Christmas Memories

Curt, Olivia, and Tessa relaxing during the Christmas holidays. Fun family times had by all!

Our Christmas Tree

Family picture taken at a friend's house

Out at the Budapest Christmas market. Brr! So cold!

Merry Christmas!!!

By the time you read this, Christmas in Hungary will be well into the day. So, we have been celebrating the birth of our Savior for several hours now! Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas Day. We promised to share a little about how Hungarians celebrate Christmas. The following is an excerpt from a monthly newsletter that comes out for the benefit of expats living in Hungary:

In Hungary on December 24th, everything closes around noon, or by 4 PM at the latest. All public transportation stops as well. People get home by that time, and start putting up the tree. (It's rarely done before the 24th - You will not see decorated Christmas trees in Hungary before December 24, except perhaps in stores for advertising purposes!) So, the afternoon and early evening of Christmas Eve is occupied by decorating the tree, together, with the family.
Traditional Hungarian tree lights always included candles and sparklers.

According to Hungarian custom, Christmas tree decorations always include very special holiday candies, wrapped in bright gold, red, or other colored foil and tied with bows, called Szaloncukor. These are chocolate on the outside, with marzipan, raspberry, orange or other flavored jellies inside. Some time before Christmas, Hungarian children have already written their letters to baby Jesus, or "Jézuska," much in the same way American children might write letters to Santa Claus. They tell baby Jesus what presents they want for Christmas. Then they leave their letters, on a windowsill for example, to be picked up by angel messengers during the night, while the children are sleeping, and to be "delivered" to baby Jesus! Baby Jesus and the angels will then deliver their gift requests on the night of December 24.

Definitely different from American customs! But the "custom" that the Brannon family desires for all people is the recognition that God sent His Son in flesh to the world to save His people from their sins. Isn't that amazing that God would love us that much??

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!! We send our love and prayers to you......

brannons@scsonline.com

Check back later for Christmas Day pictures.

Just In Time

We're very glad that the construction outside our house has finally finished! It lasted almost 3 months and we thought it would never end. Check out our September blogs if you missed seeing what a mess it all was. It's been a little tricky getting to the places we needed to go with all the heavy equipment blocking our garage door. But we've decided it was worth the hassle since we now have a very nice street, driveway, and sidewalk. Also, things finished just in time for the predicted weather forecast of snow showers for the next few days! It wouldn't be fun to have all that dirt and snow together---MUD!!!

brannons@scsonline.com

Happy Birthday, Meredith

Meredith is 14 today on the 14th! We actually celebrated yesterday since we're leaving early this morning going out of town for a few days. To us, Meredith is a gift from God and we're blessed to have her in our family!

BSF Team Members

We are SO blessed to be able to serve with such wonderful BSF team members here in Hungary. Bob and Shari Volk, with their granddaughter, Madison, arrived in Budapest in April, 2005. The Volks have become our close friends and fellow workers. All of us serve with BSF but we also serve together to proclaim Christ in any avenue that God allows. The 7 of us have had unique opportunities to plant seeds for the gospel and hopefully to have made some eternal impact on the people here. We are thankful for that! This is a picture of us at our Christmas get-together. We had it a little early since the Volks are going back to the states for a couple of weeks for Christmas.

brannons@scsonline.com

A Sunny Day

Yes, these are pictures showing the sun! Never would have thought we all would be so thankful for a beautiful, sunny day. But we are grateful. It's been over 2 weeks since we've had a sunny day like today and we are thanking God for the weather. No snow yet! Hope wherever you are in the world, it's terrific weather there, too. But with or without sun, isn't it still a wonderful day to praise the Son? The Son of God, that is!

brannons@scsonline.com

"The Son is the radiance of God's glory...." Hebrews 1:3

Mikulas Nap (Nicholas Day)

Happy St. Nicholas Day! In Hungary, Santa has nothing to do with Christmas. He comes today, December 6, to visit children everywhere. He'll make his rounds among the shops, schools, and parades to give children some candy and chocolate in red wrappings. Another part of this day is the custom of children setting out their boots or shoes in the windowsill on the night of December 5. During the night, if the children have been really good this past year, they might get tangerines, candies, and even small presents from St. Nicholas. But if the children have been naughty, then they will get a lump of coal or a bunch of switches! We won't tell you what Olivia and Meredith got in their shoes! :)

Check back on our blogs to find out more about Christmas customs that the Hungarians celebrate. It's very fascinating and we are still learning about this culture.

brannons@scsonline.com

Happy First Sunday of Advent!

