Brannon Family Updates

New Blog Address

2009-06-12T10:52:00.003-05:00

Come visit the new blog!

http://www.ministrydevelopment.wordpress.com/

New Blog

2009-05-27T12:15:00.002-05:00

Thanks, Olivia, for updating on the blog for us! Glad she did that because that's a good place to end THIS blog and tell you about our new blog. Just time for a change and I hope you think it's a good change! We're going to jump over to WordPress and do a blog on their site. I'm working on it now to get it set up. It'll be written by me, Shay, and will be about Ministry Development projects in Europe and around the world. It's our ministry focus now and we would like to share those things with you. Our first "official" project has already begun to take shape in Budapest. It's a Ministry Guest House that will minister to national and American ministry workers.

I'll post the new blogsite address very soon. Check back to get that and please consider following our new blog.

Thanks!

My Parents

2009-05-26T21:49:00.003-05:00

My parents are kinda adorable, aren't they? Well, you don't have to agree with me but i sure think so :) They just got back from Hungary so I'm writing to tell you they are alive and well. Hopefully they will have pictures and stories to share with all of us very soon.

Smiles, Olivia

Update From Budapest

2009-05-09T16:58:00.002-05:00

Hello to all of you that let us know that you would be praying for us on our trip back to Budapest. I (Shay) am up in the middle of the night here fighting good ol jet lag! I slept so well last night which was our first night here. But tonight is a different story. That's usually how it goes. The first night is pretty good and the second night not as easy to go to sleep and stay asleep. Of course, I can hear Curt snoring in the other room so at least one of us is getting some sleep! But he deserves the shut-eye. He has worked hard today for things we needed to do in Budapest plus he drove everywhere. Driving is a really tiring responsibility on these roads, with these laws, AND someone's borrowed car that has a stick shift. Makes my head hurt thinking about doing all of that!

Tomorrow we go to church at Danube International. We will go to Sunday School and then we get to hear Pastor Ronnie teach on Hannah from the Bible. He said he chose her to preach on since tomorrow is Mother's Day. What a great text! I'm not sure what the lunch plans are after church but it will be fun I feel sure. Then tomorrow night, our good friends, the Stirlings, are hosting a dinner for us and inviting special friends to that.

We appreciate your concern about the ministry that is going on in this part of the world. Your prayer and financial support does not go unnoticed by God or by us. How humbled we are to be in partnership with you.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. A special greeting to my mom, Carolyn, who is a terrific mom and has supported us in many ways as we try to serve God here in Europe.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Back to Budapest

2009-05-03T20:23:00.005-05:00

Curt and I (Shay) are headed out to Budapest this week!! Actually, Curt was already planning to return to Budapest and Serbia for two weeks in May. When he got back in January, he knew he would be needing to return around this time. But what was unexpected was that I would be going with him, too. I won't be going for the full two weeks but for just one of the weeks. It will be Curt's second trip back since leaving Hungary almost a year ago. This will be my first trip since leaving and I'm so excited.

Our schedule is jam-packed with things we need to accomplish and all the people and places we need to see. But who cares?? We'll sleep when we return to Alabama! Our hearts are still filled with such emotion when we think of that special place and special people we left behind. God is so gracious to allow us to remain connected to this part of the world.

Your prayers would be greatly appreciated. We'll post pictures and update you when we return.

Above are pictures from our very first year in Budapest. (2004)

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Happy 19th Birthday Olivia!

2009-04-29T21:58:00.000-05:00

Economic Update on Hungary

2009-04-06T10:39:00.003-05:00

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/04/03/1878205.aspx

This is a really interesting article on the economic situation in Hungary. This country is such a special place to us with very special people living there. So we would appreciate it if you would pray for the stabilization of their economy.

Israel Part Two

2009-03-29T15:03:00.006-05:00

Dome of the Rock/Jerusalem

The Mustard Seed Plant

The Dead Sea

Baptism in the Sea of Galilee of 7 of our team members

Shay with team friend, Janet

Over a week has passed since Olivia and Shay arrived back from Israel. The two of us have had a little more time to think about and remember the special moments of the trip. There are too many special moments to count! We've not gotten all our pictures organized and labeled but the pictures we have between the two of us are helping us keep our memories fresh and permanent in our hearts.

