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Marcia Kay ThomsonP. O. Box 240Fort VictoriaZimbabwe, Africa
/a'So
Forwarding AgentsMr. & Mrs. Wilford E. LeasureRoute 1West
Union, Illinois 62477
February, 1980
Dear Christian Friends,
Each year we have a feeling of a fresh start. This year in
Rhodesiave know is going to he different "but we do not know just
how things aregoing to change.
During 1979 the country was known as Zimhabwe Rhodesia hut when
theBritish governor arrived to take over it became Rhodesia. When
thenew election is held and the new constitution goes into effect
it willbe Zimbabwe, so I will use that for my address since it is
so soon.
The months that the talks were going on in London everything was
at abit of a standstill here. People were listening for the latest
newsand many Christians spent hours in prayer. As I write,
agreement hasbeen reached but we are all wondering if it will
really be properlyput into effect.
The monitoring force has arrived and although they have had
experiencein other countries they were given information on snakes,
elephant andlion as they arrived here. One of them was seen in Fort
Victoria whenthe temperature was in the 90's wearing long dark
corduroy pants. Theydo not know the country, the languages or the
people. Their job willnot be an easy one.
But we cannot place our trust in man. God is in control and we
mustlook to Him. During the last election I know many people were
praying.I had expected it to be one of the worst times. Those that
were heresay that it was amazing. There was much less violence than
wasexpected during the election. After the election was over, then
the
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violence increased again. This "fcime as you hear of "the
election,which we think will "be February 27-29, we need your
prayers; but afterthe election we need your continued prayers that
everyone will abideby the results of the election. Above all we
know that the importantthing is to keep the Gospel in the country.
Bibles have been sellingrapidly. The Shona Bible has been out of
print many times. Then a^new translation came out. Many people
objected to the new translation.In the I9U9 Bible several words
such as prophet and altar had beentransliterated into Shona as
Shona had no word with the same meaning.The new translators have
decided to use Shona words so they end upwith the same word for
prophet and for spirit medium. The word chosenfor altar is the one
used for the place where a family worships theirancestors; it is
always inside the house. There are several moreerrors but you can
see that they are worth making a fuss about.Because of this new
translation the Bible Society had quit printingthe old Bible which
has made the demand excede the supply. Catchingup with the demand
will not be easy now that they have agreed toreprint. Please also
pray for the committee that is working to correctthe new
translation.
SCRIPTURE CLASSES
We hear that some changes will be made to the school scripture
classes.It seems this will come about gradually. They are starting
someexperimental classes with new lesson material in I6 high
schools thisyear. Other schools will probably start in 198I.
CHURCHES
Our churches in town are meeting and some in the rural areas are
alsoable to meet but we do pray for a peace that will enable those
thathave been intimidated to feel free to worship openly. We
realizethough that it could get much worse and the churches that
are presentlymeeting could be persecuted.
WEDNESDAY MORNING WOMEN'S IffiETIWG
During the school vacation these meetings are being held at my
house.We had a pot luck supper for Christmas which was at my house.
The_other women brought their husbands and we had 19 people. With a
bitof rearranging we were all able to be seated at a table for the
meal.After eating we enjoyed singing some Christmas carols. Some of
thewomen have moved away or started working but we have some new
onesattending. For some time we have been doing a verse by verse
studyof the book of Matthew.
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TUESDAY AFTERNOON WOMEN'S MEETING
Recently I have started meeting with this afternoon group. They
havea smaller numher of women than we have on Wednesday mornings,
most ofwhom have been out of town during the school vacation so we
have not"been meeting. The leader of this group and in whose house
it met,moved away at the end of December. As the other members
return wewill try to get these meetings started again.
ESTHER GROUP
During the war some women have started prayer groups all over
thecountry. We have 10-12 of these groups in Fort Victoria. Several
ofthe women from our church go to the Pioneer Lodge (retirement
home)and pray with the women of the lodge that are interested in
prayingfor others. We have a specific area of the country for which
we pray.It is divided so that each area of the country is to have a
group thatprays for them.
