Prayer Conference

If you live within travelling distance of the Parish Church in Leamington Spa, get down there Friday night or Saturday to learn some amazing things about prayer, be inspired and taken deeper into connection with God.

It's well worth it, and there is NO EXCUSE for sitting around watching tv on Saturday morning when you could be exercising your spiritual muscle instead.

more at www.listeningtogod.org.uk

(but there will be a break for the footie though - so don't let that put you off ;) )

Why stay on dial up with God, when wireless broadband is on offer for free!

non-edible Truffles

Presenting Truffles, the newest member of the extensive Horn Family furry creatures collection.

Truffles is an African elephant (you can tell by the ears) who has been selected to accompany me on my travels. Whilst he can't make my tea or answer my phone calls, he is of great support.

He has a Phd in 'child trauma therapy' and can help even the most distraught child begin to open up, merely by making them smile (who could resist those little eyes), which is really what qualifies him best for the job. Aside from the obvious wish of his to return to Africa to catch up with his rather larger cousins in the Bush, he's told me he's very much looking forward to getting to work out at God's Golden Acre.

Although he is less than a foot high and incredibly trim for his age, he has an enormous brain and always knows what to say to comfort someone. His furry exterior helps him to fulfil his other talent of flea-free stress relief. Inside that enormous brain of his, he can remember many many friends of mine who I won't be seeing for a while.

But the main reason he won in the recent 'Caroline's cuddly companion' competition, was simply because he's an elephant.

And an elephant never forgets.

Atrocities against children

Whilst in the USA recently to promote her book, Heather Reynolds went on Oprah to discuss one of the horrible problems that's getting worse at the moment and needs to stop.

'People are dying of AIDS in South Africa more than any other country. The country is now in the midst of a horrifying epidemic—baby rape. Barely a day goes by that a child under the age of one is sexually assaulted. Experts say the attacks are fueled by a bizarre belief among many African men suffering from HIV/AIDS. They say that witch doctors spread the idea that if you have sex with a virgin, you can cure yourself from AIDS. Heather Reynolds runs God's Golden Acre, an orphanage that cares for many young victims of rape. She says that not much is being done to stop the rumor.
"It's really dreadful," Heather says. "If the leaders and our traditional healers would stand up and say this is a myth, men would know. But nobody has stood up and said that, we can't understand it." '

Homes of Hope - further news

A while ago I blogged about 'Homes of hope', a group who went out from London to do some building work for GGA.
Well, they've done it and they're back and on their website there is a great photo journal
(which even loads quickly for those still on dial-up, like me!)
check it out for some pictures of life over there!

www.homesofhope.org.uk

God always gets his man (or woman)...

Met up with someone who I randomly met who was interested in GGA last week, had a nice chat...
Get the call yesterday that she's off out to work at GGA for a year... before me!!!
Now that is fast, or maybe not, she's been sensing for a while and God just used me as a catalyst to make the last step.
Except catalysts don't change in the process and I've been challenged by her obedience and readiness to just go... Will also be great to have her help out in Africa too, as she has good admin skills and is great to chat to! ;)

In any case, if you have any spare baby stuff lying around, for kids up to about 12 months, such as nappy buckets, baby blankets, curtains for nurseries, and other paraphenalia surrounding babies, and you'd like to see it go to a good home in Africa, then let me know and I'll make sure it gets taken out there!

Set apart for God

In discussion with a lovely lady about GGA, I was recommended a book called 'Set Apart for God - the call to a surrendered life' by John Mulinde, and so far I've devoured about half of it.
It's possibly THE most challenging book I've ever read (apart from the Bible).
John Mulinde is a Ugandan pastor and heads up 'World Trumpet Mission' (www.worldtrumpetmission.org) from Kampala.

The challenge, easily worked out from the title, is to be 'set apart' for God's purposes. To be 'in the world but not of it' and to allow God to completely transform our minds so that our purposes are completely in line with what he wants for our lives, to not be influenced by the world's culture, yet at the same time still living in it. It's about seeking after God so thoroughly and desperately that you'll pay any price to see his intervention.

He starts off with a vision he had around the time of 9/11 when he was watching the NY Firefighters tirelessly working to rescue all they could, with many of them not coming out alive.
This is what God said to him as he watched:

'What those men are doing today is not a result of a decision that they made this morning. It is not a decision they made as a reaction to the tragedy you are watching now. Many years ago, each of them made a decision to join a profession that would demand selfless service to save others' lives.'

John Mulinde continues: 'That decision shaped their destiny. They underwent training and preparation for crises of all sorts. They allowed themselves to be trained to cope with extreme conditions of tension and danger. In their training, any personal weaknesses that would easily compromise them were identified and dealt with. The discipline that would make them strong enough and bold enough to deal with any circumstance they might face was steadily incorporated into their inner fabric. None of this was achieved in a matter of days. It took time slowly to change their priorities and values. They learned to despise the things that matter so much to other people, the things that would hold them back. They learned to uphold values most that most people dismiss as too high. In other words, a long time ago they 'set themselves apart' for such a task and such a time as this. When the day came, they were there and they were ready!'

