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Missionary service is dream turned reality
By LINDA M. LINONIS
youngstown
When the Rev. Donna J. Sloan was 9, she dreamed of being a missionary nurse.
Now in her 70s, she has graduated seven times with various degrees, including a doctorate, and counts careers as a registered nurse, minister and adjunct professor as accomplishments.
Beginning in August, she will train ministers by teaching for two years at Zomba Theological College in Zomba, Malawi, in southeast Africa. “I see it as an extension of the rest of my career,” the Rev. Ms. Sloan said. “The desire for mission work has never left me.”
A career as a nurse figured as a big part of her life. For some 50 years after graduating from Youngstown Hospital School of Nursing, she worked as a registered nurse in the Mahoning Valley and New England.
During that time, she also earned a master’s degree in public health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a master of divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School.
Ms. Sloan was ordained in 1987 in the Swedenborgian Church. In the 1990s, she served on the ministerial staff at Boston Church of the New Jerusalem and St. Mark Congregational Church in Boston. She tallied 20 years into ministry. Currently, she is a ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church, 201 Wick Ave.
In the mid-1990s, Ms. Sloan returned to the Valley where her aging parents lived. She persuaded them to move in with her, where they lived until they died. In 2013, she retired from Youngstown State University, where she was an adjunct professor who taught philosophy and religious studies.
Ms. Sloan joked she should be “over 100 years old” because of the years devoted to her careers, which overlapped.
“I had the call to ministry and answered. The church continues to call,” she said. “I feel like you have to keep moving. ... I don’t feel like I’m ready for a rocking chair. As long as God gives me energy, I’ll keep going.”
Ms. Sloan said she credited her parents with instilling motivation in their children. One sister is a nurse, the other a teacher and their brother is a lawyer.
She noted that growing up, her life revolved around God, family, church, school and Campbell Christian Center. “It was a great experience,” she said. “The church has always been important to me. When I was 5 years old, I gave a speech at church. I learned about ‘daring to be a Daniel’ ... carrying out your convictions.”
Most importantly, she knew she wanted “to do something with my life.” “I think we all need to contribute to make the world a better place,” she said.
In 2009, her family had their DNA tested. She noted that most black Americans don’t know where they are from. The DNA test revealed a 99.4 percent match to the Oroma Tribe in Ethiopia. “That’s deep stuff,” she said of the family learning of its ancestry. The link to the Oroma Tribe was through her father; her mother’s side revealed Near East lineage.
Ms. Sloan said about three years ago, she went on a mission trip to Ethiopia. “I felt a connection with the people there,” she said.
“That was good preparation for this trip,” she said. A vegetarian, she plans to take dried meals, cereal and dried milk to supplement her diet.
She also is packing a harp. Ms. Sloan said she always wanted to learn to play and is taking lessons from Valley harpist, Kirk Kupensky. She’s arranged to have lessons via Skype and will keep in touch with family and friends by phone and Internet.