IF IT AIN'T BROKE -- DON'T FIX IT!  But it was "broke!" Meanwhile, back in the jungle at our Benoni home, the dishwasher had been leaking (though it was fixed by friends for our homecoming), our washing machine needed a new pump to be back in working condition (also fixed by friends a few days before we landed), two of our cars wouldn't start, our electric iron had died and had to be thrown away, the drain for our bathroom shower was blocked, our South African cell phones had to be "jump started" again with the service provider, a security light over our back yard needed replacing, the garage door was hanging and the electronic sliding gate across our driveway wouldn't operate. This meant we  couldn't get our cars out of the garage and down the driveway through that closed gate!  We were literally "confined to quarters" or under voluntary "house arrest." Otherwise, we had an uneventful and  boring (ha!) homecoming!

 

THE DARK CONTINENT: To say that South Africa has an energy crisis is the understatement of the year. The government has begun power cuts which extend country wide and affect everyone. They are scheduled at different times in different parts of every city and usually last three hours a day. So during those power cuts, one cannot cook a meal, make a cup of tea, wash or iron, heat the house, turn on the TV or work on the computer. What one can do during the outage is make a phone call, take a bath, play the piano, or read a book (if it is in Braille!). Those who decide to leave all their woes behind and take a drive soon find that their automatic garage doors won't work  nor will the electronic gate across their driveway. Worse of all,  power cuts increase the risk of home security. Not that we are complaining -- we remember our houseguests last September from Zimbabwe telling us that their nation only ever had electricity from 11 PM to 5 AM daily. Imagine that!

 

CRIME CORNER: The local weekly newspaper, the Benoni City Times, is sometimes referred to as the Benoni City Crimes. That's because of the many crime reports in every issue. One that caught our eye last week mentioned that the police are looking for "three white thieves driving a black 4 AX 4 with tinted windows". So there you have it in black and white! Another report was far more colorful. It told us of a smarty-pants thief who was wearing six or seven TO-shirts, each of a different color. That way, when he committed a crime, he could remove the outer T-shirt and take off down the street. Periodically, he would peel off another T-shirt and keep on running. The result was policemen looking for a thief wearing a bright red T-shirt when by then, he was wearing a different color...and another...and another! You have to admit, it was a novel way to avoid detection. On a more serious note, one of our Benoni members reported the death of her brother (82) and his 17-year-old grandson on his Bronkhorsspruit farm about an hour from here. They were beaten to death with a shovel.

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME: As usual, we have some interesting names at SABS this year. One would expect that with our new students coming from South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Like the first names of the following students: Given, Justice, Blessing, Progress, and Oscar.  In fact, one could "fill in the blanks" and say that "when a BLESSING is GIVEN and PROGRESS is being made with JUSTICE reigning, SABC deserves an OSCAR." When someone was asked why he had named his child "Oscar," he replied because it was the best production of that year! Then we have names like our 19-year-old student from Soweto in Johannesburg. A Tsonga by tribe, his full name is (try this one on for size!) Hlulani Msimelelo Mdingi. His first name means "Conqueror" and his middle name, "Rod".  It sometimes takes awhile for us to learn to correctly pronounce an African name but that's all right -- the Lord already knows each of us by name. Then there's the matter of languages -- we have one new student who speaks six languages: Tsonga, Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa, Ehtiopian, and English! He is quite a linguist, we would say, and he is only 19 years old.

 

MHANGO OF MZUZU, MALAWI: One of our Tanganyika Bible School graduates from back in the early 60's has just emailed us. We were glad to hear from brother Franklin Charrings Mhango of Mzuzu, Malawi. He appealed to us to help him raise the money needed for his son's school  tuition. It turns out that his son is a fourth-year student doing electronic engineering at Polytechnic in Blantyre. His son's name is (are you ready for this?) Cement! A rather heavy name, in our opinion, for Franklin and his wife to lay on a little baby all those years ago.Although you must admit, Cement is a name that does stick and settle in your mind!  Franklin continued in his email to say that he himself, who studied two years' Greek with us at the Bible School, in his own words: "took that same knowledge imparted to him and expanded it". That is to say, he took that whole Greek Grammar by Davis and translated it into Swahili. He also simplified it to all those who might find it too hard. An accomplishment that will endear him forever to Biblical Greek students in East Africa.

 

WITH THANKS we bid you adieu for this month. We are so grateful to you for the support you give to us in your prayers and to the Bible College with your financial backing. Here's an idea -- instead of soon having to declare all kinds of personal funds on income tax, why not give it to SABC instead? Sure would save you a lot of configuring at tax time and just think what a blessing it would be to SABC! Donations can be sent to Southern Africa Bible  College, % Memorial Church of Christ, 900 Echo Lane, Houston, TX 77224, USA. Thank you!

 

With love to special friends and beautiful servants of Christ,

Al and Donna Horne.
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LATE FLASH: Chris Savides, one of our SABC graduates who has been living in KwaZulu Natal and working with the church in Pinetown, succumbed to cancer today  - March 31. Our deepest sympathy to his wife, Carol, and their children.

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