Library Progress
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Library Progress
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HELLO FROM THE HORNES:April 30, 2006
SABC HOLIDAYS: Ask any SABC student his favorite time of the school year and the month of APRIL figures high on the list. The reason is because it is the first school holiday period of the year. Ahhh, two and a half glorious weeks to get caught up on assignments and term papers. We Hornes also looked forward to this holiday period but for a different reason. For us, it meant we could "go for the gap"! Donna's been saving up free air miles for years in order to make a visit to Lynda, our missionary daughter in New Zealand. Finally, there was enough for both of us so off we flew to visit the Staigers in Auckland They came to visit us in 2004 and now we could take advantage of the SABC holiday period to return the visit. As usual, Lynda and John requested that we both come prepared to teach at Morningside congregation, where John is the pulpit minister. Thus far, Donna has taught two Ladies' Bible Classes and Al has taught 5 Men's classes and preached three times. "No rest for the weary" is true on every continent for those willing to serve. There are opportunities everywhere! Even regarding a funeral here in Auckland that we were privileged to attend while here.
A BAHA'I GOODBYE: She was a beautiful Chinese woman from Singapore, just 36 years old. She had been an Air Hostess for many years for Air New Zealand after completing her degree at the University of Canterbury. It was there that her future husband spotted the oriental beauty and persuaded her to marry him. Now, years later she had been placed in an open basket-weave coffin with a scarlet lining decorated with Chinese markings and golden stars. Her lithe and lifeless body in its funeral attire was adorned with many long-stemmed flowers placed there by mourners. She had succumbed to a rare form of cancer that is not uncommon in persons exposed to high altitude cosmic radiation. The funeral bier was placed on the floor of the Baha'i temple. Her little daughter, Yasmine, appeared bewildered by the events. The deceased's mother, Sandra, reclined on the floor near her daughter's serene face. The mother's copious weeping revealed a heart broken by her failed attempts to reach her daughter's heart with the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, Sandra had become a Christian after her daughter had left her parental home. So not only had Sandra now lost her beloved daughter, but also the last chance to introduce her to Jesus, the Conqueror of Death! Sandra had tried so very, very hard but barriers erected by her resistant daughter and others were impossible to penetrate. The curtain had been wrung down and only a fearful expectation of judgment now remained for the child for whom a mother's heart was shattered. It was solely for the purpose of comforting our Christian sister, Sandra, that we went.
THE TEMPLE CEREMONY: The winding, often treacherously narrow road runs west from Auckland. It was a picturesque journey with dense sub-tropical foliage and trees lining the way. Sheer drops swept down into green valleys below. Then the terrain became more rural with cows and horses visible through breaks in the forest. As the Staiger's minivan laboured up a final steep farm road, many luxury car drivers were seen vying for a level place to park. From there we walked down a leafy lane, across an pretty little wooden bridge, and on up a steep and winding pathway. Looking down, we observed a placid Tasman Sea and on the opposite side, the pagoda that housed the monks. Climbing on up towards the summit, we passed a statue of a Tibetan Buddha strategically placed near the path. The right hand of the lifeless idol was raised as though in greeting. Then the path continued upwards through a trellis into a tiny eight-sided temple. The walls of the compact temple were adorned with the signs of the Unitarian universalism of this eclectic religion. The Baha'i religion accepts the 8 ways to "nirvana". On a table there was a diminutive golden Buddha idol with a candle burning before it. On another table near the foot of the open coffin was another Buddha-image with 8 unlit candles. Behind that table sat a Buddhist nun clad in a maroon robe over a saffron-coloured vest. She was a young white woman with a North American accent. Her head was clean-shaven. In her hands was a Korean prayer-wheel which she rotated continuously as she "offered up prayers". Each spin is seen as sending a prayer skyward while the nun's lips continuously and silently moved. On the walls of the temple were the images of the other religions which Baha'i finds acceptable. The Hindu religious sign was there. A 6-pointed Star of David represented Judaism. An oft-seen crescent and star represented Islam. Yes, and believe it or not, there was a representative picture of "Jesus" hanging on the wall.
THE FINAL GOODBYE: Though many people gave eulogies of the deceased, they were all about her past life. There was a special chant by the Buddhist nun in an Asian prayer and a Maori offered a prayer and "send-off for the dead" in the Polynesian language. The European husband of the deceased stumbled through a 45-minute eulogy that would have befuddled most of us. As we left the proceedings, we were thankful that we are New Testament Christians. Our Christian funerals are celebrations not only of the life of the deceased, but it's also about the future and the hope that we have in Christ Jesus. "If a man die, shall he live again?" Job 14:14. Yes, indeed! "Jesus is the resurrection and the life", John 14:25. He is "the first fruits of them that sleep," I Cor. 15:20. We don't want a "Baha'i Goodbye"! We want a "Christian Reception" by our Lord, don't we?
PARDON OUR PROGRESS: A final word now about our new
SABC library. On Friday the 7th, we saw the
upper-ring beam foundation (concrete) had been poured for the second-story slab.
The walls were going up at an awesome rate and to date, almost all the forms
have been removed and most of the support beneath the upper story flooring. By
now all the brickwork has been completed on the lower story and the inside walls
are being plastered. We really feel the long, arduous task of securing funds was
worth the rewards now. Patience pays great and lasting dividends!! Thank you
again to those of you who have helped make our dream of a new SABC library
become a reality. P.S. We will be back in Benoni, by the way, on May 10 [2006] to resume our
work there with SABC and the Benoni church. |
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