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Hello From The Hornes
May 31, 2004
OUT OF AFRICA: Wedding bells were ringing, summoning us from South
Africa for the event. Our oldest grandson, Ryan Steyn, had just graduated from
Harding University the week before with a degree in Bible and now he was getting
married. Months before, he had asked his Grandfather Al to perform the ceremony
and it was an honor we could not refuse. Having just flown in from Africa, we
pressed on to Denver, Colorado, arriving just in time for the wedding rehearsal
and rehearsal dinner. The next morning, at 10 am, Al was invited to speak to the
students of the Bear Valley Institute of Bible. Then at 1 p.m., the wedding
ceremony took place at the Bear Valley Church of Christ. Following a church
reception, there was a formal family reception that evening at a country
restaurant an hour or so out of town. The parents of the groom, Des and Lisa
Steyn (our daughter and husband), of Fort Worth were there with their family and
so were John and Stacey Pitman (our youngest daughter and husband) with their
five children from Memphis, TN. We just loved being with our family again. This
is the hardest part about mission work away from the American continent. Two of
our children could not come—Steve had to remain at his post at EDS since his
boss was away and he was required to fill in for him. Then our missionary
daughter, Lynda, and her family from New Zealand just could not afford the air
fares to get there. There is a saying that, “Half a loaf is better than no loaf
at all,” so we were grateful to God to see at least 50% of our children. We are
a very close family, so, that evening, after the couple had left for their
honeymoon, we wanted to be together to visit further. We, however, had a
dilemma. Though our own host and hostess for the weekend, Columbine minister,
Wayne Burger, and his wife, Weezie, had graciously offered our extended family
the hospitality of their home, by now it was 10 p.m. No way could we inflict our
noisy brood on a quiet neighborhood, so we decided to make an I-Hop the venue
for our “Mini Family Reunion.” There we were in a corner booth just enjoying the
rare privilege and blessing of being together! So don’t ever knock your local
I-Hop. Who knows? One day you may also find it necessary to hold a Family
Reunion there.
THOSE VAST DISTANCES! Before leaving South Africa this time, we were very
caught up in visiting a special church friend of ours in Benoni by the name of
Sam Tonkin. He had been critically ill in the Johannesburg General Hospital for
over a month. We had even spent one night with his family at bedside in ICU. Two
days after we got here came the sad news that Sam had passed away. His wife,
Margaret, who is Donna’s best friend in South Africa, wanted me to officiate at
his funeral, but, again, those vast distances ruled that out. Fortunately, Jerry
Hogg and SABC personnel were able to conduct the service, but how we regretted
not being there!
MORE SAD NEWS FROM SOUTH AFRICA: We had just been back in the States for
six days when more sad news arrived. One of our second-year SABC students, Vusi
Ndhlovu, was murdered! He had gone home that day to Tsakane to participate in
his home congregation’s Sunday worship service. The school was devastated and
the student body, in particular, was drenched in tears. To show how cheap life
is in South Africa, Vusi was standing at the gate of a friend’s home, using his
cellular phone. Suddenly, four thugs, armed with weapons, demanded he hand the
phone over. We don’t know if he resisted or not but they confiscated the phone
and shot him dead. Everyone was devastated! After all, what is life coming to
when you are murdered for a cell phone? We were so touched by the tender hearts
of our students that day. As a group, they immediately went over to comfort
Vusi’s grieving family. They also took a big part in his Zulu (translated into
English) funeral the following Saturday. In fact, all six pall-bearers had been
fellow-students with Vusi at the Bible College. When all was said and done, we
were left with the feeling, “What a waste of a talented and godly young man.” A
member of the Shangaan tribe, Vusi spoke five languages: Zulu, Sotho, Swazi,
Afrikaans, and English. In High School, he had been chosen as the Best Student.
He was also elected President of the Student Representative Committee and was a
member of the Debate Team. He had also finished a course in computer skills.
Interviewed last year, he said that his ambition was to “help end denominations
in a Biblical way, and pass the knowledge of the Bible to others in a Godly
way.” Oh, yes, what a waste of a young life who would have helped us turn hearts
to God.
IN DEFENSE OF GOD’S WORD! On a brighter note, an event which we had been
planning for months was to address the defense of the Bible and miracles against
the latest theological onslaught in academic circles in RSA. Professors from
formerly conservative faculties have questioned the creation, the virgin birth,
the resurrection, the miracles and even the uniqueness of Christianity as the
only way to heaven and God. So we mounted an extensive advertising campaign
including the use of newspapers, radio and posted bills all over town in
Pretoria and Benoni. Fred and I were scheduled to be the speakers in our areas,
but, because of my unavoidable absence, Fred became responsible for both areas.
On Sunday evening, at 6 pm in Pretoria, there were 600+ people present. There
were so many in attendance that the overflow crowd was put into an adjoining
hall on the church campus with closed circuit TV. Many significant contacts have
been made. On June 6, at 6 PM, the Benoni church will host the second one of
these apologetic sessions. Fred will again be the featured speaker and another
of my greatest regrets is that I cannot be there to speak or do the follow up.
We are expecting a huge crowd again!! Theologians are finding out that people do
not think that they are God. We will challenge them to debate the issues in
public forums too, so it remains to see whether these cowards will defend their
specious philosophies.
HERE WE GROW AGAIN! Before we left Benoni, we had already had three
baptisms this month. They are 1) Amanda Hoko, a young African teenager from St.
George’s Children’s Home in Johannesburg; 2) Caitlin Eybers, the daughter of a
Benoni church couple; and 3) Johan Brits, with whom we have been studying this
year. Johan Estelle, was baptized two years ago, followed by their 17 year-old
daughter, Mariska. The family has attended our weekly Home Bible Study on a
fairly regular basis this year. We sowed the seed, others helped us water it,
and God gave the increase. Meanwhile, though many of our friends, who are our
age, have been retired for several years, Al continues to work on both sides of
the ocean. While here, he is resuming his role as SABC fundraiser, hoping to
secure the remaining funds needed for our new proposed library complex on
campus. If you would like Al to come and report/fund-raise at your congregation
during the next two months, or if you can help in any way, please contact him at
(830)896-5358 or email him at alhorne@ktc.com.
SIGNING OFF with our love and appreciation to you for your interest in seeking
the lost souls of South Africa,
AL AND DONNA HORNE
YOUR MISSIONARIES TO SOUTH AFRICA
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