We've heard from several of our team members in the last few days and we are amazed at how much we miss them. After all, we just met them and spent only 12 days together. But there was a bond that was formed that was very unique and not like anything we had experienced before. We were connected---through our love for Christ, for the Jewish people, and for Israel. Every day we would get up early and load the bus by 8:00 a.m. The day would be packed with sites to see and things to do. Arriving back to the hotel or kibbutz where we stayed would happen around 5:30 or 6 in the evening. So, as a team of 40, we spent hours together seeing things for the first time together. There's just something special about that. We are thankful that God put us all together for this once in a lifetime trip.

Our advice to you: start saving your pennies NOW and plan to go to Israel! At least plan to go to Jerusalem. Your life will be changed and your understanding of the Bible will be even richer and more in context. I (Shay) for one realizes even more just what I do NOT know about the Bible and the land where Jesus walked. I need to study!!! I want to study!!! There are some incredible books that I need to read about the history of this land and the impact this land/country has made on the world and continues to make.

Don't know if there will be another post on Israel but maybe in a few days/weeks. The trip changed us in a major way and it's hard to put a change like that aside and go on with life as usual. Hope you enjoy a few more pictures of the land of Israel.

Israel Part 1

2009-03-20T15:43:00.006-05:00

Ahhh....back from Israel and so glad to be home with Curt and Meredith. But our hearts feel sad, too, because we know that Israel has now made an eternal lasting impact on us and it was hard to leave this precious place. How can one leave that incredible place without something exciting and memorable happening in a person's relationship with God? Walking where the Savior walked and seeing places that have been there for thousands of years is causing us to read the Bible with different eyes. Words leap off the page like Mt. Hermon or Jerusalem or Bethsaida and we are amazed that we have been there! Scripture takes on new in-depth meaning and things seem in context more. There is so much information to process. We have yet to have the time to look through our pictures and our notes and see how God is using and will use this trip in our lives. It will be an ongoing process in the weeks to come. Here is just the first blog we'll do on Israel and will probably do a couple more. But we wanted to post as quickly as we could to thank you all for praying for us. We love you for that!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Hello from Israel!!!

2009-03-12T12:24:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone!

I've gotten access to a computer for a few minutes so thought I would post. No pictures though since I can't download/upload here.

What a incredible few days! Olivia and I are well and have been forever changed by this wonderful land that our Savior loved and walked on. We have seen the city of Caesarea, the Golan Heights, taken a ride on the Sea of Galilee, and witnessed several of our fellow team-mates be baptized in the Sea of Galilee. How can one see all that and not be changed?? The scriptures, especially the gospels, will seem more clear to us after seeing these places a little closer. What a privilege and a gift we have had from the Lord to be allowed to be here.

Some of our new friends are Janet, Sam, Hannah, Vicki, Nada, Gordy, Michael, Eva, Seth, David, Nicki, Charlotte, and the list goes on and on. We won't post their last names but we'll post pictures soon! All are doing well and we are safe. We leave from our hotel tomorrow to head towards the Dead Sea on to our last stop of Jerusalem.

Thank you for your prayers for us!!! We are feeling them and your love and concern for us!!

Shalom,

Shay and Olivia

Israel Trip Schedule

2009-03-04T20:02:00.004-06:00

Here is our schedule for our trip to Israel. Shay and Olivia leave Friday for Chicago. Then they'll fly out on Saturday afternoon to Tel Aviv. We would appreciate your prayers for our safety, health, good travel conditions, good weather, soft hearts to seek God's revelation of Himself to us while we are in that important land, and that we would be a blessing to the 40 other people on the tour. Please pray for our sweet Curt and Meredith at home in the states. We will miss them!!!

Thank you! We will update you when we get back!