The girls got the opportunity to sing on the praise team today at church. Hark the Herald Angels Sing! was one of the Christmas hymns we sung. We just love Christmas music that praises the birth of the Lord Jesus!

Correct Mailing Information

Just in the last few days, we've gotten some email traffic from people trying to clarify our mailing address and the process to mail a letter to Hungary. Thanks for your interest in the mail! We LOVE mail!!

You can address it to any of us by name. Sample address:

Olivia Brannon
Tavasz Utca 4
Budaors 2040
Hungary

Please be sure to put the country! We just got a Christmas card in the mail and it didn't have the country name on it. Don't know how that arrived here!

It costs 84 cents to mail a letter to our address. You don't have to go to the post office for a special stamp. Just plop about 3 U.S. stamps on there and drop it in a mailbox! We would love to hear from you and we're pretty good about sending a reply, too. :) Thanks so much. You all are the greatest!

brannons@scsonline.com

Things We Like About Budapest

Goodness, we heard from a lot of you concerning the recent blog about little things we missed! Thanks for reading our blogs and responding. It was fun to hear about things that YOU loved about the United States.

But to make it balanced, we thought we would come up with a few things that we DO have here in Budapest that we particularly appreciate and thank God for:

*A BSF ladies' class that has the privilege of studying Romans
*An International church to worship with on Sundays
*Electricity! We rarely have problems with this and we know other missionaries in other parts of the world sometimes do.
*The Internet
*A garage to put our car. This is wonderful during cold months!
*Plenty of food. A little different than what we're used to but we're not starving.
*A good landlord
*Wonderful ministry teammates to work with here
*A reliable car that gets us anywhere we need to go
*A great public transportation system

Just a few things but our list could be longer. We do feel the Lord's grace and protection here and we know that is because of your prayers for us. Thank you!

brannons@scsonline.com

Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Thanksgivings here are obviously a little different. But this year will be especially different since Curt and Meredith are in the states. We're so glad to know that Curt and Meredith are getting to go to Headland, Alabama, to be a part of the big Thanksgiving celebration there. This is Curt's side of the family and he has many relatives there that mean so much to all of us. Every Thanksgiving, anyone connected to the Brannon family that's within driving distance of Headland, will come and celebrate together. Many times in the past, we've attended this event. So much food! So much talking and visiting! So much fun! It's a blessing to be with family members that we rarely have the opportunity to see. Curt and Meredith will stay with his grandparents, Nana and D-daddy. We know from past history that Curt and Meredith will be treated like royalty at their house. So, hello from Shay and Olivia to everyone in Headland! We love and miss you and send hugs by Curt and Meredith. Eat some turkey and dressing for us!

brannons@scsonline.com

Little Things

Shay and Olivia were thinking today about little things that we love and used to take SO for granted when we lived in the states! Would you like to know some of those things?? Maybe you have little things you love, too, and appreciate about life in America!

Things we had there but not here:

*Mail on Saturday
*Chocolate chips for chocolate chip cookies
*Two cars
*Walmart and Target
*Newspapers in English
*Clothing using American sizing and not European sizing
*Waffle makers
*HGTV
*Reliable mail system
*Beautiful Christian church buildings
*Christian bookstores (we have one little one here)
*Central heating
*Magnolia trees for Christmas decorating
*Large ovens and strong microwaves
*English measuring system instead of metric

Oh, well. Nothing to lose sleep over and nothing that keeps us from finding joy in living here and serving God here! The most important thing we appreciate about America is YOU--our family and friends!!!

brannons@scsonline.com

U.S. Visit

Curt and Meredith will be leaving tomorrow for a 2 week visit to the states. Shay and Olivia will stay in Budapest and hold the fort down here. Hopefully, Curt and Meredith will get to see many of you to thank you for your support of us. Please pray for their safety in their travel and for protection for Shay and Olivia in Budapest. Thanks so much for caring about us!

brannons@scsonline.com

So Much Fun!

Shay's working on Meredith's hair before the performance. Lots and lots of hairspray to last!

