MARCIA KAY THOMSON

P.O. Box H 96

Hatfreld, Harare
Zimbabwe, Africa

Forwarding Agents
Mr. & Mrs. Wllford Leasure
Route 1

West Union, Illinois 62U77

MAY , 1989

Dear Christian Friends.

It is fall here in Harare and the Poinsettias are beginning to bloom. If we do not have
frost, they can last for several months. Some of them are as large as trees and in several
colors and varieties.

The Lord is so good to us to let us live in a beautiful world.

ZIMBABWE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE GRADUATION

This year's class is our largest class.

The 14 students that completed their studies at

2CC in April more than doubled the graduates of the school. Six of these students taught
at the high school on Monday mornings from January to April. The Thursday classes were
taught by Mr. Nyamatora and myself. Since these students are gone, we will be teaching
both Monday and Thursday. It has been a bit confusing to teach every other lesson but
the exp^rrence WSs good for the ZCC students.

hatfi^Ld high'School

In the education) system here the students take major exams every two years. All the
other exams and-lessons are just to prepare them as the final exam is their grade for the
class. This time the volunteer teachers in Religious Education got excellent results.

The attitude at school has changed toward us. Ann Goldsberry and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis got
100^ passes in the Form 4 and Form 6 cUsses.

Those classes are electives.

In Form 1 and Form 2 the students all take Religious and Moral Education.

In 1987 and

1988 I taught the students for the two years. The four classes taken together got a
3k% pass which is very good as you can see by comparing it with the other subjects. They

are graded from 1 to 9 with 1 to 6 being a passing grade.

2A 2B1
' 22
2
3

^
5

7
8
9

2B2 283

17

7
S

'
1
2
-

2A

^16

13
13

,6
-

51% of my students got 1 or 2.

15
15

88

11
11
20
20
5
2
_

38%
38t
13%
13%

}\%
11%
6%
6%
9%
9%
17%

2%
_

282

283

English 1001 37% ^^%

Religion 100% 100% 100%

7^%
77%

French

100%

History

2B1

75%

^6%

2'%

Science 93%
Geography 96%
^th
61%
57%

53%
$3%
17%
^3%
3k%

31%
7^%
3%
26%

72%

Art

35%

13%

Sewing

100%

k5%

35%

6%

3%

33%

At the beginning of this year 53 of my students signed up to take Luke and Acts during
Form 3 and k. Since we did not have room for all of them and the final results were not
out, we went back to their mid-year exam and only let those with a good grade take it.
MY CAR

At the end of December I took the car to South Africa and left it with instructions to

install a reconditioned engine. The first of February when I went after it the job was
not done right, and it took me 9 days to get it repaired and back to Harare,

meantime I was missing classes that I had made no assignments to cover.

In the

In those 9 days

I spent more on the car than I had when I purchased it, and almost twice the estimate.

Looking back I probably should have sold it, but now that I have spent all this money on
it I hope to drive it for another year until it is time for me to leave for the States.

I can buy another vehicle when I return.

It may be hard for you to believe but with the

shortage of vehicles here I may be able to get enough for the car to cover all I have

spent on it. It is a I98I Volkswagon Station Wagon. I owe a big thank you to Marilyn
Richards who drove to South Africa to bring me back when I left my car and to Judy Pickett
who took me down to collect it and stayed with me until I got all the problems taken care
of so I could come back.

AEROGRAMME

Horizons

P. 0. Box 2427

KnoxvilU,

TN 37920

SECOND FOLD

Sender's name and addres

Marc Ia Kay Thomson

P.O. Box H S6

Hatfield, Harare, Zimbabwe

HH

it

aerogramme should not contain any enclosure,

es, it will be surcharged or sent by ordinary mail.

FOLD

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MARC IA KAY THOMSON

P. 0. Box H 96
Hatfleld, Harare
Zimbabwe, Africa

Forwarding Agents

Mr.

