PERSONAL FILE

Date June 2^, 1972

Name in full Dianne VIood

Complete address on field Box 117Chiredzi, Rhodesia Africa

Complete forwarding address Mrs. Sheldon Thomas1700 Central, Dodge City, Kansas 67801

Name and address of Livinglink church or churches:

First Christian Church

Strfifit. Fifth & Vine Street,

City Podge City Rfgfp Kansas City, _Zone, .State..

Names and addresses of other sponsoring or endorsing churches:Many Southwest Kansas churches supplied travel funds.

BtT-epf- Street,

7,nnp RtntP City. 7nnP_ RtfltP

Please send along with this form copies of recommendations from churches which will encourageother churches to support your missionary work. There are churches which will not allow avisiting missionary to speak unless a church recommendation can be shown. Since it is impossible for any one person to know all Christians in the world, this recommendation by a responsible New Testament church is a vital help in persuading others of your worthiness and the valueof your mission. Mission Services stands ready to help you inform HORIZONS readers aboutyour church recommendations. Since the church is sending you to the mission field (Acts 13:1-3)and will help provide the necessary needs on the field, naturally the church should share thecredit in your missionary ministry. One of the ways that the church can do this is to share theirconviction regarding your missionary ministry with others. Certainly, their words will helpconvince others regarding the worthiness of your work. Please help MISSION SERVICES tospread your news through HORIZONS, Packets and Slide library by sending your church recommendations as soon as possible. Thanks. Send what you have now, and the others later.

Recommendations by Christian Leaders: (List names and addresses here and enclose a copy ofeach letter, thanks.)

NAME. NamP.

Bfrppt Street,

City Zone Stater.Hy. State,

Name and address of hometown npwRpapRr Dodge City Daily Globe

Podge City. Kansas

Name and address of other papers which might carry stories of your work:

Kutchinson NeVrs

Street.

Pity Hutcliinson xone State

Street.

City_

Dodge City

Zone. State.

KansasPlace of PTRTH. Trinity Hospital

Day ofhirtTi ^8 Month. Vpar_ 19^8

Where haptiaoH?. First Christian Church

nity Podge City

PfltA October 21. 19'SS

StatA Kansas

On an extra page please describe any details regarding conversion which you might care tomention.

MARITAL STATUS:MarriAd, Single,

Date of marrfng-A

Divorced.

Who solemnized your wedding?

Widowed.

Where married?

List children by full name giving place, day, month, and year of birth:(If your children have been adopted, please indicate.)

Name Place of their birth day, month, and year

Please list places of previous Christian service and what service you did. Give approximate dates:

Place

.FCC Dodge Citv

ServiceChoir, Organ, PianoYouth Activities

Dates

1957 - 1968

OBC Jonlin,

Concert Choir 5f y^s.Trio 2 yrs. &: other 1966 - 1971 •

St. James Methodist Joplin Organist Choir Director 1970 - 1971

Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mex. MissionarT,'- intern Summers - 1969, 1970 , 1971

SCHOOLING (high school and later):

Name of school Location Number of years Degrees and date granted

Dodge City High .Dodge Citv. Kans. k

.Ozark Bible College. rTonlin. I-nRsmir-i T^i ¥2-'-, 1972

What things influenced you to become a missionary? What is your purpose? What do you hopeto accomplish on the mission field? Your own story in some detail might be influential in leadingothers into fulltime service (Use an extra sheet if you need more space):

Ashland Christian Service Camp, Ashland, Kansas, ms a big influence on Marilyn'sdecision to become a missionary. From the time she ^•ra.s in junior high school, hermind was made iip. She is seanring temporarily in Rhodesia while Marcia Kay Thonpson

is on furlough but hopes to go back to Mexico. She has worked with Bill Burr inChihuahua.

Describe briefly in outline form the nature of your daily duties on the field:

Keeps books for Central African >assion dealing mainly with schools in the Chiredziand Mashoko areas. Has charge of pajrroll and book store inventories for fiveschools with an enrollment of about ifflOO students. Helped with Junior Camp atSalisbury. ^

Which of the following terms most nearly describes your missionary status?

FvangAlist. Bible College Tp-flnhftr. Public School Teacher^

Homemaker—_ nr.ntnr Nurse__ Social worker. Music teacher.

Radio miniatrv. Radio fnllownp , nhriRtian Service Camp ^ Linguistics.