Not a great shot but one of the few taken during the actual performance and Meredith's solo.

Check out Meredith's blog later in the week for more pictures and how she felt about the opportunity to be in the Cinderella play. About 260 people came the first night and about 250 the second night. Meredith didn't seem nervous at all performing in front of all those people!

Cinderella

Meredith has her Cinderella play this weekend. She's really been working hard attending practice, learning her lines, and singing the parts she's responsible for. These pictures are from one of the Saturday practices they had. We're really excited that she's been given this fun opportunity and she's had a terrific time being a part of the production. The International Christian School of Budapest is putting the play on with the middle school students. Although Meredith is homeschooled, they were very gracious to allow her to audition for one of the parts. She plays the godmother in the play. We'll let you know how it goes!

brannons@scsonline.com

Dr. Hannah

Dr. John Hannah is in Budapest this week teaching at a Campus Crusade event. He also preached at our home church here, Danube International Church. Shay had the opportunity to sit under Dr. Hannah's teaching while she was at BSF Institute this summer. She found out during that time that Dr. Hannah would be in Budapest in November. So, we got an opportunity to meet him again and greet him on behalf on the BSFers here in Budapest.

Lunch With The Prime Minister??

The man facing the camera is the Prime Minister of Hungary. The lady to his right is April Foley, the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary. She's new to Hungary and took the place of George Walker.

Curt and Shay tried to look professional in hopes that no one would realize we've never been at a luncheon with a Prime Minister and a U.S. Ambassador!

Curt and Shay got an incredible opportunity to attend a American/Hungary Chamber of Commerce Luncheon this past Friday. The guest of honor at the luncheon was the Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferenc Gyurcsany. Also in attendance was the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary. It was a really big crowd because the Prime Minister was to speak and then to answer questions from the audience. Of course, we kept our mouths shut because we had nothing to contribute and we were obviously out of our element! Hopefully, we didn't embarass ourselves too much and didn't look like rednecks from the country! :) The lunch was delicious and it was a rare opportunity to be among people that will directly affect the future of Hungary.

brannons@scsonline.com

Budapest Demonstrations

Some of you may have seen pictures like this on the news this week. Thanks for checking on us to see what was going on during the October 23rd celebration of the Hungarian uprising against the Soviets. The uprising happened 50 years ago this week and this year's celebration was supposed to be a big one. The celebration was marred by demonstrations like this. Many of the demonstrations were peaceful but some protesters are still very angry about the political situation and the current Prime Minister. We stayed away from the area and we feel that there will be no more demonstrations like this in the near future. Please pray for the peace of Hungary--the peace that only comes through the Lord Jesus Christ.

brannons@scsonline.com

International Day of Prayer

Did you know that Sunday, November 12th, is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church? In many countries, our brothers and sisters in Christ can not worship God freely and proclaim openly their faith in Christ. They are persecuted physically, socially, or even financially. Many have their lives threatened. We must pray for them and be informed about their struggles! An organization that tracks these situations and informs the world about them is The Voice of the Martyrs. Their website is: www.persecution.com Mark your calendars for November 12th to pray and why not consider adding this issue to your ongoing prayer list? We feel the need to do that at our house!

brannons@scsonline.com

Men's Group

Lunch on Thursdays is men's small group time at the Brannons. Several men gather during their lunch hour for a quick bite to eat and then discussion on issues that face Christian men today. A nice size group comes each week and several of these men attended the group last Spring. There have been 5 or 6 new men that have joined this fall. After the group time is over, most of the guys have to quickly get back to their jobs. But there are a few men that are willing to stay a little longer to pray specifically for a potential men's BSF group. This prayer group has been a great encouragement to Curt and to his fellow BSF teammate, Bob. Please pray with us that God would allow men in Budapest to become interested in a BSF class and that men would be willing to participate as leaders in this future class.

brannons@scsonline.com

Sunday Preaching

Thanks for all the prayers for Curt as he prepared to preach at our Budapest home church. He preached last Sunday on some verses from Nehemiah. Ronnie Stevens, our pastor here, needed to be in the states for a couple of weeks so he asked Curt to preach for him. All the Brannon ladies think Dad/Curt did a great job!


brannons@scsonline.com

Studying Like a Junior

Is that Chemistry that Olivia's studying? Maybe it's Spanish? Whatever it is, it's stuff that a Junior needs to study! Please pray for Olivia as she has the ACT coming up on Saturday, October 28th.