Datsun and Renault
CAR
The Renault I had been driving is a 197^ and was requiring quite
a bitof repair and was too slow for convoys. Before I bought it it
had beendriven a lot on "bush" roads. The Ben Penningtons left for
furloughand I took over their car. It is a 19T8 Datsun and is in
goodcondition; it gets good milage; it is faster and less apt to
break downon the road. The Renault was a station wagon and easy to
haul thingsin. To make up for that I have a rack on the top of the
Datsun.
HOUSE
Because of the generosity of many of you I was able to make the
down
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payment on the house and it wasput into my name while I was
inthe States. Since I got back Ihad the trim oh the housepainted,
which had needed doingfor several years. This wasaccomplished
before the rainsstarted. The Johnsons did someelectrical work and
plumbingand also installed some burglarbars and screens on the
windowswhile they lived in the house.They have now been paid
forthese things. Prices havealready increased on houses inthis
area. Several people thathave seen the house remark thatI certainly
got a good buy.
PRAY
The events of the next coupleof months will be most importantin
the life of this country.We have a wonderful God who isable and
willing to help us ineverything if we but ask Him.Please join us in
praying forthose that are in places ofauthority that they may
havewisdom to handle the problemsas they arise. Also for thegeneral
public as they go tocast their votes that they willvote for the men
that will bestadminister the country. Prg.yfor those that teach
God'sword. '
I
Because of Christ.,
Marcia Kay Thomson'.
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Marcia Kay ThomsonP.O. Box 240
!) Fort Vi ctor i aZimbabwe, Africa
7 ;'' ; Forwarding Agents
- Mr. & Mrs. Wilford E. LeasureRoute 1West Union, Illinois
62^77
April, 1980
Dear Christian Friends,
This country is to get Its Independence at midnight on April
17.The next two days are to be holidays but the post office will
beopen for a couple of hours to seH the first Zimbabwe stamps.
!Intend to mail this letter at that time so it will be postmarkedon
the first day. For stamp collectors that will make this stampmore
valuable.
The government that was elected the last few days of February
willtake over and the British Governor will leave. A very
impressIvelist of visitors are expected for the Independence
celebrations.
What will independence mean?
Peace? Since the elections the war has stopped. There are
stillsome people roaming around the country with guns but some of
themare being tracked dcwn. In a few areas convoys still run but
people are free to travel places they have not been for years.
Duringthe Easter week-end many Africans travelled to their homes In
the'bush' and the resorts were full. The news was about 20
peoplebeing killed In traffic accidents but not the war deaths we
havehad for so long.
Economic development? For many years we have had economic
sanctions against the country. These have been lifted and offers
oftrade agreements have come from all areas of the world.
Education? The African people have always been eager to
havetheir children educated. The urban schools are Integrated
nowand with the war stopping many rural schools are opening again.I
hear that Africans who have been In other countries for manyyears
are returning. Some of them wi11 be wel1 qualified toteach. It will
take many years to get schools for all the children even If this Is
high on the government priority list.
Christianity? Of course, this Is the most important of
all.During the war some Christian leaders have lost their lives
butothers have stood fast In the face of persecution and are
stronger than they were. The government has indicated that they
willlet the mission reopen their schools and hospitals.
This sounds like all of our problems are over but 1 do not
thinkthat Is true. How long will the church be free? Mr.
RobertMugabe was educated In a Roman Catholic school. His wife
Isfrom Ghana. March 7 the "Herald" ran an Interview with
SallyMugabe. One paragraph I quote.
A Roman Catholic convert, Mrs. Mugabe last wentto church In
Mozambique in 1975, "I really don'tsee the need for it these days,"
she says with frankness.
On March 26 In an article entitled, 'Co-existence policy
withSouth AfricaMugabe,' we find this paragraph:
Mr. Mugabe said he would apply marxist, Christian andtraditional
African principles when Rhodesia becomesIndependent Zimbabwe on
April 18.
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BY AIR MAILPAR AVION
AEROGRAMME
AIR-LETTER
//Si \v,mI
SECOND FOLD
Sender's name and address:
From readiMany peop]elect ionsresu]ts wement for Zmy prayerWe do
notholds thethe gospel
Marcia Kay Thomson
P.O. Box 2^0
Fort Victoria
Zimbabwe, Africa
An Aif-Lelter should not contain any enclosure..If it does, it
will be surcharged or sent by ordinary mail.