Maintenance of mission pgnipmpnt Benevolence. Office work,.,..X—— Name other:

PARENTS:

Vathpr'g namp anH hamp nHHyAcg- TTnT-raT-ri T-JonH T.iving Y Deceased^

- 220^ Fifth Ave. Rt-pppt. Dodg-e Citv r.i^r Kansas Zone State,

His nrnnpatmn truck driver Tg he a Christian? yes^JL-.no_

What positions of leadership has he held in the local church?

What Christian service does he now do? Elder

Mother's full maiden name: Tcvl Baldx-dn Living^JL—^Deceased.

RtrPPt 22.0h- Fifth Ave. nity Dodge Ditv TinrP Rf-ate Kanee.q

Is she a Christian? YesJL-No.^ Her occupation if employed outside the hnme bookkeeper

What leadership positions or Christian service has she rendered to the local church.?,

Teacher 8 \rrs. Jr. Dept. Suet. 7 vrs. MeT-jsletter Secretary - Bill ^urr 7 -^.rrs

FORWARDING AGENT:

Name Mrs. Sheldon ThoTnas Rtra.Pt 1700 Central

Citv. Dodge City Zone, State. Kansas Telephone:. 3l6 227-7^1-00

Where attend nhnreh?. First Christian Church Rtreet Fifth Vine

Citv, Dodge Citv. Kansas 7:nnp State

What duties are performed by the forwarding agent-. Keeps records of income & expenses

Does the forwarding agent receive a Ralary?. No

Should money be sent to the forwarding agent nnly?. Ypr

In what form should funds be gent? Cash or check

If funds are to be sent directly to the missionary on the field, please explain the details of how todo it, so we can give your explanation to HORIZONS readers and others who may inquire.

Use the remainder of this sheet or an additional sheet to supply other Information which you thinkmight be helpful to the staff of MISSION SERVICES in preparing news stories about your ministry:

Since Marilyn is on a temporary assignment in Africa, we are not sure you will wantto include her name on your 1973 list. She plans to come back to the states inFebruary, 1973. There is a possibility that she may fill in for another Rhodesian

^ missionary when Marcia Kay Thompson returns to Rhodesia but at present her plans arenot definite.

71972

August 18, 1972

Dear Christian Friends,

"Winter's come and siunmer's movin' on" to paraphrase a popular song of afew years ago. The people here in Hipno Valley are very thankful that summer is onits way. vfe experienced the coldest -.-rinter in over 30 years in Rhodesia. Temperatures wore below freezing several times here in Chiredzi T-jhich is quite unusual.The one good thing about the ^Tintor here is that it is short.

Even though it has bee^^. a cold iTinter, the work of the Lord all over Rhodesiahas not suffered, but has made very good gains. Most of you i-jill rer.err.ber tr.at Iwrote rabout Greg Van EK'ke's being seriously injured in a car wreel:. A week .afterI wrote to you last time, Greg recovered consciousness. This was a short tine afterthe doctors had told the Van Eykes that Grog would not live through the night. Gregcontinued steadily.' to improve in the hospital in Salisbury until f5.nally the doctorsallowed hi:.i to go home. He has been home since the first part of August and tlie VanDykes say that he is imnroving by leaps and bounds since he has been hone. Theyvdsh to thank all 01 you for the prayers that have been offered on their behalf.

Anotlier missionary also became seriously ill. Tliis time it i-jas Gay Anmermanwhose parents, Bruce and Karolyn, are missionaries at Chidamoyo. One night in JuneGay started ha'̂ dn'̂ convulsions. Dr. Bill I'lice, at Cliida-ioyo, couldn't do anythingfor her, so he fleiT her into SaJ-isbuip/. The doctors there were mystified, too.Gay had been hemcrrhaging, so she head to have some blood tr?,nsfusions. At one timethe Arnmormans - ere told tlia.t Gay wcidd not live. Then miraculously Gay started torecover. Within ten days aftershe had been adltted to the hospital, she t-ias released,One doctor told the Amnermans, "You folk sure do believe in the power of prayer, don't

"y^?" So what had been near tragedy for two families has turned into great victoriesfor the Lord and nrcvided an invaluable ^luness to the doctors and medical staff atSalisbury' General Hospital.