School Continues

Meredith worked on a poster for a school assignment in history. She's studying about the New World of America. Seems a little strange to be studying about the United States since we do live in Europe! But we are still Americans and we do love our heritage and our culture!

Update on the Riots

Thank you so much for the many emails and calls we got from you last week to check on us during the riots. We woke up on Tuesday morning last week to the news that there had been violent riots the night before in the city of Budapest. It caught many people by suprise, including us! Class was on Tuesday morning so we hoped that what had happened the night before wouldn't hinder anyone from coming to class. Everyone got to class safely and we were thankful.

All last week the protests continued and we stayed away from that part of the city. Ironically, one of the main areas that the people were rioting in was just across from the American Embassy which is located in what's called Freedom Square. We think that's an appropriate place for the American Embassy to be! Unfortunately, during the riots, over 250 people have been injured, many of them policemen. Some 200 people have been detained for questioning. After 3 days of violent protests, there have been several days of peaceful protests with thousands of Hungarians taking part. Many Hungarians have vowed to keep protesting until the Prime Minister resigns. At this point, he has refused to do that.

We recognize that we are guests in this country that we have grown to love and care about. What the Hungarians are concerned about are things we want to be concerned about. So, we pray for governmental stability so our visas will be secure, we pray for freedom and democracy to prevail, and we pray for the nation of Hungary to recognize the sovereignty of God over all things.

Thank you for your prayers for our safety and for your interest in this part of the world.

brannons@scsonline.com

Hungarian Hero

Shay and the girls took a field trip to hear a Hungarian hero speak about his involvement during the Nazi and Soviet occupation of Hungary. Dr. Janos Horvath was a fascinating man to listen to. He has dedicated much of his life to the Hungarian people. During the Nazi rule and then the Soviet rule of Hungary, he was tortured, beaten and imprisoned for his involvement with the Freedom Fighters. He and his fellow countrymen wanted freedom and democracy for Hungary. They were willing to risk their lives to speak out boldly for this form of government. Dr. Horvath was part of the famous October 1956 Hungarian uprising that held off the Soviet military for 3 weeks. The "rebellion" was crushed by the Soviet army and after that the Hungarians begin years of suffering under communist rule.

After fleeing to the United States, Dr. Horvath lived there for many years and was an economics professor at a university. During his time in the states, he had many conversations with then governor, Ronald Reagan, about the Hungarian people and their desire for democracy. Dr. Horvath holds Reagan in high esteem for Reagan's part in bringing down communism.

In the early 1990s, after the wall of communism came down, Dr. Horvath repatriated to Hungary with his wife. He successfully ran for the Hungarian Parliament and has been elected for 3 terms. He was recently re-elected in January 2006. Although 85 years old, his energy and enthusiasm for making sure that Hungarians "know their history" is incredible. He's committed to making sure that young people know the important role that Hungary has played in world events.

Shay and the girls thoroughly enjoyed hearing Dr. Horvath speak and it gave us a renewed appreciation for the country we now live in. Please pray that the Hungarian people will be awakened to the truth of their history. More importantly, please pray that the Hungarian people will recognize God's hand in their history and how He has spared them through the years.

brannons@scsonline.com

Family Happenings

Just a general update on what has been going on with the 4 of us these last few days:

Curt: Finished up 6 1/2 weeks of serving Tim and his family while they were here in Budapest during Tim's accident. He got all the family members to the airport when it was time for each of them to fly out. Two of the family members flew out at different times. Also, the men's group that he helps lead has resumed successfully with a large group of men. They meet at the Brannon house each Thursday. Curt's usual trip to Serbia will be soon and plans are being made for that. Of course, can't leave out homeschool responsibilities each day. Curt will also be preaching at our Budapest church on October 8th. Please pray for that!

Shay: BSF and homeschool are the main things she's involved with. The study of Romans is proving to be as exciting as she had hoped! Each Monday is leaders meeting and each Tuesday the class meets. Homeschooling with the girls is such a joy. Both girls stay on course despite Mom and Dad's busy schedules.

