1340 Third Avenue SE·Cedar Rapids, IA 52403 ·319-363-2058

Dear friends and family,

This letter started as a Thanksgiving letter but has morphed to first a Christmas and then a New Year’s letter.

  Jane-

While visiting a church in Harare before Christmas, I saw what was perhaps the most moving and powerful rendering of a nativity story that I’ve ever seen. It was presented in ballet form, and communicated so effectively the mystery and vitality of the aspects of the Christmas story we all know so well.

  Most striking perhaps was the scene that depicted the confusion and fear felt by the inhabitants of Bethlehem as soldiers, sent by Herod, searched out all the boys and babies, two years and under. Parents formed protective circles round groups of children, shielding them from the horror. Through all this drama came Mary and Joseph with Jesus lovingly hidden in their arms, divinely protected as they fled to Egypt .

  In the book of Zechariah we read:

  “For I, the Lord, will be a wall of fire all around her ( Jerusalem ), and I will be the glory in her midst.”

  This perhaps expresses the longing of many Christians here in Zimbabwe who have spent a stressful year faced with financial hardship, hunger and sickness. The reality of living in a place where inflation is 1200% and AIDS is rife cannot be ignored, but even so, God is being, and will be, glorified in the circumstances and lives of His people here, and will be that wall of fire around them. As a frail, elderly gentlemen we visited recently put it: “My bones are weak, times are hard, but my heart is praising Jesus.”

  WE GIVE THANKS……..

  THANKS- for Jane’s new Intensive English class of over 50 French and Portuguese speakers; she and Bill Humbane are kept on their toes. The day the picture below was taken the class was doing a restaurant role play- Bill does not always wear an apron to school.

  THANKS- for the new Massey Ferguson 440 tractor on the farm. We had been saving toward this tractor for almost a year and a half, and have been setting aside donations so that we could buy one that will give us more working time and less repair time.

Although in the past we were able to get some bargains on second-hand tractors and implements, at the moment any savings realized in purchase price are rapidly lost in astronomical costs for repairs. Charles Makanyeza, the AU farm manager, Innocent Mutizwa, the chief mechanic, and myself did a lot of investigations before deciding on the MF440. The basic technology and lack of expensive bells-and-whistles make it a tractor for Africa !

A significant share of the cost came from wedding gifts for Tony (Larry’s nephew) and Theresa. We are still paying off a loan to complete the purchase but the tractor is the workhorse in the field. We Praise the Lord for it every day!

  THANKS- for those helping with scholarships!

Mercy Mutsago, a scholarship recipient

Kids’ news

 Ben (19) is settling in at Harvard after a rough first semester. We are thankful for Harvard’s very generous scholarship fund. If all goes well, Ben will have few loans to repay after graduating. He is an Engineering major.

Pule (17) is so happy to finally be taller than his dad. He wrote his O-level (major high school) exams in November, and is hoping to do his senior year in Jesup , Iowa , Larry’s home town.

  Carly (11) was overjoyed to come first in her class and have a starring role in the class play. She played a chicken. Yes, a chicken.

  Michael (7) is glad to be on vacation from school. Some friends gave him some guinea pigs, and he is learning how to be a good keeper.

  Please pray with us for

-Larry’s work permit, up for renewal (again!) in March.

-Our plans for visiting churches in the US in 2008.

-the many students and others who continue to struggle to make ends meet

-those in government- for wisdom, integrity and courage. One big question being decided at the moment is whether President Mugabe will continue another two years after 2008 (he will have been president for 28 years by then.)

  Thanks for your thoughts, prayers, emails, cards and support!

Yours and His,

  Larry and Jane Kies

  Advance Special numbers:

Project support: 10115 (ATTN: Larry Kies)

Larry’s salary support:  09572Z

Jane’s salary support:  10739Z

  This letter is kindly posted to you by the great folks at St. Mark’s UMC in Cedar Rapids IA.

We are getting blacklisted by some email servers again L so some who used to receive e mail newsletters were changed to the snail mail list. Most who are on our email list received a brief Christmas greeting with a picture of Carly and Michael riding an elephant.