Thomson MarciaKay 2000 Zimbabwe

MarciaKay Thomson, 10:34 PM 1/8/2004+0200, M K ThomsonN/L Jan 2004 Page 1 of 2

User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/9,0.2509Date: Thu, 08 Jan 2004 22:34:32 +0200Subject: M K Thomson N/L Jan 2004From: Marcia Kay Thomson To: Ms N/L , N-Os N/L ,

P - Qs N/L , Rs N/L

Marcia Kay ThomsonP. 0. Box 231MasvingoZimbabwe, AfricaPhone: 011-263-39-62285Cell Phone: 011-263-11-211-375E-mail: [email protected] Check to be sure you are not [email protected]

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your part in my ministry in prayers and in financial backing.

The Lord has brought us to another year. I have been back in Africa for ayear and the Lord has blessed His work in Zimbabwe even with all theproblems that the country of Zimbabwe is going through. He can continue tobless us in the coming year. Please continue to pray for the work.

As I write this letter I have been in Johannesburg, South Africa, for acouple of weeks. I timed this visit to be here while Peggy Pennington andLeann Morris were here from the USA. Brion and Joyce Morris and their son,David, are here in Johannesburg. We had a Christmas Day Service at theirhouse. I joined Leann, Joyce and Peggy to make a quartet for a special. I amstaying with Alice Fishback. We went to Dennis and Linda Messimer^s houseand joined with other missionaries for lunch and an afternoon of fellowship.

On New Yearns Day we were again at Messimer^s house. They had invited somepeople from the Alberton congregation. This included Marie Webb, her sonAlan Murray and his wife. Marie worked in the mission^s medical team atChiredzi when Alan was very young. Later Paul and Marie moved to Masvingo.They were a part of the Masvingo congregation when we were a very smallgroup. Marie was the matron of the Pioneer Lodge. They left for South Africabecause of Paulas poor health. It was so good to get to spend time catchingup on the years. We left after 5:30. About 10:30 we got a telephone callfrom Joyce Morris saying she had received a phone caU from Messimers. Twothieves had come into their house, assaulted them and taken several thingsincluding their car. Brion and Roland Joseph went to the house. Rolandhurried the police and after the pohce left Brion took Messimers to theclinic for stitches and to stay at their house for two nights. The otherfamily that lives with them returned from vacation and they moved back home.

Shungu Chivaviro made contact with Morrises on Sunday. Monday I picked upPeggy and Shungu and we went shopping. When I was taking Shungu home I mether husband. She introduced me to Wm as her Simday School teacher when shewas 9 years old and said I brought her to the Lord and Jack Penningtonbaptized her.

Wednesday, January 7 I went to the dermatologist and he treated my face andarms for allthe sundamage. Friday we planto travel back toMasvingo. ^

Printed for Mission Services Association 1/12/2004

MarciaKay Thomson, 10:34PM 1/8/2004+0200, M K ThomsonN/L Jan 2004 Page 2 of 2 ,

Penny and Alex Austin traveled with me and they have been visitingrelatives.

Masvingo Christian Church has had a very fruitful year. We had a weekendrevival and the next weekend a retreat. These were followed with severalbaptisms over the next several weeks. Five of those baptized are over 70years old. We have paid off our building and our faith promise will increaseour giving to missions and benevolence. We are helping to start a newcongregation in Beit Bridge.

CAMELS Print Shop is carrying on. It has been necessary for us to importsome paper. We have now completed the revision of the Shona Hymnal. 5000have been printed and in January they will be assembled ready to go out. Wehave some more projects ready for this year. Our staff members work in allthree congregations in Masvingo.

Zimbabwe Christian College is in the process of building the newadministration building. This wiU give more efficiency in administrationand make more room for housing. The students and staff continue to go out towork in the churches. We have a graduation in April and start a new schoolyear in May.

May God grant you a fruitful year in his service during 2004.

Yours in His service,

Marcia Kay Thomson

Printed for Mission Services Association 1/12/2004

Marcia KayThomson, 11:26 PM 5/29/2004 +0200, M K Thomson N/L May2004 Page 1of 3

User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/9.0.2509Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 23:26:42 +0200Subject: M K Thomson N/L May2004From: Marcia Kay Thomson To: Hs N/L , I-Js N/L ,

K-Ls N/L , Ms N/L

29 May 2004

Dear Friends,

Some of you have written to ask if I am still around. I am sorry that I havenot written sooner. It is not because I had nothing to say.

In February I put out a prayer letter for CAMELS to some on my mailing list.We had 4 senior employees off work, our paper order was delayed and ourguillotine was not working. A big thank you to those of you that prayed. Theemployees were back on the job the next week. It took some time for theguillotine (paper cutter) to be repaired, but we did not have to notify thecompany in Johannesburg that supplied it to send a crew to repair it.Eventually we received the paper but they wanted to charge us fortransportation that we had already paid and for off loading and reloadingthe paper at the border that was necessary because of their mistake. It hasbeen a long battle but we finally won. Just after I wrote that letter Idiscovered spots on my back. I was already scheduled to go to South Africato take two people that had been here for a family funeral. I made the tripand did the shopping necessary in two days. The next day was Saturday and Itook the day off. On Monday I went to the doctor and was treated for an overreaction to an insect bite, llie treatment did not clear up the problem and Ifinally confirmed that it was Shingles. The delay in taking the rightmedicine has not helped.

I was happy to be able to see Dr. Dale and Sue Alice Erickson on my trip toHarare for the annual meeting of the advisory board of ZCC. I was also ableto meet Walter Msapa. He had started his Bible college training in SouthAfrica but returned to Harare for his grandmother^s funeral and had problemswith immigration. The SA missionaries asked me to help. It was not easy butwe finally got him back in SA to continue his studies.