Olivia: Her FEK leadership responsibilities consume most of her extra time. She meets on Tuesday nights for a leadership meeting and then Friday nights are the coffee house ministry for high-schoolers. She also meets every other week with her FEK mentor to do evangelistic surveys. She enjoys being a part of our church youth group and hosted that group at our home this past Sunday night.

Meredith: You might have read from Meredith's blog about her new drama part in the school play. She goes each Tuesday and Thursday for practice. The play is upcoming and she's really had a lot of fun with this new experience. Of course, she takes care of Tessa and the rest of the pets!

Check out all the blogs that family writes! You can click on the right side of this blog to go to their blog.

brannons@scsonline.com

Headed to the States

Good news about Tim! He and his father left early this morning from the trauma hospital for the airport. Leaving Budapest behind, they are flying to California where Tim will enter a excellent rehabilitation facility to continue his remarkable recovery. We are praising the Lord because Tim has experienced clear progress even in the last few days. Tim's sister arrived last Saturday. Tim's brother was supposed to have arrived this past Monday but it didn't make much sense for him to come to Budapest and then 2 days later Tim would leave the country! A good reason not to come--Tim has gotten better more quickly than we all thought! So Tim's brother plans to visit Tim in California in the near future.

Tim's sister will leave for the states on Saturday and Tim's mom will leave for the states on Tuesday. It was a challenge to get everyone's tickets changed with such short notice.

Thank you for your prayers throughout this amazing situation. We never thought when we saw Tim that first night in the hospital that he would recover and go home in less than six weeks. Only God could have allowed this to happen.

"For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate...." Luke 15:24

brannons@scsonline.com

What's Going On in the Front Yard??

Major construction is going on out our front door and down the street! We're told that for at least the next 2 months, we will contend with all this heavy equipment, new pipes, and workers. They're putting in drainage systems and filling in some of the ditches along our road. Our garage door has already been blocked a few times and both ends of our street have been blocked. Plus it has rained a lot and mud is everywhere. At least we don't have our windows open as much anymore and we don't hear all the noise! Never a dull moment!

"Advertisement" for BSF! :-)

Have you ever considered attending a BSF class? There probably is a class near you. We just have to encourage you to get involved in this awesome study of Romans! It's only the 3rd week and we're just finishing up the first chapter. But, as a family, we have already gotten so much out of the study. Curt and the girls are following along with Romans by using the Home Discussion Pages that BSF provides. Makes for terrific family discussion! If you're not sure where to find a class, go to the BSF website (www.bsfinternational.org) and you'll get all the info you need. What better way to spend your time than studying Romans each week for the next 32 weeks? If you do decide to go, let us know and we'll look forward to talking with you about how God is using Romans in your life.

brannons@scsonline.com

Medical Update on Tim

Just wanted to update you on the young man that fell from the balcony here in Budapest. It's hard to believe that it's been 4 weeks today since his accident happened. God has been so gracious and kind to allow Tim to survive and to make steady progress toward recovery! It just didn't look that way 4 weeks ago. When we saw him a few hours after the accident and just coming out of surgery, we were not sure that he would live through the night. One of our prayers for Tim was that he would live until his dad arrived from the states the next day. That prayer and so many more have been answered! He has come out of his coma, has had several successful surgeries, and he has begun interacting and responding to the people around him. A miracle! Tim's mom and dad have been here in Budapest with him and have spent many hours at his bedside. The plan is to move Tim, as soon as he is able, back to the states for therapy and rehabilitation. That could happen in the next 2-3 weeks. The doctors are amazed. We are amazed at our amazing God!

Thank you for your interest in what's going on here and for the prayers said on Tim's behalf. Please keep praying and we'll let you know when he's headed back to the states. Tim's brother and sister will be arriving in Budapest in a few days and that will be a real encouragement for their parents. Please pray for their travel safety.

The picture is of the Budapest Trauma Hospital where Tim is being well cared for.

Class Beginning

A good start to the new BSF class year! We started yesterday, which is a week ahead of the U.S. classes. Prayers were answered and new ladies DID come. We are thankful! Thank you for those that prayed and for those that sent encouraging emails.

