Published: September 11, 2009 01:52 pm      

Missionary to speak at First Presbyterian

BY RUTH RICE

RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM

In Sudan, missionary Ingrid Reneau is instructing others to teach.

Reneau, an education officer, will give a report on her progress, “Focus on Sudan,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church, 309 Lincoln St., Johnstown.

Reneau was appointed to serve as education officer in Sudan in July 2007.

She works in southern Sudan in partnership with the Presbyterian Church of Sudan, the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church and the Association of Christian Resource Organizations Serving Sudan.

Reneau’s charge is to help implement plans to expand the church-sponsored school system, improve its administrative capabilities and strengthen its teaching methodologies.

Ruth Fisher, a member of First Presbyterian’s mission committee, said the church has partially sponsored Reneau’s efforts for the past three years.

“We like to try to have someone come so we can get to meet them,” Fisher said.

A covered-dish dinner with the chicken entree provided will be served at 6.

Reneau came to the United States from Belize when she was 13, and later worked her way from teller to assistant manager of the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co. in the 1980s.

Reneau graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English from Hunter College, part of the City University of New York.

She also holds master’s and doctorate degrees in literatures in English from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.

From 1994 to 2005, she held professional jobs relating to teaching literature and writing.

Reneau was an assistant professor in the English department and women’s studies program at the University of South Carolina in Columbia from 2000 to 2005.

She specialized in the literature of the African diaspora, 20th century American literature and black feminist theory.

In 2003, after a radical, transforming journey in which Reneau began living the Scriptures she had often repeated to herself, she was led to work with children and youth at minimum wage jobs.

Through that experience, Reneau found herself being called to mission work.

Reneau is a member of Shiloh Christian Fellowship, an interdenominational church in Oakland, Calif.



Program

What: “Focus on Sudan,” a missionary program with Ingrid Reneau.

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday; covered-dish dinner at 6.

Where: First Presbyterian Church, 309 Lincoln St., Johnstown.

Admission: Free.

Reservations: 536-8141.