ISHId 39d3 SlHi ONGIVinO N3dO 01'HKbl f-ULU
ng the newspapers one cannot tell what the future holdse were
praying for this country at the time of theand the days following.
Even though the electionre a surprise we accept that God has given
this govern-imbabwe. When I was with you last year and even now,is
the same, 'May this country be open to the Gospel.'know what the
future holds but as we look to God whofuture would you join us in
prayer for the spread of
in the new Zimbabwe?
For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against
theprincipalities, against the powers, against the world rulers
ofthis present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of
wickednessin the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12.
Because of Christ,
Marcia Kay Thomson
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AugMarcia Kay Thomson
P.O. Box 240Ft. VictoriaZimbabwe Rhodesia, Africa
Forwarding AgentsMr. & Mrs. Wilford E. LeasureRoute 1West
Union, Illinois 62477
July, 1980
? 19sq
Greetings from Zimbabwe,
Our new country Is launched now. The holidays are over and the
newparliament has been passing laws. The first day they made
almosteveryone happy when they did away with fuel rationing. They
havealso lowered sales tax from 15% to ]0%. They announced the
amountsthey plan to pass for the minimum wage. There is one amount
fordomestic workers and more than twice that amount for industry.
Someof the people say things are not changing fast enough and
othersthink they are changing too fast.
JUNIOR SCHOOL
The government passed legislation last year to change t+ie
schoolscripture classes. No change was made immediately as the
newmaterial was not ready. They have now completed the Grade 3
materialIt Is designed for the class teacher to teach her students.
Theheadmaster is free to assign others to teach if he desires to do
so.At the junior school I have been given one of the Grade 3
classes toteach. Up until now I have had a small class with
students fromthird to seventh grades. With 28 all at the same level
I am findingit easier to reach all the students. The material is
well preparedand as they complete more of the books the other
students will alsobe taught with their regular class.
HELEN MCGHIE SCHOOL
A minister that has been teaching at Helen McGhie Is moving out
oftown. He called me and asked if I wanted to assume
responsibility
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for his class as well. I have put the two classes together for
partof the lesson and then we diyiide. A woman from the church is
goingwith me to take the youngeris gaining experiance in thiare
being taught by their cl
FORT VICTORIA CHRISTIAN CHUR^
This year we have had some m^ichurches in the country. Thof the
congregation down. LkNow with younger people comikeep them during
the sermonfrom the service.
MISSION MEETING
May 15 and 16 Fort VictoriaWe had nearly 100^ attendancevisitors
from Zambia, Southover a hotel on the shores ogood place for
fellowship asHayden, the chairman of theHe stayed in Fort
Victoriahimself with our work. He gwhen we were in Mt. Vernon,
Ifoup while I take the older ones. Sheway. At that school the
third graders
5S teacher.
inbers move to Fort Victoria from other5 has helped to bring the
average age5t year I was one of the younger members~ we also have
several children and I
me so that their parents can gain more'ig
CENTRAL AFRICA STORY
The June issue of the Storyto see a copy. It is a larg^over the
country. At the Mayannual Story, so my job as e^DEWURE MISSION
On April 15 I was able to gohelped count broken window p^make an
estimate of the coststate.
DAY BY DAY
It has been amusing to watchnormality in certain areas,without
convoys. Others dorationing unit.
osted the Central Africa Mission meeting,of our mission family
and then had
Frica and the USA. We were able to takeLake Kyle for this
meeting. This was a
well as the meeting itself. Dr. MarshallHoard, came from the USA
for the meeting,
for 3 days after the meeting to acquaint^ts great delight in
telling people that
llinois, I used to baby sit with him.
ips been sent out and I hope you are ableissue this time with
messages from allmeeting we discussed putting out an
itor may not be over after all.
to Dewure Mission with the Johnsons. Iles as this information
was needed toDf restoring the mission to its original
people's reactions to the return toSome say they must learn to
drive again
not know how to buy fuel except by the
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Robberies are on the increase; especially hard hit are the
elderlypeople. Some have been tricked into letting someone into
theirhomes; others have left a door or window open and had things
takenwithout even hearing the thief.
Things are going along in a rather normal way but it is
interestingto notice the changes in our news coverage. Just after
the electionsthe news broadcasters started calling the Prime
Minister, ComradeMugabe. Then about the next day they changed to
Mr. Mugabe. Sincethe Independance celebrations on April 18 they
have called him andmany others comrade. We also get lots of news
from communist countries, often refe.rred to as progressive
countries. In an article inthe newspaper they spelled out some of
their new policies.