It was a beautiful day, another answered prayer, and we even avoided a potential catastrophe. On Monday, the day before class, there was not any water in the church building. Not a good thing with women and no ladies' rooms! Nearby construction work on the public transportation system caused the temporary outage. We prayed for water on the inside of the building for class day but not water on the outside of the building in the form of rain! God provided the water where needed and we had another opportunity to thank Him!

Please keep praying for the Budapest Day Women class. We desire spiritual change and numerical growth. Check back for periodic updates on the class.

"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever!" Romans 11:36

New Friends

God keeps bringing us new American friends to know and love in Budapest! Second from the left is Laura Beth who has come to teach English to Hungarian students. She's from Oklahoma. We're praying that God will work out her schedule so she will be able to be a children's leader in the ladies' BSF class. The two people on the far right are Paul and Jacque. They're our new friends from California who have come to Budapest to care for their son after his fall from a balcony 3 weeks ago. You may have read about that in a previous blog. This picture was taken after we enjoyed a morning of worship at church and then lunch together. It's always wonderful to talk with someone who speaks "American English"! :-)

The Weather?

We got an email from someone kidding us that we haven't done a blog recently on the weather in Budapest! What they're referring to is one of our blogs last Spring apologizing for always talking about the weather here. It did seem for a while there that we were regularly reporting on the status of the weather! But weather DOES seem to be an issue for us because the places we need to get to are usually by public transportation and we're out in the weather catching buses and trams.

Sooooo here goes the report: Until the last couple of days, it's been quite cool here. This past Thursday it was so windy and blustery that we had to wear more than a mid-weight jacket. That was August 31st! Something we're not used to in the south. But yesterday and today warmed up some and was just beautiful. It's going down into the 50s and high 40s in the evenings. We know that cold and snow are not too very far off so we're thanking the Lord for these pretty days we have.

Tuesday's weather for the first day of BSF is supposed to be pretty and sunny. That's good! Bad weather tends to give too many of us an excuse not to come to Bible study!

This will be our third winter here in Budapest and we actually seem to be getting the hang of this "snow thing". It does get a little old after about the 4th or 5th snow--unless, of couse, it snows on Christmas! But then that's a few months off...

BSF Starts Soon!

Shay has returned from Amsterdam where she attended the BSF Area Workshop over the weekend. Yesterday was the Class Workshop and this coming Tuesday will be the first day of class. From September 5th through May 29th, we will study the book of Romans. Should be a year of change and transformation for all involved! A few prayer requests for the class beginning:

*New ladies and children to come and register for the study of Romans

*New leaders are needed for slots that we have open

*That God will honor His Word and allow His Word to radically change each member of the class

Thank you for your prayers and your concern for us! Hopefully, we'll have some pictures to post soon concerning the new year of BSF....

brannons@scsonline.com

St. Stephens Day 2006

Lots of vendors to shop from!


Checking out the beautiful view from Castle Hill over the Danube


We stopped by to eat at one of our favorite places


St. Stephens Day Holiday is today. But this year's holiday has been celebrated for the last 3 or 4 days. Reminds us of July 4th in the states. Hungarians celebrate the anniversary of the crowning of St. Stephens by the pope in 1000 A.D. We joined in the fun and had a great time!

An Eventful Week

When a phone rings, one just doesn't know what the person may say that will change a person's immediate plans. Have you ever had that experience? Probably so!

Without going into too many details, we have had the opportunity this week to minister to an American family going through a severe crisis. The phone rang last Saturday afternoon, Budapest time, and it was my sister calling to tell us of a young man living in Budapest that had fallen from a balcony. He is a brother-in-law of some BSF friends of ours in Alabama. We had never met this young man but we knew of him. He was in critical condition with head injuries and was fighting for his life, we were told. We were able to find the hospital he was in and went there to pray and to be available until the young man's dad could get to Budapest, from the states, on Sunday afternoon. Many have prayed for this situation throughout the last few days and it has been humbling to watch God graciously intervene and allow this young man to get a little bit better each day. He is still in critical condition but there is real hope that there is not severe brain damage and that he will survive this terrible accident. The young man's father is staying with us and is able to visit his son on a daily basis. If you're interested in more details or just want specifics to pray about, please email us. We thought we were coming to Budapest to serve Hungarians! But God has given us the privilege of serving those from our own nation in this foreign culture! God is in heaven and does as He pleases....

brannons@scsonline.com

P.S. This blog site that we use (blogger.com) has been having some maintenance issues for the last few days. We're not sure what's going on so our blogs might look a little different. Please bear with us!