March 7 Saturday Fly to Israel
March 8 Sunday Arrive Israel
March 9 Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean Coast
March 10 The Northern Coast--Rabbinic Judaism
March 11 Sea of Galilee
March 12 Upper Galilee
March 13 The Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea
March 14 The Wilderness of Judea
March 15 The Negev and the Shephelah
March 16 Modern Jerusalem and the City of David
March 17 Mount Zion and the Jewish Quarter
March 18 Mount of Olives and the Via Dolorosa
March 19 Fly back to Chicago
March 20 Fly home to Huntsville

Papa John

2009-02-27T14:48:00.005-06:00

Early this morning, Papa John, went to be with his precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. John Cook, Sr., was an incredible man who passionately loved the gospel of Christ. His life honored and glorified Jesus and his desire was for all that he came in contact with to know his Savior as he did. Papa John's life had a huge impact on our family's life in that his love for missions was contagious. It was Papa John and his lovely wife, Mama Jo, that first invited Curt and Shay on a mission trip to Moldova in 1999. That trip made an impression on us and we're convinced that God planted a seed for overseas missions in our heart. We loved Papa John but we are so thankful that his pain is over and he is in eternity where there are no tears and no sorrow. Here is the email that Mama Jo sent out to the FBC family. You can see from this email the confidence they have in the truth of the gospel:

"The Bible assures us that death is not untimely, God has appointed a time for each of us to die. (Ps 139:16) My beloved husband, John Robert Cook, was ushered into heaven this morning, February 27 at 1:57 am. John told us he had no fear and was ready and the 2 week prediction for his life was God answering his prayer to go quickly. So this day was his appointed time.
Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith, not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)"

Arrangements:
Visitation at First Bible Church on Tuesday, 4:00pm – 7:00pm. Funeral at First Bible Church on Wednesday, 1:00pm

Please continue to pray for Jo, John, Jr., Lyn and Brian during this time.

<:AtomicElement>

A Teacher in the Country of Turkey

2009-02-17T09:00:00.003-06:00

Here is an update letter from a young Christian teacher teaching elementary-age children in Turkey. Her name is Ruth Stevens and her father is the pastor of our church in Budapest--Danube International Church. We love and support Ruth and her work in Turkey. Please read her update and if you feel led to pray, please do so. Hers is a difficult job in a very dark place:

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Turkey! After my first semester teaching 1st grade at Oasis International School I am eager to update you about the Lord’s goodness to me in this new place and stage of life. The move here in August was a quick one, but I am thankful for a smooth transition to a foreign culture. I teach a class of 19 first graders from 9 different countries who mostly come from either diplomatic or missionary families. Teaching is challenging and I am still adjusting to all of the responsibilities of this more-than-full-time job. However, I love the school and the other teachers who work here.

Due to our location, our school is not overtly Christian, and I have to be careful about what I say about Jesus in front of the class. Nonetheless, as teachers, we try to integrate biblical truth into our lessons whenever possible, and the school offers Bible classes that students may attend with permission from their parents. I have had some exciting opportunities to talk about God’s truth with students who are curious about the Bible. Please pray that these kinds of conversations will continue to arise.

I live in the “suburbs” of Ankara, Turkey’s capital city. Life in Turkey is an interesting mix of East and West. The makeup is composed of conservative Muslims who wear the head coverings, as well as secular Turks in European dress. Though many Turks in our area are not so strict as to pray five times a day, this semester I watched as almost the entire neighborhood observed Muslim holidays such as Ramadan (Ramazan in Turkish) and the “Sacrifice Holiday.” Please pray against the darkness in this land.

Most of my time is spent with school activities, but I have also been able to attend a Bible study for Iranian women. Please pray that God will bless this community (mostly refugees) who are in our midst. Next semester I hope to add more: a prayer time with the first grade moms, serving at my church, and getting to know the middle and high school students better. I appreciate your prayers as we enter into this second half of the year.

The school year continues until June 17th and then I will return to the U.S. during the summer to attend weddings and my NICS orientation. I have committed to teaching a second year at Oasis International School and will return in the Fall as a 3rd grade teacher.