I am challenged by how much this should be the case in my life, in all of our lives if we call ourselves children of God. I'm only just getting to the 'process' bit in the book, but I'm pretty sure that this will have a profound effect on transforming my thinking and attitudes and in renewing my mind...

First awareness pitch GGA

Spoke in church this morning about what I'm going to do at GGA. Went very well, and I'm encouraged by the response from people, many people bought the GGA book and CDs, postcards and beaded badges (to raise a bit more money for GGA)

If you've been reading my blog and would like to receive my prayer letter or give financially to support me in my work, please get in touch. Easiest is if you email me at
carolinehorn@yahoo.com and I'll send you more details.

Its important to spread the word about vital work being done to help vulnerable children and orphans, victims of HIV/AIDS and violence. So whatever you can do, do something, even if it's only to talk about GGA with others and to raise awareness of what's going on. If what I am doing inspires you even a little to get involved in the world-wide urgent fight against the destruction caused by HIV/AIDS, then it will be worthwhile!

A heart of compassion is what is needed and we should all have one of those.

I lived in Italy for a while once, don't you know...

If you want a true insight into the REAL Italy (dai, come l'adoro io!) then don't miss BBC2 on Sunday nights 9pm

Francesco da Mosta is doing a tour of the major cities from North to South in his Alfa Romeo spider. He recently did a great programme on Venezia, and being Veneziano himself, he treated the place with utmost respect.

I was slightly worried he would be scathing about the rest of one of the most beautiful countries in the world. But no, pleasantly surprised at his lack of sarcasm. Traditionally, Venetians consider themselves superior to all other cittadini italiani, but Francesco gives a brilliant and concise insight into many cities in Italy, many places I've been to but other tourists would have passed by, in his own smooth italian way, making the most of family contacts to gain access into places otherwise closed off... In Italy, it really is who you know that matters.

Padua, for instance, great place. Bologna, so much more than just a sauce....

I already knew this, but here's the proof. And there's so much Italian in the programme it's a good nostalgia trip for me...

Signore da Mosta must be paying a visit to my beloved Perugia, probably next Sunday, watch it and see why I miss it so much! :-)

PS: Rachel, mi dispiace che tu non puoi vedere questa programma, essendo come sei a Texas! Comunque, forse arriva la programma sul BBC America un giorno! Peccato, perche è tanto bello da vedere! A presto! Cx

more literary quotes...

'For these survivors, remembering is a duty. They do not want to forget, and above all they do not want the world to forget, because they understand that their experiences were not meaningless...' Primo Levi (in the front of the Edwin Cameron book 'Witness to AIDS')

If you ever come across a copy, read 'If this is a man...' (Se questo è un uomo...)by Italian author Primo Levi. It's probably sold with another book called 'The Truce' (La Tregua). I studied it at University and it is incredibly moving. It's the true story of Primo Levi's experiences in Auschwitz and how he survived the 'de-personalisation' tactics of the Nazis, reducing people to numbers and bodies rather than individuals who didn't deserve to die.

Interesting that Edwin Cameron should choose to preface his book with the above quote. Although AIDS is a disease that threatens to 'de-personalise' the sufferer, and often does, it doesn't have to be. In KwaZulu Natal, sometimes the team finds people suffering alone in silence, ready to die. They may be surrounded by children or family who don't know what is happening, unaware and ignorant of the virus that is eating their parent's life away. Often it is too late to save these people, but they can at least be helped to die with dignity, surrounded by love, prayers and care. And to know that their children will be cared for after they've gone. They don't die just as a body wasted away to nothing by a rampant disease, but as an individual human being, loved and cared for.

Millions died in Auschwitz and the like around 60 years ago, today millions are dying of AIDS.

Witness to AIDS

I'm not sure 'enjoying' is the right word to use about a book about living with AIDS, but the Edwin Cameron book is good and informative and I'm working my way through it and learning lots. Particularly like the passage below, think it sums up what people go through.

‘AIDS is a disease. It is an infection, a syndrome, an illness, a disorder, a condition threatening to human life. It is an epidemic – a social crisis, an economic catastrophe, a political challenge, a human disaster. AIDS is known. It has been analysed assessed assayed tested measured surveyed considered reflected documented depicted exhaustively described. Its virus is primal particular sub-cellular mutant enveloped nitrogenous. Our knowledge of it is clear and precise. But the disease is also unknown. It is guessed estimated projected approximated sketched debated disputed controverted hidden obscured. Still, it is mere fact, an event, a circumstance, a happening, a reality as present as the ocean or the moon.

AIDS is mouth and tongue and scar and nerve and eye and brain and skin and tum and gut. AIDS is smell and feel – of sweat and grime and snot and breath and bowel and secretion, discharge, pus, putrescence, disintegration, excrement, waste. Human waste. AIDS is feeling – painful sharp tingling burning heavy dull weakening wasting enervating diminishing destroying bereaving. AIDS is fear. It is breathless and nameless.