Back In School!

School started for the girls on August 4th. We're all trying to get adjusted to a more structured schedule after a pretty crazy schedule in the states. Olivia is in the 11th grade and Meredith is an 8th grader.

General Information That Might Interest Some

We thought we would give some information to questions we got while we're in the states: Questions like how to contact us, do we have a prayer letter mailing list, where is there information about our sending organization, etc. So we thought we would try to give it to you in an organized manner. Please feel free to contact us any time with questions you may have!

Address in Hungary:
Tavasz Utca 4
Budaors 2040
Hungary
(It costs 84 cents to mail a letter to us)

Our American Contact Address
We use this address as a return address and for family business purposes. We also use this address while we're in the states and we can receive mail there during our visit. Family members check this PO Box regularly for us. Sometimes if the mail is very important and it needs our attention, they send it on to us in Budapest via a US Mail Global package that gets here in about 5 days or less. So, that's why you see this address sometimes as the return address for some of the letters we send to you from Budapest. If the letter to you ended up getting returned, it wouldn't come back all the way across the ocean but would go to our U.S. mailbox!

PO Box 1943
Madison AL 35758

Email Addresses to Contact Us
We've mentioned this before but we think it's important to keep mentioning it. We always answer our emails! If you take time out of your busy schedule and send us an email, the least we can do is answer you! So, if for some reason, you don't get a reply, please know that it is some kind of internet glitch. Our email is not always reliable and we have no idea sometimes of the information we might be losing or not responding to. So, if you don't get a reply from us, please resend your email again. We would love to hear from you!

brannons@scsonline.com (This is our family account and will go to the four of us.)
shaybrannon@hotmail.com (A good backup account that usually is pretty reliable.)

Prayer letter/Newsletter
We send out a BSF Newsletter on a quarterly basis. The letter is online at the Bible Study Fellowship website. If you're interested in reading those and have access to the web, we would appreciate you checking that out. If you would rather get a hard copy of the newsletter, please let us know and we'll add you to the mailing list.

www.bsfinternational.org (click on FRA Newsletters)

Turning Our Thoughts Back to Budapest

It will soon be a week since we've been back in Budapest. In that week since our return, we've been getting readjusted to life here, catching up on sleep, unpacking, and beginning our homeschool year. It's been a busy and productive week! Life almost seems to be back to "normal" in the sense that normal can be in another culture. But we know that these few days are the calm before the storm. After this week, a quiet schedule ends! We will then begin a schedule of travel, study, ministry, schooling, and planning that will keep us dependent on the Lord's grace to fulfill our commitments. But our greatest desire is that we won't allow our responsibilities here in Budapest to get in the way of a growing relationship with Christ. The work is never more important than our hearts before Him! We are sometimes amazed at how quickly we forget His faithfulness and how quickly we try to accomplish life in our own strength. Maybe you can relate?

And so with those thoughts in our heart, we humbly ask you for your prayers for the following requests. We are mindful that apart from Him, our work here counts for nothing! Thank you for your concern for us and for the people in this part of the world.

Please pray for:

*Safety in travel and productive ministry for Curt as he goes to the Czech Republic next week and for Shay as she goes to Amsterdam in about 3 weeks.

*Protected time for home-school requirements. (All 4 of us are involved in school as a teacher or a learner!)

*Preparation in planning and study as the new BSF year starts on September 5th. (We're studying Romans this year.)

*God's clear direction for what ministry the Brannons should be involved in over and above our BSF ministry.

brannons@scsonline.com

Brannon Family Reunion

Sid, Curt, and Meredith

Will, Wayne, and Curt (A Dad and 2 brothers)

The Vann Brannon Family

Nana and great-grandson, John

Olivia and Mary Owens (That's D-dad in the background!)