Please praise the Lord with me for:

· Completion of my first semester
·Great roommates and living situation
·An international church to attend
·God’s provision in allowing me to be here
·Receiving my Residence Permit

Please pray for:

·A strong personal walk with the Lord
·Our school as they become accredited
·Ahmed, Peter, and John- first graders who are struggling with their behavior
·My unbelieving students and their families
·Language study
·Friendships with Turkish neighbors
·Teachers to fill open spots for next year
·A Work Visa

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement,

Ruth Stevens

The Holy Land

2009-02-09T16:16:00.003-06:00

Olivia and Shay have the opportunity of traveling to the Holy Land of the Savior next month. We are so excited and are anticipating that God will speak to our hearts and minds during our time there. The trip is with a professor from Moody Bible Institute who has a company called Messianic Journeys. We'll be gone for about 10 days with the trip beginning and ending in Chicago. Our plan is to take lots of pictures and write down our thoughts while there. We will post some of those images and thoughts on our blogs. We never imagined we would have this wonderful gift of being in that part of the world. Israel is so critical to what we believe about our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout the Old Testament, God tells His story of redemption through the story of the Israelites. The Old Testament points toward the coming of the Messiah and how His sufficient sacrifice alone is our only way to heaven. Seeing these places mentioned in the Bible will only increase our love and gratitude towards God for His wonderful gift of His Son!

We would appreciate your prayers as we get ready to go. We'll update you more the closer it gets to time to leave.

"For you (ISRAEL) are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession. "
Deuteronomy 7:5 (emphasis mine)

Upcoming Mission Conference

2009-01-26T21:24:00.003-06:00

Plan on coming to the 2009 First Bible Church Mission Conference. It promises to be an exciting weekend with Pastor Ronnie Stevens from Budapest, Hungary, as the speaker. Pastor Ronnie was our pastor in Budapest at Danube International church (http://www.danubechurch.org/) He's a terrific speaker with a lot of mission field experience. Try to come to at least one of the sessions!

Friday Evening, February 27th, 6:00 p.m.

Saturday Evening, February 28th, 6:00 p.m.

Sunday Morning, March 1, 9:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. (Two services-choose 1)

Sunday Evening, March 1, 6:00 p.m.

For directions to First Bible, go to their website or you can email us. (www.fbc.org)
brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Some Pictures From Curt's Trip

2009-01-19T09:48:00.003-06:00

First Picture: Balla Zsolt Family from Campus Crusade

Second Picture: Curt with Ondrej Franka from Serbia

Third Picture: Jarko and Elena Jurik from Serbia

Fourth Picture: Our friend, Ibi, with some of her staff

Fifth Picture: Our former landlord, Elemer and Maria, with their grandaughter

More pictures to come as we get them! Curt arrived safely home last night. Thank you for your prayers.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

An Article Concerning the Gas Situation in Eastern Europe

2009-01-16T22:13:00.002-06:00

FOXNews.com - Misery Mounts as Russia Gas Dispute Stretches Into Third Week - International News News of the World Middle East News Europe News

You may have seen this article on the Fox Website. It gives an idea of what Curt saw and heard about in Serbia while he was there.

He is back in Budapest today and will fly back to the States on Sunday.

A Blog to Follow

2009-01-15T07:56:00.004-06:00

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to bring your attention to a GREAT blog that you'll want to follow. We have the link on our sidebar but we wanted to highlight it for you. It's a blog by our good friends, the Slates, who are serving Christ in Ireland. Scott and Tara, along with their 3 children, left the states for Ireland last July. You may remember when we posted a support letter from them on our blog last Spring. God is using them in a great way and we're thankful for their sacrifice, commitment, and faith.

http://www.theslatefive.wordpress.com/

Curt is in Serbia and it is cold there! Just like it is here in the states. The Danube has huge chunks of ice in it. We will get you an update on him when we can. Thank you for your prayers!

