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Hello From The Hornes - 2003:
October 31, 2003
DOLLARS AND SENSE: Here we are stateside again for a few months of
fundraising for the new proposed SABC library. When
we left America last January to return to South Africa for SABC’s new academic
year, God had blessed us with 71% of the funds needed. Unfortunately, the
diminishing value of the dollar on world financial markets reduced that amount
to 51%. So this newsletter comes to you in the form of an urgent appeal to help
us, not only with the balance required to build the library, but also with the
operational funds of the Bible School, which has suffered the same fate…a 40%
reduction. As you can imagine, with its present problems of mass emigration and
unemployment, South Africa, at this time, is not a favorable place to raise
funds. So we are looking to America for funding for SABC needs. We are looking
to you! If you know of any individuals or congregations who are able and willing
to help, or if your own congregation would like Al to give a report, please
contact us.
A TRIPLE FUNERAL PLUS TWO: On the Thursday before we left for America, Al
preached a triple funeral for the first time. The service was for three young
people, all in their twenties, who were the tragic victims of a road accident.
At the funeral, someone asked Al, “Why did God let that happen?” To which Al
replied, “God was not driving the car that caused the accident.” The following
day, Friday, Al spoke at another funeral…this time for a long-time Christian,
Alex Gonsalves. Then on Wednesday, on the very day we flew out of South Africa,
Al conducted a morning service for one of our most faithful members, 54-year-old
Rob Smith. Rob was especially esteemed because of his missionary efforts in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. He had taken a job in the diamond mines there
because of the lack of jobs in South Africa. He established several new
congregations there, which are a testimony to his evangelistic fervor and love
for lost souls.
CATASTROPHE IN THE CONGO: Please note that if you have to have a heart
attack, central Africa is not the place to have it! Unfortunately, in the middle
of the night, in the town of Lubumbashi, Rob suffered a myocardial infarction.
He needed, desperately, to be airlifted to a hospital in the city of Kinshasha,
but to get to the nearest airport he had to sit up in a pickup truck for the
two-and-a-half hour journey! After four days in the hospital, the doctors had
exhausted all forms of locally available treatment for Rob. They recommended he
be flown home to South Africa. The logistics, however, seemed insurmountable.
The costs were beginning to mount. The distance was maddening. Linguistic
barriers complicated the situation, and, all the while, time was of the essence.
A further complication was that Rob was far too ill to board a commercial
airliner to South Africa. An Ambulance Aircraft was the only solution, but with
prices ranging from $27,000 to $43,000, the family could not handle such an
astronomical cost. Suddenly, Rob’s employer made a generous contribution. Then a
kindly relative in England offered a loan. The shortfall was reduced to $8,500
which our congregation contributed that Sunday evening. Some of us had to dip
into our retirement annuities to help, so it’s no wonder that we love "The dear
hearts and gentle people of our home town,” Benoni.
HOME AT LAST: Next, Rob’s medical reports had to be obtained before any
flight could be authorized. DRC refugee and Southern Africa Bible College
student, Augustini Babunga, was recruited as an interpreter for the French and
Swahili communication with the Congolese doctor. Finally, all the arrangements
were in place and the “mercy” aircraft and its highly skilled crew were given
the “green light.” At 5:30 AM Sunday morning, the plane was in the sky heading
northward from South Africa to pick up Rob, Benoni church’s precious cargo in
the Congo. Arriving home in South Africa that same evening, he was admitted to
ICU in a Benoni hospital. Regrettably, four days later, our beloved Rob did not
survive quadruple bypass surgery. His tired heart was too damaged from the
unavoidable long delays, and we lost him. One might ask if it really was worth
it to spend all that money on an ambulance jet just to have Rob die anyway. At
the funeral, Al made this statement, “We do not regret for one moment the
generous collection we all made to bring Rob home. Think how sad it would have
been if he had died in the Congo… alone! Here in Benoni, he was with his
physical and his spiritual family. We gave him the chance to say, ‘goodbye,’ to
his nearest and dearest.” (Earlier, before he’d gone into that fateful surgery,
we were able to pray with Rob. All his conversation at that time reflected a
heart attuned to God. Unknown to us at the time, Rob’s short sojourn in Benoni
was, as it turned out, just another stop on his way to his true home and final
destination… heaven. Our hearts are broken, but we are confident, even as we
write these words, that his pain is over and the he is “near to the heart of
God.)
PITSTOP IN MEMPHIS: Enroute to Texas, we stopped over in Memphis for four
days to visit our daughter, Stacey, and her family because Al had not seen them
since Thanksgiving of last year. He was also privileged to meet our latest and
newest granddaughter, Kylie Dianne, who was born July 24th. She is our
thirteenth grandchild, by the way, so the number thirteen is not always unlucky.
As you have read in this letter, some die and some are born, but the work of the
Lord goes on. Thank you for holding up our hands as we labor on behalf of
Southern Africa Bible
College.
OUT OF AFRICA WITH LOVE,
Al and Donna Horne, Your Missionaries
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