July 8th was a big celebration of the Brannon family. Julian and Grace Brannon (Curt's grandparents), or Nana and D-dad as we call them, were honored on this day. Family from all around came to Headland, Alabama, to celebrate the lives of Nana and D-dad and to spend time with lots of Brannon family members. We were so glad that we were going to be home in the states during this time and would be able to attend. Olivia had to get her wisdom teeth out a mere 2 days before the event so her attendance was a little bit in jeopardy! But her surgery went well and she was able to take part in the festivities. Our family stayed at the new Headland House Bed and Breakfast and found our time in Headland to be fun and relaxing. What a neat blessing to be a part of such a big family!

brannons@scsonline.com

Reflections On Our Visit

July 4th in the states! We love this holiday!

We arrived back in Budapest yesterday afternoon and we have spent these last hours sleeping, unpacking, and going to the grocery store. There are some things we've forgotten how to do! Six weeks is a long time to be gone.

But it was a WONDERFUL 6 weeks and we are counting our blessings for the many people we got to see and the things we got to do. We really haven't had much time to think and reflect on how much we needed and enjoyed our stateside visit. But we do know that it was like a breath of fresh air and a real encouragement to all of us. Thank you to those that went out of your way to make sure we were taken care of and that our time spent in the states was very meaningful.

Olivia was diligent to take a lot of pictures so you'll probably need to check her blog for U.S. pictures! We'll have some more thoughts about our trip in a future blog or two. So check back if you're interested.

Blessings and thanks to you all!

brannons@scsonline.com

Updating from the States

Just a quick update to let you know that the Brannons haven't forgotten that we have a blogsite! But we're still in the states and it's been a little hectic to try to get to a computer somewhere. Olivia has done the best job of posting pictures and giving insight to what's going on here! We're sorry for the delays in answering your emails sent to us but we hope to catch up on those in the next few days.

We've had a wonderful visit and it's amazing how fast the time has gone. Our prayers have been answered as we have had opportunities for special moments with family and friends. So many people have been an encouragement and blessing to us while we've been here. Many of you have assured us of your continued prayer support for us as we return to Budapest. Thank you!

We return to Budapest on August 1st and have a couple of weeks before things begin heating up for our fall schedule. We're sure you can relate! If God brings us to your mind, we would appreciate your prayers for a smooth beginning to the BSF class, school, small group ministries, and church responsibilities.

Thank you to those that made our visit to the states a memorable one!

No Need for Air Conditioning!

We are amazed at the weather we've been experiencing over the last week or so. Cold and raining! Some of us have had to dig our jackets and sweatshirts out again in order to walk places and for just around the house. Well, not Curt! He's loving the weather! :-) Shay and the girls think it's pretty cold. On some nights, the temperature has dipped into the mid-40s. According to our "Southern Calendar", that's not June weather! But we are thankful, though, for the cool weather because in due time, it will be very hot and we don't have air conditioning. We're planning to leave for the states in about a week. And we're sure that when we get there, we'll experience Alabama weather. Hot and humid! Yeah! See you soon!

Serbia Pictures

A view of the church that the guys spent the week building in Erdevik, Serbia.


Some of the church people that the guys had the privilege of interacting with during the week.

A Couple of Updates

*Curt and the FBC team are still in Serbia and will return tomorrow. We haven't had a lot of communication from them because of where they're located. But what communication we have gotten is that they are doing well. We are thankful for that! No one has been injured on the work site and apparently no one has gotten sick. They have a full day today and and a full morning on Friday. Then they head back to Budapest in the afternoon. They will be exhausted! Hopefully, the FBC guys will feel up to a little sightseeing and shopping in Budapest on Saturday. They leave very early on Sunday to return to the states. Thank you for your prayers for them! Please keep praying....

*The Ladies Bible Study Fellowship class has ended for the year. We had our last class day this past Tuesday and we are rejoicing in God's faithfulness. The book of Genesis proved to be a life-changing study for the leaders and for the class members. In the last couple of days, we have heard from many of you telling us that you had prayed for the Budapest class all year. How grateful we are for your prayers! You will be amazed to hear how God has answered those prayers. Hopefully, we'll get a chance this summer to tell you of His goodness to the Budapest class.

brannons@scsonline.com

Mission Team

Our 3 guy mission team arrived safely in Budapest. Tomorrow, the three of them and Curt will leave for Serbia to help build a church in Erdevik. We were glad to see the guys arrive! They brought greetings and love from First Bible Church. They are: Barry Keith, Phil Olinger, and Scottie Hubbard. Please continue to pray for the men as they serve!