Happy Anniversary to Shay's parents today! They have been married for 53 years. Wow!!
brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Sunday In Budapest

2009-01-11T14:24:00.006-06:00

Curt arrived safely in Hungary and has had a busy weekend. He attended Danube International Church this morning and had a wonderful time reconnecting with our friends. Communion was observed and Pastor Ronnie delivered a powerful sermon. Just like old times! After church, he was off to lunch with Pastor Ronnie to one of Ronnie's favorite restaurants and then this evening they are invited to Al and Jeannie Stirling's home for dinner. Al and Jeannie are our good friends who are "missionaries to missionaries". They specialize in missionary care which is an important ministry to help keep missionaries and their families on the field.

The "girls" back home in the states wish they could be in Hungary, too! Hearing about the details of life there and the friends we left behind really makes us thank God again for the privilege we had of living in Budapest.

Thank you for your prayers! As an update on the heat situation in Serbia: an emergency agreement between Hungary and Serbia allowed gas to flow to Serbia immediately. Hopefully, there will be a resolution in the dispute between Russia and Ukraine.

More later.......

Trip to Hungary

2009-01-07T22:41:00.000-06:00

Curt leaves for Budapest tomorrow morning. We're so excited at the thought of him being back in that part of the world! How much we love the people and places in Eastern Europe. We are so curious to see how it will be for Curt to be there without all 4 of us together. What will have changed since we left in May? Who in the missionary community has left for the states for good? How will the church service at Danube on Sunday stir his heart? Will the weather be a factor in what he's able to get done? There is a major crisis brewing with the availability of heat in the Eastern European countries. With the pipeline dispute between Russia and the Ukraine, it has affected so many people in other countries. Jarko from Serbia wrote and told us that they have no heat! None! Everything has been cut off. We are concerned for them. Plus, Curt is slated to be in Serbia next week. So this will affect him, too.

Thank you to those that are interested in this trip and have continued to be interested in the ministries that God has graciously allowed us to develop and be a part of. Your prayers have been such a gift to us and we recognize that our ministry is fueled by your prayer. We are humbled in working in partnership with you.

If Curt comes to mind this week, please pray for:

*Safety in travel
*That he will be an encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Christ in Hungary and Serbia
*Heat!
*Opportunities to share the gospel
*Wisdom in his priorities while he is there

Shay will try to get updates here on the blog on how his trip is going. Please check back for updated prayer requests. Thank you!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Brannon Update

2009-01-02T22:34:00.002-06:00

This was the letter we sent out via email to the FBC congregation. Thought you might like to read about some of the decisons that we've recently made. Thanks for your interest!

January 2009

Dear Church Family,

Happy New Year to you all! The Brannons are looking with anticipation to the New Year to see how God will continue to use First Bible Church in missions world-wide. With the Mission Conference just around the corner, we are praying that God will prompt our conference speaker, Pastor Ronnie Stevens, to encourage all of us to put missions as a main priority in 2009.

To update you on our family, we have now been back in the states for about 7 months. As we left Budapest in May, we were asking God to show us what He would have us do as we finished up our first "missionary term". We had been in Budapest for 4 plus years and felt like we were completing some of the main projects that we had been involved with. It seemed that God was leading us back to the U.S. to regroup and to seek His plan for our future direction.

The last 7 months have been very busy as we have put our oldest daughter, Olivia, in college in Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and enrolled our daughter, Meredith, in 10th grade at Bob Jones High School in Madison. Business interests in our family-owned company needed to be attended to by Curt and Shay also began the process of renewing her teacher's license. Plus the transition back to full-time living in the United States has been more of a challenge than we thought! Thank you to those that have encouraged us in our "settling in".

Now to the future! Our family still passionately loves missions. We remain involved in developing new and existing ministry projects overseas. Curt will leave for Budapest and Serbia on January 9th for 10 days and will return again to Serbia in mid-May for a missions conference. But, for now (maybe up to 3 years) we believe our family needs to be based in the U.S. We hope you will join us in asking the Lord to move us back towards a more permanent overseas missions presence in His timing.