& Mrs. Wllford Leasure

Route 1, Box ^6
West Union, Illinois 62^77
SEPTEMBER, 1989
Dear Christian Friends,

Greetings from Harare. We have survived winter, and spring is in the air. If plans go
ahead as it appears now I will miss winter next year. I am looking forward to leaving
here In April 1990 to spend about 6 months in the USA. If you have specific dates you
would like for me to spend with you, please let me know as soon as possible.
VISITORS

We have had a lot of visitors recently. Last school holiday Jane Busdeker from Mashoko
lived with me while she took a Shona language course. The Abels and Peter Grubbs families
were also here from Mashoko for the course. In June we had a group from Florida Christian
Cc^llege. While they were here Linda stayed with me. We have spent some time with others
as i-hey came thru here on the way to other parts of the country. Most recently John and

Madonna (Burget) Spratt were here.

Madonna and I lived in the same house at Mashoko when

I first came to work in this country. We will get to see them again before they leave
the country. That Is the advantage of being near the airport.
RESTHAVEN

RETREAT

Each year we have a retreat for missionaries at Resthaven near Harare. Again this year
I was in charge of reservations. We had 97 that registered but 90 were able to attend
for at least one night. Most stayed for all three nights.
I was in the position of
seeing that each family had satisfactory accomodations. There are cottages of various
sizes from 2 to 15 beds, so some families had to share. One cottage had people from
Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe altogether. The young people over 12 stayed In a dorm
at the youth camp. Each woman was assigned a meal to help prepare and each man one time
to wash dishes. This all makes opportunities for getting acquainted with new people and
fellowship with friends.

The program was well planned and met the needs of those in attendance. Steve hdgington
spoke before he left to return to Pacific Christian College in California. The other
speakers were some of the missionaries that had been assigned specific topics. Mission
kids and interns were 37 in number and aged from 9 months to 21 years. The older young
people taught the younger ones each morning.
THE NATIONAL CONFERhNCE OF CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN ZIMBABWE

On Friday, several of us left Resthaven and went to Gweru for the National Conference.

It was well attended probably around 800.

The high school assembly hall, including the

stage area, was packed for some of the sessions.

At times they divided and the young

people had their own sessions.

Saturday morning just before lunch, there was a panel discussion entitled, "Traditional

Healing and the Church."

The moderator was Dr. Zindoga Bungu from Mashoko Mission Hospital

The panel members included two teachers that are also church leaders.

Both of them had

taught in the Mashoko area when I was working at Mashoko. The preacher on the panel Is a
recent graduate of Zimbabwe Christian College who was trained while I have been with the
college. The fourth member, a minister's wife, I do not know well.

Within 2k hours I was talking with a woman after the church service In Harare that was
facing some of these very decisions. Her young son had been hit and killed by a car a few
weeks before this. The family members now expect her to go to the tribal home and appease
the ancestors. We have been praying that she will be strong In the face of her extended
family. The battle with Satan is ever present.
Kenneth Makusha spoke on "The Church and Education." He did an excellent job. A few
months ago Kenneth was in the USA so some of you may have met him. I was sorry to hear
about the mixup that prevented him from getting to Mt. Vernon, Illinois. I have worked
with Kenneth for many years and would have liked for you to be able to meet him.

PLEASE PRAY FOR ME

This year has been an exhausting one for me.

The supervision of the teaching at the high

school has been a big responsibility because almost all of the teachers are new teachers

and do not know just what the school expects of them.

Jayne was on furlough from January

to July so 1 was doing the customs and immigration work that she would have done if she
had been here. She is back now and since the VBS is finished is in a position to take

back these jobs. This short school break I was hoping to get caught up on several things.
With the retreat, the conference, a trip to South Africa for more car repairs, filing
my income tax and Ann's and writing this newsletter the time has gone. I did get a few
more hours sleep for part of the time but I do not feel like beginning another school term,
Please pray that I have extra strength to be able to cope with my schedule.

Thank you for all your help in the work here and especially for your prayers.

May God

bless you in your work for Him.

In Christian Love,

Marc la Kay Thom^n

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