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Born in North Korea and raised in South Korea, Sook Hee moved
to the United States at the age of 27 with her husband and children.
This move came close on the heels of a personal and religious
crisis, having learned at the age of 26 that her biological mother
had died giving birth to her and the people she had known as her
mother and father were actually her aunt and uncle. After much
soul-searching, Sook Hee says, she opened her heart to God and
began to feel at peace with God, with the world, and with herself.
"I certainly believe that God has a great plan," she
writes. That plan may have brought her full circle, as she now
serves women and the church in her homeland. "I was sent
back to Korea in the new millennium for the ministry of Korean
women who are in trouble," says Sook Hee.
Sook Hee was a certified dietitian and certified social worker
in Seoul, Korea, where she earned a bachelor of science degree
in food and nutrition at the Sook Myung Women’s University
in 1967. She was the director of the Samuel Daycare Center of
the River of Grace Foundation until she moved to the United States.
She became a certified social worker in New Jersey in 1994. Sook
Hee received her master’s degree in counseling from Montclair
State University in 1996. She was employed as a social worker
at the New York Family Service Center from 1996 to 1999. She received
her master’s of divinity from the New York Theological Seminary
in 1998 and continues her studies at the seminary. She received her doctor of ministry degree with a focus on domestic violence
in May 2001.
Sook Hee was ordained as a minister of the Word and Sacrament by
the Presbytery of the Palisades, in New Jersey, in 1999. That
same year, she participated at the 211th General Assembly of PC(USA)
in Fort Worth, Texas, as a Theological Seminary Advisory Delegate.
Sook Hee and her family attended the Presbyterian Church at Franklin
Lakes in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and she is a clergy member
of the Presbytery of the Palisades in New Jersey.
Sook Hee is accompanied by her husband, elder K.J. Bae, a chemist
retired from the Witco Crompton Corporation, Terrytown, New York.
The couple is not accompanied by their three sons, Samuel, David,
and Joseph. Sam is a medical doctor and his wife, Jade, is a lawyer.
They have four children, Sofia, Christian, Reyna, and Ronin. David is
an architect and his wife, Janine, is a lawyer. They have one
child, Augustus. Joe is a partner in an investment firm and his wife, Janice,
is a writer. They have four children, Owen, Daniel, and twins Sarah and James.
Birthdays:
Sook Hee Bae - October 7
Kook Jin Bae (husband) - January 12
Samuel (son) - March 9
Jade (daughter-in-law) - June 12
Christian (grandson) - August 2
Reyna (granddaughter)- June 22
Ronin (grandson) - December 12
David (son) - August 23
Janine (daughter-in-law) - May 4
Augustus (grandson) - January 3
Joseph (son) - January 12
Janice (daughter-in-law) - January 13
Owen (grandson)- November 14
Daniel (grandson) - March 5
Sarah (granddaughter) - December 18
James (grandson) - December 18
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