We are so thankful for First Bible Church and for your support of our family these past 4 years. Your prayers and interest in us and the work in Eastern Europe have been encouraging. Our plan for the present is to remain involved in the exciting happenings at First Bible and to get to know all the new people that have joined First Bible in our absence! We are currently living in Madison and you can reach us at:

PO Box 1943
Madison, AL 35758
325-8737
brannons4christ@yahoo.com
www.brannonfamily.blogspot.com

Our love and thanks to you,

Curt, Shay, Olivia, and Meredith Brannon

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2008-12-29T19:41:00.004-06:00

What an eventful month December was for the Brannon family! We're sure it was a busy month for you all as well. Meredith turned 16 on December 14th and got her driver's license. That's a picture of her in front of the van that she took the test in. The other pictures are of cousins we spent the holidays with and a picture of the 4 of us. Olivia arrived on the 19th from Moody and we've been enjoying her holiday visit. She'll be here until January 10th.

Sorry for the long delay in updating our blog. We actually were debating whether to keep up with it since we didn't know where exactly our missions emphasis would be. But after a lot of prayer and a lot of counsel from different people, we see some decisions coming together about all that. We plan on sending a congregational letter out via email to our home church--First Bible Church. That will go out this Friday and will give an update on where we are and what our current plans are for returning to the field and staying here in the states. We'll post that letter on our next blog post so you can see that, as well.

You can reach us at:

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Happy 2009!!!!

Hello Again!

2008-09-07T16:48:00.010-05:00

Over 4 months since our last Brannon post. This is Shay writing to give you an update on the Brannon family. When I wrote the last post a few months ago, I felt that was the end of Brannon blogging for a while---maybe even for good. But in talking with people back here in the states, some are still curious about what's been going on with us and what our plans might be for the future. Don't know why people would be interested! But for the few that might be out there reading our blog, thanks for caring and wondering.

A lot has happened in the time since we returned for Budapest. I won't try to tell everything in this blog but will do that over the next several blogs. To bring you forward to where we are right now, the biggest things are Olivia at college and Meredith enrolled at Bob Jones High School in Madison! Incredible change for all of us and especially for the mom! It's been a huge adjustment for me not having them around all day for homeschooling. But we are confident that Olivia is where she's supposed to be at Moody Bible in Chicago. We prayed so much about that decision! And although it was a shorter decision time for the plan for Meredith to go to public high school, we feel good about that decision, too.

The picture is of Meredith on her first day of school. See Olivia's blog (sidebar) to see a picture of her on her first day of school at Moody!

Stay tuned for more updates to come.........

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

So Long! It's Been Fun!

2008-04-14T07:32:00.005-05:00

Awesome picture! Scenic overlook near the Lohrenzes.

Camp Good News

Teo and Magdalena

Here are some pictures from Curt's ministry trip to Spain and Portugal to see the Lohrenz family and the Cavaco family.

The Lohrenzes have been in Spain for several months now and are getting the lay of the land. Ministry in Europe is slow and small as we have seen over these past 4 years. As veterans of the mission field for 30 years, John and Jan bring great experience and vision to this difficult field.

The Cavacos run Camp Good News for Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) and are planning on a FBC team this summer to help in the camp and also be a part of a beach ministry to English-speaking tourists.

THIS IS OUR LAST POST for our Brannon Family blog. There is much to do in the coming weeks to prepare to leave Budapest. Our time to leave here has shifted a little but we'll be in the states sometime in May. We want to thank all of you for reading our blog and for corresponding with us over the years. Your prayers and support have meant so much. In the coming months, as we seek God's plan for our family, maybe they'll be a need to restart the family blog. If we do activate the blog, we'll let you know!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Update on Curt in Spain/Portugal

2008-04-10T14:28:00.003-05:00

Thank you to those that have emailed to ask how Curt's trip to Spain and Portugal is going. Yes, he's still there until Saturday and things are going well. Although, apparently, he has been in unbelievable heavy rain. The weather definitely hasn't cooperated! But the weather didn't stop a meaningful time with the Lohrenz family in Spain and now time with the Cavaco family in Portugal. We'll post pictures of his trip when he gets back and also update you on how God is using the Lohrenz and Cavaco families in Europe. Thank you for praying!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

The Slate Family Headed to Ireland

2008-04-09T14:49:00.000-05:00

This is a newsletter from our good friends, Scott and Tara Slate. Scott and Tara go to First Bible in Decatur and have been called by God to serve Him as missionaries to Ireland. This newsletter is an update on their preparation to leave and their progress on raising their support. Please pray that they will raise the money they need in order to head to Ireland in June.

