Hefner Update - April 2009 - On Furlough

Hefners on Home Assignment
It’s hard to believe that the first official day of spring is just around the corner. Each day seems to pass at a comfortable, relaxing pace. But when we take a look at the calendar and see how much time has gone by since we arrived in the States (mid-December), it’s shocking! We are currently in Snohomish, Washington, spending time with Lindsay’s family and our sending church family, Emmanuel Baptist Church. The church provided us with a very comfortable place of our own and we are enjoying having people in our home and getting to know them better.

Lindsay, Elijah, and Lenaya are in the full swing of school, learning about everything from the capital cities of the US to the ministry of missionary Gladys Alyward in China (a great story!). It’s been fun to have the opportunity to take “field trips” to places like the Pacific Science Center, and to spend an afternoon at the Soup Kitchen (serving meals to the homeless). Elijah and Lenaya also experienced their first “snow day”, when we were blessed with two inches of snow in March. Of course, we had to cancel school due to the bad roads.☺ The kids were THRILLED! Building a snowman, making snow angels, sliding on iced-over puddles…it was quite the day! Besides speaking in a couple of churches and sharing about our ministry in some local Christian schools, Aaron is also co-teaching a married’s Sunday school class at our church. One of our main desires for our time on home assignment is to reconnect with our families and strengthen our relationships with friends, and those who support our ministry. We don’t want our time here to come to an end and regret that we didn’t spend more time with people. Please feel free to stop by, or get in touch with us! We would love to see you!

Future Plans
We will be in Washington State until early June. At that time we will head back to Little Rock, Arkansas and will spend most of the remainder of our furlough there. We will have a few trips “sprinkled” in there, though – Houston, Texas and Charleston, West Virginia. We’re looking forward to seeing “y’all” ☺

Home…where’s that?
When we lived in [Africa], home was our cement-block house on the outskirts of the village. When we stayed in the capital city...from time to time, home was the mission guest house, surrounded by a tall cement wall. When we arrived in the States this past December, for six weeks home became Grandma and Grandpa Hefner’s house. And now, here in Washington, home is our church’s mission house. When we move again in a few months, home will be in another location. This can be confusing to a 5- and 7-year old child. We’ve been asked more than once, “Dad/Mom, where is our home?” Rather than cause us to think, “Oh, poor things, they don’t even know where home is”, these questions have been wonderful opportunities to teach Elijah and Lenaya that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20), and to “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Col. 3:2) Our everchanging home location has been a good reminder to us as well, to hold loosely the things of
this short life, and to keep eternities values in view.

Prayer and Praise:

• Due to the fact that Lindsay’s health is greatly improved and every test that she has undergone these past couple of months revealed nothing, we have decided to not pursue further medical testing. We are still unsure of the cause of her prolonged illness in Senegal but are resting in the fact that the Lord does. He was faithful to strengthen and sustain Lindsay these past 2 ½ years, and we know that He will do the same in the future, should her symptoms arise again, when we return to [Africa]. We are SO thankful for the good health and energy that she has right now!
• Please pray for our co-worker. She has a very full schedule in this upcoming month preceding her own home assignment. Pray that she would rest in the Lord’s goodness and strength.
• Remember the man who placed his faith in Christ right before we left...and came to the States? Well, our co-worker has reported that he is still holding onto Christ, is reading further Bible lessons and Scripture portions, and continues to ask questions about what he is reading. This is exciting! If you choose to pray for only one request in this newsletter, let it be this one! {He} needs your prayers. Pray that the Lord would strengthen his spirit to withstand the persecution from others in the village. Pray that he would remain steadfast in his new faith in Christ. Pray that the Spirit of God would be teaching him and giving him understanding as he reads Bible lessons. And also pray that he would be a bold witness for Christ.