Working From Ghana

I am here in Ghana now after being on leave for one year since our God of Surprises marriage in 2012 to Prof. Andrew F. Walls. As you know, my journey in PC(USA) World Mission began seven years ago, serving as an Education Officer in South Sudan with Across.


It is now continuing with my appointment effective January 1 as a Research Fellow at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture (ACI) in Akropong, Ghana.
Indeed, on Feb 3, I leave for Akropong, but this will be a short first semester for me as I’m returning to the U.S.A. in May–July for an Interpretation Assignment (IA); I will say more about this later.

Undoubtedly this appointment to ACI, a postgraduate research institute of university status, is a continuation of the YES I surrendered to our Father to enter into his mission in South Sudan, and indeed, in the continent of Africa. In my quest to function as a better missionary educator of South Sudan’s teachers and educational leaders, I hungered for an understanding that would match my deep appreciation for the South Sudanese people’s resilience and strength of spirit. Eventually I was guided to the works of the founders of ACI, the late African theologian Ghanaian Kwame Bediako and his wife, Gillian Bediako. Through their cutting-edge Christian scholarship, with a focus on African cultures, I came to see the connections between African cultures and the development of Christianity in South Sudan. 

These connections enabled rich insights into my praxis as a Christian educator that I felt compelled to share with others. Thus, together with Andrew, who has been teaching at ACI now for more than 20 years, I’ll share in ACI’s work of stimulating theology in relation to African cultures and promoting Christian scholarship in Africa. This new work will enable me to combine my skills, training and experience to contribute to PC(USA)’s World Mission objective of partnering with its global partner, ACI, in developing and training Christian leaders

As I embark on this new, yet continued, journey, I ask you to prayerfully consider inviting me to come and visit you in the May–July 2014 period, when I will return to the U.S.A. for Interpretation Assignment. I would love to come and share with you the ways in which the ministry that began with your loving and generous support in 2007 is continuing and developing to the glory of God and the building up of the church. So as I leave for Akropong, and even whilst there, I would like very much to start scheduling some of these visits with you, which can be visits to churches, presbyteries, seminaries and other groups. Please, contact me and send your mailing address and preferred email address to me at inrewalls@gmail.com.

Please note, whilst on IA I will receive a salary, so an honorarium is not necessary. However, hosting congregations and others are asked to cover travel costs and to provide meals and lodging; homestays are welcomed, and of course, travel expenses can be shared between two or more congregations or presbyteries in the same general area, and in some cases, World Mission may be able to help.

Clearly, whilst I have come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord Jesus, you have all been the instruments through whom that leaning on him has been made visible. None of us ever make this journey alone! So I’m eternally grateful for all the ways in which you have walked with me in the past in international mission. And I look to you now to continue our journey in accordance to the will and purpose of what our Father would accomplish through us, together, at ACI, at PC(USA) World Mission, and in each of our lives as the collective, global body of our Lord Jesus Christ.  And to those of you who will join this walk into new horizons of glory, I welcome you, and I give thanks for you too and look forward to our long, lasting partnership in international mission. As ever, I will be in touch through letters and other media, and I welcome in return your letters, emails, cards and all the ways in which you will share with me and Andrew your own ideas, thoughts and prayer/praise requests.

The abounding Grace and Lovingkindness of our dear Lord Jesus be with/in you all, Amen.

Ingrid Reneau Walls

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
 declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, 
so are my ways higher than your ways
 and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55: 8, 9).
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 22Read more about Ingrid Reneau Walls' ministryWrite to Ingrid Reneau Walls
Individuals: Give online to MI910022 for Ingrid Reneau Walls' sending and support Congregations: Give to D507538 for Ingrid