Another event tha.t has helped to fi.irther the cause of Christ in Rhodesia hasbeen the arrival of the Reggie Thomas team. They arrived in the countr:;- on June 2and have wcn'od all over Rhodesi<a. They are finishing their last owo weeks nere inBulawayo. Host of them will be back in the States by th.e end of Augi.ust, Thevictories for the Lord have been tremendous in the meeting that the team has held.The team consisted of Reggie and A3.ice Thomas and their four cliildrcn, Janice andFaye Rostvit, Janet ard Gail Todd (Cecil Todd's daughters), a^d Doug Willis, ^evangelist from Australia. Because of t^ie large number and ouustanaing talev.u, tneteajn solit up into three sr-aller tea.is, thus making it possible to caripr on threemeetiiig simultaneously. During the two and a hnlweeks t rat tne team was here inGiiiredzi, scrvd.ces Tjerc held in at least te" difforcnt areas. One new Airican wor*:was started. A Buronean congregation was esteblis':ed in the Helsettcr area whoreJohn and Slierman Pemborton ta'^e turns f-oing every other week-er-d to hold services.This work in lielscttcr was begun by a couple who were converted vrk.eu Reggie was herefour years ago. In "i he Cniredzi area alone, there ^-lere over decisions made forth.e Lord. The majority o.f the.se people want to be baptized. The Africaai eva'̂ gcD.isi/Shave been ke^^t busy studyina :-7ith these pecole sn tiiat tlie;/" will l:now for sure wnat^they are doing. As a result, severaJ. hundred have n.o.-r been, baptized a^.d the rest 0^them i-jill bo in th.e near future.

The da7/ after the team a.rrivGd here we got up at five in the morning, loadedpicnic gear and other supmlies into our vehicles, a*;d lo.tt town by six. DGSoinaoicn.Gona-Re-Ziiou game eeserve located south of Chiredzi on the Mozambique border. :Jehad our picnic lunc}i on th.e cli-'M's next to the Huanetsi l^iver. We could hear thehinpos dov.Ti in tf-sc rivor. Tliero were at least six of them, but they kent themselvessubmerged most of the ti'ViO, coining up only for air. Some o- tho team wont down tothe river to get a closer look, but x preferred ti'.e view through binoculiars from asafer distarco. After lunch we wo?it back towards the housing area where they had

SEP 7 Wg •thirty baby elephants in peris waiting for shipment to zoos. VJe got a ver7,r close look,and Alice Thomas even got to feed one xd-th a baby bottle type contraption. Afterlooking at the elephants, \:e all loaded up into our two pick-ups anrlwent on a gamerun. Even though the grass was high and it was getting late, we were quite successful.We saw an elepha-it family, impala, laida, several other animals belonging to theantelope family, and zebra. By the time we were through with the game lain, xie werecovered from head to toe vjith dirt. We all looked a sight, but we did have a verj''enjoyable tien.

Two days later, we took the team out to the Ray &)arrow ranch, Ih*, Sparrow gotall of us into the bad; of a Toyota jeep a^d took us on another game run. This timewe saw zebra, eland, inpala, a hartebeest, a xdldebeest, bush buck, water buck, andwart hogs. He has sevora.! ostriches near his house, too. In a paddock close tothe house, there are a water buffalo, a sable, and a Kuc'u. They are all tame and •can be petted. Yes, even the x-r.tor buffalo. After lunch, we had a short servicexfith the Sparr'^w family before returning to Chiredzii As a result of those two tripsI can nox-r say I have seen some x-rild animals - ot'ier thaii insects and lizards,

T'Jhile the tean was here, I a3.so had the privlloge of going to my first Africanservice. It x-zas held at night under a tree in the center of an African compound.Tony Thomas x-zas the preacher, Watson Mabona, one of our African preo-chers, was hisinterpreter. Ligt.ting was provided by one kerosene lamp placed in the tree. The/one thing that really impressed me was the x-ray the Africans, sing, Idon't know howto describe it other than tosay that it x-ras just beautiful. The song leader startsthe song and they all join in. Thejr sing in four part harmcrr,'- x-jithout looking atany notes. As 1 said, it x-ras just beautiful.

On July 16, the dedication scr\'-ices for the Tshovni Church of Qirist x-ras hold.This is our church in the African location in Ohirodzi. Watson Mabona is the preacher.Several members of the Reggie Tlionas team took part - gi\'lng greeting from thechurches in Austrrolia and U.S. and singing special music. Special music x-ras alsopresented by -a group from a church in Triangle and our African Bible college inFort Victoria. Dr. Dennis Pruett gave the main dedicator^.'' address.