When Jack and Peggy Pennington lived next door to me in Harare, Jack was thepreacher of the Harare Christian Church as well as the principal of theZimbabwe Christian College. When he died in Florida last August a servicewas held there. Because of the African custom of having a memorial servicewhere a person is know, a service was planned to go along with the ZCCgraduation in April. The following Sunday the church also had a specialservice. Peggy flew firom the USA to Johannesburg where their daughter,Joyce, and family work. She was able to be in Harare almost a week to seepeople. Joyce and her son, David, and an intern from the USA were also inHarare. I stayed with them and provided transportation to make their visitprofitable by seeing as many people as possible. Since we worked in Harareat the same time I also got to see many people that I had not seen foryears.

ZCC board met April 22 and stayed tiU the 23rd. That day we welcomedMarshall and Judy Hayden and Tom and Carolyn Sherrod and had a special timeof sharing with them. They are from the Worthington congregation in

PriTxted for Mission Senrices Association 6/1/2004

Marcia Kay Thomson, 11:26 PM 5/29/2004 +0200, MKThomson N/L May2004 Page 2 of3

Columbus, Ohio. Marshall has been involved with Zimbabwe missions for manyyears. For several years he has been the forwarding agent for ZCC. Tom hasstarted helping with this work recently. Marshall and I have known eachother since we were in the Central church in Mt. Vemon, IL, when his fatherwas the preacher. Carolyn was at Mashoko Mission when I was there as amissionary and her father was the dentist. I was pleased that they were ableto see more of the work and come by Masvingo to share with us on Simday.Kenneth Makusha had arranged for them to see the Great Zimbabwe on Sundayafternoon. He invited me to go along. We started by cHmbing the hillcomplex first and then to see the great enclosure. I had not climbed to thetop ofthe hill for years but I made it. These are ancient ruins made ofdrystone walls. That is they do not have any mortar to hold the stone together.The word Zimbabwe means house of stone. We also saw monkeys and baboons.

May 1 to 10a team of8 counselors from the Southeast churchin Louisville,KY, was here with the Masvingo, Mucheke and Rujeko congregations. Theypreached, had classes^nd alsoprivate counseUng sessions. Some ofthemwanted to goto an Africanvillage. I made arrangements with oneoftheCAMELS employees to go to his rural home. We met his uncle, the headman ofthe area, and several women and children. Since there was no way to notifypeople wewere coming Newton^s father had gone to a meetingat the schooland his stepmotherwas at the clinic. Ahalf sister ofNewton^s died a fewweeks before our visit. Her grave and Newton^s mother^s grave are very closeto the village. Wetook blankets for her two preschoolchildren and somefood for the family. Now Newton^s father is raising 7 orphanedgrandchildren. Some ofthem are going to school but a 13-year-old girl issta3dng home to help raise the smallerchildren. This is not an isolatedincident. With HIV/AIDS we have lost many parents who have left children toberaised by grandparents.Some donot have grandparents to raise them andthe children are on their own. Some are with other extended family members.A few are in orphanages. With the economy as it is even families that areall alive are having trouble with finances. Salaries have not kept up withinflation so even people with jobs have problems. With 80%unemploymentthose that have jobs also need to share with their relatives.This year the rains hayecome and gone withlong dryspells in the midstofthe rainy season.Mostpeople donot have good crops. In the area that wevisited the people were reaping a crop with a short season but some oftheseed was not the right variety so the taller plants had no seeds and thegrowing seasonhas finished. They thoughtthey were going tohavefood butdid not know until just before harvest that some of the seed was the wrongvariety. The government has announced that there is plenty offood and theaid organizationsshould quit feedingpeople. Theydo not want theinterference of the aid organizations. Many fear that there will be muchstarvation this year.

The staff at CAMELS is keeping busy. Besides the other orders they havereprintedthe Tonga hymnal and an updatedversion of(EBecoming God^s Woman.^A new version of the (EStewardship Lessons^ in Shona is ready to go to press,

I was re-elected as the treasurer for the Masvingo Christian Church. We hada faith promise and each month we dividethe income firom FP into 5 parts:l.The Pioneer Trust cares for older white people. 2. Mucheke Old PeoplesHome cares for older black people. 3. Alpha Cottages cares for orphans. 4.ZCC. 5. Start of a new church in Beit Bridge.

Printed for Mission Services Association 6/1/2004

Marcia Kay Thomson, 11:26 PM 5/29/2004 +0200, MKThomson N/L May2004 Page 3ot 3

Many peopl come to me for help inthese difficult times. Mr. Govo ispreaching inChivi. I have been helping his son with school fees so he cango to high school. Until now he has been meeting the other family needs withhis farming. This year he had almost no crops. He really needs a salary totake Him tothe next harvest. If you want to designate anyextra money forhelping sustain people for this year please label it and send it to.Forwarding Agents:George & Jane Dees22508 E. Webb RoadBluford, lUinois [email protected]

May God continue tobless you asyou serve him where you are. Pleasecontinue to pray for us. Dennis Kaufman was here for the third time. Afterspending a week with us he preached on May 9. He said, "The AmericanChristians needto seethat the Christians in Zimbabwe can remam faithfulunder the pressure thatison them." Please pray thatwe do remain faithful.It is a bighelp to know that your prayers are upholding us.

Because Christ gave himself for us,

Marcia Kay Thomson

Printed for Mission Services Association 6/1/2004