The purpose of this study is to search Mattie Ingold’s life, the first lady missionary doctor served in Jeonla province. She is known as a founder of the Jesus Hospital in Jeon Ju, 108years old teaching hospital with 600 beds. But her contribution and limitation as a lady doctor was not properly evaluated. She was very well prepared medical missionary graduating Women’s Medical College in Baltimore with the first prize. She had passion for mission to Korean so much that she would not return home for this people. The Rock Hill First Presbyterian Church as a sending church was also very mission oriented enough to take care of her medical education for 5 years before sending her to Korea. However her ministry period as a medical missionary was only from 1898 to 1904. It seems not so long as to raise question if there were any reasons to quit medical ministry while serving in Jeon Ju until 1925. This study traced the Mattie Ingold’s life and circumstances she had faced at the end of 19th century and early 20th century during the Japanese colonialism. As other medical missionaries did in many area of mission fields she played an important role in introducing the Christianity by bridging the gap with the traditional worldview or with the Confucianism. Her warm hearted medical care was definitely contributed to get rid of xenophobia prevailing in those days just few years after the Donghak farmer’s revolutionary movement. Even though, as a lady doctor, her medical work was restricted to caring ladies and children, her zeal for evangelism made her translate the Christian Cathechism Primer into Korean which has been used by all missionaries in Jeonla area. She rather used her limitation as a merit by involving more actively in home visiting and providing medical care for ladies and children which was not easily available to men. She must have struggled with xenophobia, male superiority complex and the health issue of herself which could have shrink her back from active medical work. But most depressing factor might have been the mission policy based on dualistic view on the Christian mission that medical ministry was just subordinate to the evangelistic ministry and that the medical care was just a bait for evangelism. This policy could have resulted in restriction in allocating resources for medical ministry. Moreover, at that time, even mission agency had male dominating atmosphere that ladies could not have a voice in decision making. This study may provide a lesson which is worth in helping individual missionaries of today’s mission by revealing that how the policy of a mission society and the contemporary worldview affects on the individual missionary’s ministry.

• 최금희(전주대 부교수ㆍ대체건강관리학) | Choi Keumhee