Nancy Joanne Kreider Hoke

I was born in Campbelltown, Pa., on March 10, 1930. Not long afterward, Dad and Mother moved to the Kreider Homestead where I would grow up. I was the first child and I can remember when my sister Barbara was born in February 1933.

I had my share of childhood illnesses; I brought home from Sunday school the contagious disease of whooping-cough, and then in school I got chicken pox and measles. When I had the measles I was not supposed to read, but I really wanted to, and was finally allowed to read Child Life. Since I had learned to read before I went to school, I was bored in first grade. In second grade there was talk about having me skip a grade---but my principal was not in favor of that. I am glad that I was able to stay with my age class, for I still have many friends from those grade school and high school days.

Life on the farm was busy---there were chickens and pigs to feed and plenty of work to do in a 10-room house. My brother Dale was born in 1938 and my sister Kathy in 1940, so Mother was busy caring for our family. Barbara and I helped Dad with chores like milking, and Dad was very happy when Dale was old enough to work with him. We always had good food on the table. It was not until I went away to college that I realized that meat and vegetables were not plentiful in every home. Our Dad raised and butchered beef cattle and Mother baked many pies; I learned how to make many pie fillings as I helped her.

Our farm had a little stream which we especially enjoyed in the hot summertime. We spent many happy hours there with friends, and one of my favorite playmates was Arlene Fasnacht Yingst. Later, high school friends from my class would come over and we had great times together. Mother always made my friends feel very welcome. Uncle Ethan, Aunt Esther, and my Kreider grandparents lived across the fields from us, so I have good memories of our times together. Cousin Harold was in my class at school, so we share many mutual friends.

Going from the Campbelltown School with eight grades to the junior-senior high school in Hershey was a major shock! I remember that Shirley Stump Ebersole helped me learn my way around. Physical education and home economics classes were a strange new experience. I did enjoy college preparatory classes and am thankful that I took typing in my senior year---I used that skill many, many times in my teaching career. I graduated from high school in 1948 as salutatorian in my class, and our commencement was held in the Hershey Community Theatre.

As early as I can remember, I heard about missionaries. My Great-Aunt Sallie Kreider Doner and my father's sister, Aunt Mary Kreider were always talked about, as well as my mother's brother, Uncle Henry H. Brubaker and his family. When they were home on furlough, I was always eager to hear about Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). I was thrilled to be able to go to New York City with my father to meet Aunt Mary and Verda Moyer when they returned to the U.S. in the spring of 1941. My parents also entertained many missionaries in our home. While I was still in high school, I remember telling Elizabeth Engle Heise that I was very impatient about getting to the mission field, for I felt that God was calling me. She gently reminded me that Christ was thirty years old before He began His ministry. I certainly had many lessons to learn before I could go to Africa, but I was always afraid that something might happen that would keep me from going.

I knew that I needed to have a definite call from God to become a missionary--childhood fantasies and wishes were not enough. God was faithful. One evening at the Palmyra Brethren in Christ Church, missionary David Hall gave a call for those wanting to follow God. The Holy Spirit spoke to me and I obeyed. I envisioned becoming a missionary teacher and worked toward that goal, taking the college preparatory course in high school, 2 years at Messiah College, and then entering Houghton College to finish my B.A. degree in social sciences. Many experiences in those years helped mature my life in Christ. The different personalities of my roommates helped me to learn how to get along with different kinds of people. This was very helpful, because as a single missionary I lived in close relationship with other missionaries and nationals. God confirmed my call to missions many times. When I traveled with the Houghton College Choir, we sang an anthem based on Isaiah 6. Each time we sang the words, "Here I am, send me," I sang them from my heart.

After graduating from Houghton College in 1952, I found a teaching position near my home because I was hoping to leave as a missionary teacher in the near future. It was a one-room school at Bachmanville. This was very good preparation for me because I learned to trust God in new ways. Having only outside toilet facilities and no running water was a new experience. Dad helped me to start the fire in the stove every Sunday during the winter months. (The stove was a good place for students to heat their cans of soup for lunch). Since the old Nash that I drove was prone to choking, Dad and I had an agreement that if I was not home by a certain time, he would come and get me. Samuel Lehmans also lived nearby, and I could use their telephone when I needed help.

My biggest undertaking of that year was taking my students in grades 3-8 to visit Washington, D.C. The students had raised money for the trip by selling gelatin. I could never have done the trip if cousin Marlin Kreider (who lived nearby in Maryland) had not met the bus and guided us around. He was a great guide and seemed to enjoy the experience as much as we did. That same year I was contacted by Rev. Henry Hostetter, executive secretary of Brethren in Christ Missons, and asked to go to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) as a missionary. I was ready to go! The next year, January 6, 1954, four other ladies and I sailed from New York on a small Cunard liner, S.S. Samaria, bound for England and then Capetown. We were the largest group of missionaries in many years to travel to Africa. We were nicknamed the "Big Five." My companions were Ruth (Byers) Hunt, a returning missionary, and other first-timers: Velma Brillinger, Dr. Virginia Kauffman, and Martha Lady.