Rules for the newsSanday Mall Reporter
NEWS staff at the ZBC bave biiinstructed that tbe Soiifli
AfricanGovernment should be referred to a*the "Pretoria regime" and
that wifereverpossible the adjective "apartheid" ehouklbe Dsed bt
describing It.
A notice headed "Attention all staffat news desk" says: "In
follow-up ofoDf people - orientated Government'swelt-deflned policy
towards the repressive regime in South Africa," tbe editorof news
and current affairs
- fai r percentage to equal th
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December, 1980,
Dear Christian Friends,
Greetings during the Holidays when we think of the birth of
ourKing here on this earth in fulfillment of prophesy. May you
havea pleasant and profitable time of witnessing for Him
whereeveryou may be.
Thank you to many of you who sent cards and gifts for my
birthday.Because our school year ends December 12 and many people
leave onvacation we had the Victoria Singers' Christmas program
November26 and 27. Then several Americans here got together on the
28thand had a Thanksgiving meal and celebrated my birthday.
That was all very wonderful but two more things happened on the
28th,The early morning news told of fuel prices going up and the
papersaid that electricity would go up about 10%. Several months
ago
Hrhey introduced ]5% Ethonol into our petrol (gasoline). At
thetime the stations switched over gradually and there was no
changein price. They said there would have been an increase if we
hadn'tswitched to blend. Now we get a tax imposed on blend.
According tomy figures this increases the price from $3.11 to $3.52
a gallon.
Our church has been growing in its outreach. Some have come
andsome have gone but our average attendance for October-November
I98OIs 9 above the same months last year. Two of our men were
killedin an airplane crash October 7- John Fay had been stationed
inFort Victoria since December 1979. He flew a government plane
totransport government employees into the rural areas to do
theirwork. He had met the Lord while in Salisbury and he witnessed
toa great number of people in Fort Victoria. The Clark family
hadonly started attending our services a short while before
theaccident. They had been in the Church of Christ when they
livedin Gwelo. We are thankful that these men knew the Lord and
wepray that people who have been awakened by their sudden
deathsmight be brought to the Lord. We have some evidence that this
ishappen Ing.
The church bought a house in which to hold services. Besides
thelivingroom to use for services there was plenty of room in
whichto live. It is not a good idea to have unoccupied property
thesedays so I am living in the house and taking care of it. I
havefurnished a room for the children. They can use this
duringSunday services and during the women's meetings. I have
madeanother bedroom into my livingroom. The Johnsons are living
inmy house.
The women's meetings on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday
morningare both going well. Some that attend have grown toward the
Lordand others have grown in the Lord.
Please pray concerning the Scripture Classes in the schools.
Manythings are being changed these days but we believe that it
willbe best if they continue to let us teach in the schools.
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BY AIR MAILPAR AVION
19130 -9 OF'"
AEROGRAMME
AIR-LETTER
Vf
SECOND FOLD
S FLAN
Sender's name and address:
Mareia Kay Thomson
P. 0. Box IkO
Fort Victoria
Zimbabwe, Africa
,1 O!Q
An Air-Lettei; shourd not con^in any enclosure,%.4'If itdoes, it
will be Surcharged or sent by ordjnayy^raail.
i..
iSaid 3008 SIHl DN01V ino N3dO 01
several charismatic meetings have been held in Fort Victoria
inthe last six months. They have brought up many questions.
Whenpeople start talking sbout the Lord it gives an opportunity
toteach His Word more fully. The most recent meeting was held in
atent that would hold 10,000. People tell me that some nights
thetent was overflowing. These services were both In English
andShona, Pray that people will continue to be Interested and
willbe open to teaching.
IEven though there are problems in some areas, travel Is
freerthan it has been for years. African evangelists are back in
therural areas. There is a' big push by the government to get
schoolsreopened and also many new schools. Please pray for those of
usthat are here to be able to work to maximum capacity and alsopray
for more laborers for the harvest field. Thank you for yoursupport
and prayers th^t make it possible to carry on the workhere.
Because of Christ,
Marcia Kay Thomson.
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