Severe?.! of you have probabl;/ xTOndered about the school system in this country,One of the most noticeable differences in toe school year. It begins in January.'" and ^ends in December. There are throe school holidays of anpro:dLraately a month - one..inApril-May, the second in August-Sen-tenber, and the t bird in December-January/. It

•^is the lax-r in t'.is countiy that the Bible be taught in the scl-iools - both public and^//private. The govcrment school here in Chiredzi has set aside one hoxor on Tuesda;ys^ and Thu.'sdays x-rhen the Bibl i lessons aro taught. Any church xdxo has children from

its congrega.tion in the school ma;/ come 'and t^acii those children during the time setaside. As a result, tlxc scrioturo classes are taugh.t by people from the Catholic,Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Qiurch of Clirist churches. In tlxe two classestaugh.t by Marjo-'ie Penberton there are over ^0 stx'dents ex-i .^oll-ed* I have had theprivilege of sxxbstituting for her x-nie:-: she x-ras ill or out o.f toxm.- As xrith all teachingit is hard work, but it also has its rex-rards, I t'xinl: the greates t Ixing a,bout it isthat the goverrmeot sees the necessity for a spiritual education for the poop3.eof Rhodesia. I hope this idea x-iill contimxe.

Another pri\u.lege that I had in those last tx-jo months was directing th.e choxaisfor a comedy re^axe t al was yrat on at tlie club a couple ox' x-reeks ago» I also playedthe pia.no for i.lie shox-r. The shox7 x-zas much like a variety shoxx that x-rc see on TV inthe States, I had 22 singers to x-7orlc -with, and at times, tlxings xrere a. little hectic,but overj'-tlxin.g x-rent x-rell x-rixen x-re final!?/ performed. Worlcing in the shox-r gave me anopnortxxnity to meet more of the noople in Chii^edzi and to get to knoxr them a littlebetter. As a result, I have r,.made one good contact for the Ixerd, axxd one or tx-xootliers are possibilities for th.e future.

In closing t'.xis letter, I xxoxild li!ce to make cn-trqy.nT prnver recuests. The firstis a pra?'cr of rejoicing for Greg Van D^/l-re's and G'gv/Sn-eman'.toi^co^rios.. .Mso aprayer of rejoicing for th.o xxictorics x-xon tliroxxgh the Reggie Thomas carapalgns. ?3.easepray tliat the ncx-x converts xxill be strengthened in the faith and that those xxho re-

7

dedicated themselves to the Lord idll renain stronf^ in Him. Several of us have beenill ^.Tith flu, malaria, an^i oth^r diseases, ^ay that ue might remain in good healthso that the work of the Lord cari continue Tjithout interruption. I-Iarjorie Pembertonwill have surger^r at the e-d of this month. Pray that she mil have a quick recoveryand be able to return to her work quickly.

The final prayer request is for me porsonall^^. Most of you loiow that I haveworked in Mexico for three surim<>rs and have a deep love for the country, people, an(^the work there. It ha.s beer, my plaji to return there if possible. Bil3^and Robertt^ThiT'r. the missionari'">s with whom I have tjorked, are having to leave Mexico becausethey do not have residence permits. To get them would cost at least $l^,OOO.fC and^there wouls still be no guarantee that they could sta:,^ in the country. Their plansare to move to SL Paso, Texas, and carr^'' on the work from there. They will also workin Juarez, the city across the river from EL Paso. Tliey have invited i;:g to -rome andwork mth t'^em in EL Paso. Please pra;/ for me that. I wiD.l do the Lord's imLll inthis matter. Aj.so pra:' for the dnristia^s in ChmLhualiua, where the Rirrs h^ve beenwor'iing, that tiiis -lill be a tine for grovrbh for them instead of a setback.

Thanlc you so much for the cont-irued support ^rou give me through your prayers.I really appreciate it. May God bless each one of jrou as you serve Him wherever youare.

Love in Christ,

Maril?m.Wood

November 2, 1972

Dear Christian Friends,

Greetings from hot Rhodesia. Actually, it's not too bad yet, but within thenext few weeks, it will get quite hot and stay that way for several months. Sinceit's starting to get cold there, you might think of us over here suffering in theheat, euid maybe it will keep you from getting too cold.

