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Hello From The Hornes
April 30, 2004
GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA: April is perhaps the loveliest month of
the year in South Africa. Some say it’s Mother Nature’s compensation for the
summer heat just past and the winter months just ahead. All we know is that
we’ve been blessed with perfect day-time temperatures and pleasantly cool
evenings. It’s been so refreshing! God is good.
ZOOMING IN ON POLITICS: Once upon a time, when John Lennon idly wondered
whether the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, their songs were
promptly banned from this country. A few weeks ago, our Deputy President, Jacob
Zuma, in the heat of excitement over the coming election, loosely boasted that
his party, the African National Congress, “will govern till Jesus comes back.”
So many felt that he “went beyond blasphemy” that he was called on by the public
to retract his offensive Jesus expression. Nevertheless, last week the ANC did
win by 67% of the vote and, in fact, a public holiday, Freedom Day, saw the
celebration of South Africa’s first ten years of democratic rule. Yes, it has
been a decade since that memorable day in 1994 when Nelson Mandela and his black
government took over this country. At that time, everyone thought we were going
to go up in flames, but instead, a veritable rainbow nation emerged with South
Africans of all hues and languages. There was transformation everywhere. Black
air hostesses, for example, appeared for the first time on South African
Airways’ flights. (One passenger is alleged to have said to one of them, “Please
bring me black pepper,” and the hostess went away and returned with a newspaper
from the black township of Soweto). The ANC’s most recent win means that
President Thabo Mbeki is back in power for another five years though former
president Mandela continues to be South Africa’s national treasure. As one youth
expressed it, “If ever I grow up, I want to be like Nelson Mandela. He is the
world’s oldest teenager, he is in love, he can dance, and he does not wear a
tie. But more than anything else, I would like to treat my enemies like he has.”
THUGS AND HISSES: It’s incredible, but now thieves are brazenly ripping
automatic gate motors from driveway moorings. This type of crime is rampant
across the cities. It’s because criminals are opportunists. We take preventative
measures for our own safety by installing remote-controlled security gates, and
they see it as an opportunity to steal those gate motors. Some lift the gates
off the rails while others carry a gas blow torch and just cut the whole thing
out! This has given rise to a new item on the market—“anti theft brackets” that
go over the motors to bolt them down. Another theft crisis has to do with
missing manhole covers. It’s a serious problem since open manholes are a hazard
to public safety. The municipalities cannot inspect them on a daily basis, so an
appeal has gone out to the public to assist by reporting instances of such
vandalism. Meanwhile, other parts of the community complain they can’t make a
phone call because the copper cables have been stolen. Suffice it to say that
it’s bad when illegal immigrants leave the country because the crime rate is too
high!
WE EVEN SLEEP FAST! Did we mention how short the nights are in South
Africa? It’s because when you wear two hats like Al, you can count on doubling
your work load. We even took three days of the school break to unpack boxes of
religious books which some of you recently donated to SABC. Back at home, our
house continued this month to host our usual Tuesday Night Bible Studies and
Thursday Night Marriage Enrichment Seminars. Our house was also the scene of
other gatherings during April: an elders’ meeting, pre-Lectureship planning
sessions, on-going marriage counseling for three different couples, and a social
evening for our single students at SABC. We also had some of our black brethren,
who are in a building program, come over for consultations. Add to that Al’s
regular preaching, the two weekly Bible Studies he teaches at church, and
Donna’s Teacher Training Class on Wednesday nights, and you have a busy life!
Not to mention, a new crack visitation program we initiated at the beginning of
the year which resulted in our traveling three afternoons across Johannesburg to
the General Hospital where one of our long-time members suffered an amputation.
We’ve also had a few baptisms this month. We often feel really tired but it also
feels good to see God working, producing the fruit of the Spirit in so many
ways. “There remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for anyone who
enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let
us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall…”
Heb. 4: 9-11
Africa for Christ!
Al and Donna Horne,
Your missionaries to South Africa.
P.S. We depart these shores on May 16th since Al was asked by our oldest
grandson, Ryan Steyn, to officiate at his May 21st wedding in Colorado. This
lends itself to Al’s traveling over the next few months among State-side
churches to raise funds for the proposed SABC library
complex. If you or your congregation have some money “just burning a hole in
your pocket,” please contact Al at (830)896-5358 or
use our email address in Texas, alhorne@ktc.com
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