Our destination was Bulawayo, where the Brethren in Christ had schools and hospitals. The long platform at the Bulawayo station was lined with missionaries when we arrived after four weeks of travel. My first trip to Matopo was a thrill, and those first impressions are still vivid in my memory. I had a week of orientation and then was given my teaching load. I taught many subjects in the secondary school and also in the teacher training program. That involved a full schedule of teaching African students. Two years later I was appointed head of the Matopo Teacher Training Institute. Then in 1957 that entire program was moved to Mtshabezi Mission, which entailed many, many adjustments---such as suffering an attack of malaria, becoming accustomed to bedbugs, and learning to live in an environment conditioned by 300 girls. Teaching music was an extra-curricular activity which I enjoyed very much. We always had Christmas programs with pageants and choir singing, and I coached quartets as well. Teacher education, however, became my first love.

In December 1959, I went home for my first furlough. Six years was a long time to be away from family and friends. After a busy year with many speaking appointments, I was happy to return. I was returning alone this time, and facing a new experience because I would be leaving teacher education and going into secondary teaching. But the Lord gave me many wonderful experiences and taught me new lessons of faith and trust.

Southern Rhodesia went through many political changes during the years I was there. Rhodesia made its unilateral declaration of independence in November 1965. When I left Matopo Secondary School again on furlough in December, I was very sad and burdened because I left a group of young people with great potential but very unsettled because of the political climate.

Coming back to Africa in 1968, I returned to Mtshabezi and my first love, teacher education. The next five years were very strenuous because of both political tensions and my duties as dorm mother for the girls. I did enjoy this responsibility because it gave me many opportunities to counsel and disciple our women students, even though at times I felt discouraged. It helped when one of the girls said to me, "Keep talking, Miss Kreider. We want to hear your advice."

In 1968 I had an African principal for the first time. We worked very hard to prove to the Ministry of Education that our teachers were among the best. The Ministry's system of inspections and examinations put many heavy demands on our time and physical energy.

In 1977 our missionary staff had to leave the rural areas because the war for independence was escalating. Departing from Mtshabezi that April morning was one of the hardest things I ever did. I knew that I would very likely never return to teach there again. In May 1977, we were urged to leave the country.

When I arrived home I felt very discontented, and prayed that somehow I would be able to return to Zimbabwe. Finally, on Thanksgiving Day, I received a call from the Brethren in Christ Director of Overseas Missions with a call to teach in the city of Bulawayo. I was being asked to teach at an ecumenical teachers' college called United College, which was trying to carry on during the war. I quickly replied that I would go. Dorothy Martin returned with me to work in the college library.

Life in the city of Bulawayo in 1978 was very different from living on a mission station. We had our own apartment and many opportunities to entertain our African friends and students. Working in an ecumenical environment was a different challenge, but God helped me make the needed adjustments and be a witness for Him. But this all came to an end one day when I received a threatening letter in my mailbox warning me not to teach Shona students or invite them to my home for tea. More letters followed, along with demands for money by the revolutionary army (ZIPRA). In September, 1979, we left quietly without saying goodbye to our friends. It was a very traumatic experience.

Returning to Pa., I moved to Messiah Village Retirement Home where Dorothy Martin and I shared an apartment. Leaving Africa had been a great disappointment, but God continued to guide me. I went back to college, enrolling at Capital Campus under Penn State, and earned my reading specialist certification. I taught in nursery schools in the area. I loved the children, but found it physically exhausting. I took a position as support staff at Messiah College Library where I enjoyed working until I was ready to retire. I retired in April 1995, because I was preparing to marry William Hoke, a former missionary to India.

Our wedding on June 3, 1995, began a brand new life for me. I soon learned to love our three children, seven grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. Bill enjoys travel, so we have together been to Zimbabwe, Europe, England, South America, and of course, India, in addition to our travels in the U.S.

We worship at the Grantham Brethren in Christ Church where I served as a deacon for fifteen years. I also sing in the church choir. I have been on the refugee committee at church, missions committees and editor of the missionary prayer letter, Challenge, for about eight years. We have served as members-at-large of the Brethren in Christ Mission Board, doing deputation work for the Board, until our retirement from that.

I love to read and keep up to date with mission activity throughout the world. We are kept busy hosting friends from India and Zimbabwe in our home.

God has been very good to me throughout my life. Serving Him has been my greatest joy.