A few days after I wrote ray last letter to you, Sherman Pemberton, MarilynRichards and I left for Chidamoypv in the^orthern part of Rhodesia, to attendthe African Churches of Christ conference/ The meeting started on Saturday night

""ahd ended oh Monday night. African Cliristians from all over Rhodesia came totake psirt in this conference, many of them having saved their money for a year60 that they would be able to attend this meeting. This year, for the first time,the Tonga people from the Binga area came. Since many of them have no dealingsat all with any Shona people, it v/as necessary for some one to interpret themessages into Tonga as well as Shona. This was quite confusing for the missionaries who were used to one interpreter. They waited for the Shona interpreterbut half of the time for got the Tonga interpreter. It was rather amusing attimes.

^^-The m6^ impressive thing to me about the African and his worship to God is•singing.' So many of them have never had any musical training, but they sing

f four part harmony just beautifully. No matter how large or small the congregation,people will sing in harmony and with such joy that it puts many of us to shame.

This conference is much like our conventions. The people meet for fellowshipand spiritual food. The total registrations were around 1,000, but at least oneof the services had around 1,500 people there. For the first time, an African waselected as chairman for the next conference, which will be in 197^ at Dadaya wherethe New Zealand missionaries work. By 197^, the work at Dadaya will be totallyunder the authority of the African church, and there will no longer be anymissionaries there. The dream of setting up an indigenous church in Rhodesia isbecoming a reality. ^ -

September was a relatively quiet month for me. We did keep busy, though,helping Sherman sind Judi Pemberton get ready for Senior csirap which was heldduring the middle of the month. The camp was quite successful. Since then, atleast two of the boys who attended have decided to go into the ministry. Wepraise the Lord for this.

After camp, Sherman and Judi had just one v/eek to get ready to leave for thethier two daughters le|i;-.on,.Sapten^3^!25'* They are

making their home at Kentucky Christian College in Grayson, Kentucky, for thisnext year.

Next v/eek the community choir of Chiredzi will begin practicing the cantatawhich will be presented about a week before Christmas. This year we are presenting"The Night the Angels Sang" by John Peterson. I have the privilege of directingthe choir for this cantata. I am looking forward to v/orking with the choir andpresenting this cantata to the whole community. It is one of the ways of showingto all the real meaning of Christmas.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a"conferenca'of missionaries from Zambiaand Rhodesia ^at "ResthavenJ'. Resthaven^^-^JTew miles north of Salisbury was builtfor missionaries'-^i'^b'give them a place to "get away from it all". It is truly a"rest haven". At the conference, we discussed various problems that confront uson the mission field. We women met for one session and joined the men for theother sessions. The greatest lesson was presented by Mrs. Jack Pennington. Itconcerned love — lo^ for husband and wife, love for the people we work with,and love for the fellow missionaries. We all felt that this session was veryworthwhile sind left the conference with a prayer in our hearts that we would be

more loving and that we would show this love to each other. We had discussions,recreation periods and an evening service. This conference was quite similar toa church camp. Next year it will probably expand into a family camp with specialclasses plainned for the children. Le^^iJ&oSaadaH from Lusaka, Zambia is in chargeof the program and ]^est.er VanDyka ffom Fort Victoria is in charge of localarrangements. We juit give thanks to God that we were all able to meet for thistime of sharing and fellowship.

I want to thank all of you for your prayers in my behalf these^last few months.My year here in Rhodesia is rapidly drawing to a close. I have decided to go toEl Paso when I return to the States. Next fall, a new Bible College will openthere and I hope to help with this. . I will be working with Spanish AmericanEvangelism, an organization which has a large radio ministry and correspondencecourses available to the people in Mexico and the Spanish speaking people inTexas and New Mexico. I have enjoyed working in Rhodesia, but I look forward toreturning to work among the Mexican people whom I love very dearly.

I would ask that you continue to pray for me — especially that I wouldcontinue to let the Lord lead me in the paths that He would have me go. Also, ^pray for us"as we labor for Him here in Rhodesia and for the Africap leaders inthe churches that they would have the courage to stick to their convictions andfollow the Lord whole heartedly.

May God bless each one of you as you serve Him each day where you are.In Christ,

Marilyn Wood