of Birth : March 7, 1926 - present.
  • Academic background : Mount Holyoke College
  • Background and affiliation : Northern Presbyterian U.S.A.(NP)
  • Period of mission work in Korea : 1960 - 1977, 1981 - 1982.
  • Period of mission work at Dongsan Hospital : 1961∼1969.
  • Family details : John Rawson Sibley (husband)
  • Donald Sibley(eldest son)
  • Anne Sibley (first daughter)
  • Norman Sibley(second son)
  • Margaret Sibley(second daughter)
1. Jean Butler Sibley was the best helper's wife.

Jean Butler Sibley, who was called Son Jin-Hee, was born on March 7, 1926 in Louisville, Kentucky. It was Mrs. Giles, a youth teacher at the church, and Jean's mother who influenced her interest in missionary work. While serving as a member of the Presbyterian missionary department for 16 years, Jean's mother was invited to the church's youth department as a lecturer to encourage young people to live a devoted life as a missionary, and she prepared for the path of missionary under the influence of Jean's mother.

On July 2, 1948, she married Sibley and worked as an English teacher in middle and high school and as a part-time teacher after work, helping her husband who was financially struggling while he was a medical student, intern, and resident. Jean was her husband Sibley's best helper and wife. In addition, through Moody Bible Institution near their home, the couple were able to make spiritual preparations necessary for their ministry as missionaries.

2. Jean Butler Sibley did ministry work at Dongsan Christian Hospital and Kojedo.

Jean, who arrived at Dongsan Christian Hospital with her husband in 1961, consulted on the economic condition of those living in urban and rural areas among inpatients and supported hospitalization expenses. She also served as a ministry to help patients and their families become financially independent.

Jean gave an English lecture at the College of Nursing, and among the students who participated in the Tuesday Bible Study Class, she later joined the ministry of Kojedo. She majored in pedagogy at university and worked hard to educate her four children despite her busy work and strictly scheduled and educated them through self-directed learning methods.

Upon arriving in Kojedo, she set up a goat farm to supply milk to patients, gave work to families struggling with treatment costs, and held knitting classes to help women pay for their living expenses.

In addition, as a way to develop health care personnel in the future community, customized scholarship projects for poor students and disabled students were also supported with careful consideration to finish their studies. In a public monument set up by residents of Kojedo, it is recorded that "Mrs. Son Jin-hee had dozens of financially underprivileged students go to middle and high schools."

Jean Sibley Lecturing at Dongsan Christian Hospital Nursing School

Civil Monument of the Sibley couple established by local residents of Kojedo