AIDS is stigma disgrace discrimination hatred hardship abandonment isolation exclusion prohibition persecution poverty privation.

AIDS is metaphor. It is a threat a tragedy a blight a blot a scar a stain a plague a scourge a pestilence a demon killer rampant rampaging murderer. It is made moral. It is condemnation deterrence retribution punishment, a sin a lesson a curse rebuke judgement. It is a disease.’

Why I like Borders...

That's the bookshop, not of a small country (although they are quite exciting too)

In a semi-comatose post-invigilation state this afternoon, I wandered into Borders Bookstore at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and happened upon a couple of copies of Heather's GGA book for sale...

Excellent, branching out in availability from just Christian bookshops....

So Borders, despite it's inflated prices, has become my new favourite bookstore. I even bought a different book on AIDS to celebrate this newfound alliance...

Although, please note I said 'like' not 'love' Borders in the title, I know it's a 'nasty multinational' and therefore I probably shouldn't go there, etc etc...

Anyway, the book I bought is called 'Witness to AIDS' by Edwin Cameron, who was the first public officer in S.Africa to disclose he was living with AIDS... It looks like a good, yet moving read.. I'll let you know when I've finished it. In any case, will be excellent preparation for the attitudes I'll come across out there towards people who have HIV/AIDS.

Also, and completely unrelated... just wanted to note how completely humbled and amazed I am at several God-incidences of late that has linked me up with people interested in getting involved at GGA. Now, I've always had networking tendancies, but this is God using me to get others involved and it's SO EXCITING!!!!! More on them as they develop...

important dates

If you live in Leamington and go to St Paul's, make sure you are at one of the following so that you can see the excellent video about GGA and hear more about what I'm up to...

Sunday June 11th 10.30am service
Sunday July 2nd 6.30pm service

St Paul's night in between - Wednesday 28th June 7.45pm

At all of those events, I'll have some books, CDs, beadwork and postcards for sale, so you can stock up and get a taste of Africa to take home... plus you can pick up my prayer letter and sign up to get involved...

Hope to see you at one or all of those nights...

PLUS.... ADVANCE NOTICE...
Sunday 3rd September 6.30pm service - my commissioning (and last Sunday at St.Paul's :( )
and around that time the best leaving party you could ever attend... more details nearer the time...

The book you must read...

just as a post-script to my courier article...

I have some copies of the GOD's GOLDEN ACRE book available for you to purchase and read..

It really is an amazing story and I am humbled to think that this is my new home and community I am reading about, I wonder if they ever write a follow-up book, whether they'll mention me and the significant contribution I've made to the work and the lives of the children there. I hope so. It's a challenge that I'm looking forward to...

The book costs only £8.99
or £10 if you want me to send it to you.

I got them from GGA UK so all the money will go there, these copies are signed by Heather herself too. ;)

I'll have them in church when I speak, see next posting for dates, so you could get one then, and one for a friend ;)

Local publicity - Courier article

Thanks so much to the Leamington Spa Courier for this well-written article about my adventures, on pg4 (not 3 this time ;) ) in the 2nd June edition of the newspaper.
You can also find it on www.leamingtontoday.co.uk
But I've cut and pasted it for your convenience below!

Headteacher to help African orphans
Warwick Gates headteacher Caroline Horn will be leaving the classroom behind for the next two years to help children orphaned by Aids - in the world's worst-hit area.
Miss Horn, who teaches at the Brethren-run Copsewood secondary school in Coventry, will travel to Cato Ridge in South Africa in September where she will work with the God's Golden Acre charity. The organisation, which was founded ten years ago, cares for 96 orphans as well as running outreach projects which help families - many of which are without parents and are headed by the oldest child - in the surrounding valleys cope with everyday life. With a desire to help others and after being inspired by the charity's founder, Miss Horn decided to volunteer.She said: "I was thinking of doing something worthwhile about a year ago and I discovered this charity."It was founded about ten years ago by a woman called Heather Reynolds. When I found out about the charity I read her biography, met her twice when she was giving talks in the UK and decided to get involved."One in three people in the Cato Ridge area is affected by Aids and 36 per cent of the population is HIV positive. Miss Horn, 31, added: "I am looking forward to getting involved with the children. Apparently the orphange is a joyful place. "These children have been through so much and they have created a big family environment for them. They are all Zulu children and they are all being raised within the Zulu culture. "The 96 youngsters there are split into groups and cared for by Zulu people rather than solely Western people coming in and losing their culture."I am looking forward to it as I have decided that is where I need to be. "It is going to be hard to say my goodbyes but with the internet it should be easy to keep in touch."Miss Horn is seeking sponsorship for her forthcoming work in South Africa. If you would like to contribute call 07841 123656 or email carolinehorn@yahoo.com. To find out more about God's Golden Acre visit:www.godsgoldenacre.org.uk
02 June 2006