The Slate Five Newsletter March 2008
Ministry news on the journey to Ireland

Why Ireland

Although many Irish identify with being Catholic just as much as they identify with being Irish, Catholicism has become a matter of heritage more than a matter of practice. And many more Irish have become apathetic altogether toward spiritual things, having embraced an increasing secularism that has arrived with the economic boom and new wealth that has come to the historically poor country of Ireland. For many, wealth and materialism is the new god.

Very few people have heard the gospel once proclaimed so clearly by Saint Patrick. Less than one percent of the population of the Republic of Ireland are evangelical Christians – people who believe the truths of the gospel and share their faith with others. Approximately one-third of those are immigrants to Ireland, affording missionaries an even wider sphere of impact in Europe as a whole.

In an article entitled “Archbishop says Dublin is ‘mission territory’ for church” in the March 21, 2008 edition of the Irish Times, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Diarmuid Martin is quoted as saying
“ . . .today, so many of those who were baptized as Christians no longer really know Jesus and their way of living demonstrates that the message of Jesus touches their lives only in a marginal way . . . our consumerist world needs an injection of idealism and generosity. Our world needs God.”
The Catholic church is launching a major program next year in which every house in the Dublin archdiocese will be visited by representatives of the church for the purpose of evangelization.

Now is the time to evangelize, to demonstrate the attractive power of holy lives. Now is the time to live as a light on a hill in Ireland, in a way that is fresh, real, loving, and engaging. We are weak, but He is strong. God calls and He equips when his children step out in obedience, praying and engaging in the battle for the souls of people – those people made in His image, whom He loves and gathers from every nation, tribe, and tongue.

Our lives and God’s purposes for Ireland

Since December’s newsletter, the Lord has been moving us forward toward Ireland and His plans for us there. While the children stayed behind, we flew to Dublin toward the end of January for a nine day scouting trip to meet our teammates, experience a bit of the Irish culture, visit some churches and meet some of the Irish leadership, and generally explore possibilities for living and ministering in Ireland. We are still exploring from a distance, with the help of our teammates in Dublin.

We have begun dialogue with the leadership in a particular Irish church to find how our giftings and experiences fit with desires they have to see their church grow in healthy ways. We are encouraged by the areas of fit that we sense that God has carved out for us. In particular, they desire to draw in people in the 20/30s age range through creative and contemporary means and they also would like to see a women’s ministry begin to take root and flourish. We are prayerful and hopeful about the possibilities.

In March, we were commissioned by our home church, First Bible Church of Decatur, at the culmination of our annual missions conference. It was a sweet time and we are amazed and thankful that the desire that God has put in our hearts to serve Him cross-culturally has come full-circle in our commissioning. The conference was a wonderful time, although it required some mental adjustment on our part to be the missionaries! We were encouraged and we are, as always, thankful to be a part of a body of believers that has a heart for the heart of God.

Currently, we are preparing our house and cars for sale and beginning to pack our belongings for our container to be shipped to Ireland. Our goal is to leave for Ireland in June. This will allow us time to find a place to live, enroll the children in school, learn to drive on the left with the steering wheel on the right (and turn in roundabouts), and provide the children with some positive experiences in Ireland before school begins in September. There are unique challenges with the culture that will require time to do all that must be done within a timeframe. The strongest possible start is important for us and the children for thriving in a new culture long-term.

We are raising support full-time and preparing to leave simultaneously. This is our greatest challenge at this time. We will be able to purchase plane tickets when we are at 90% monthly support and 90% outgoing. GEM will only clear us to depart for the field when we are supported 100%. Until then, we will be here.

Monthly pledges Outgoing amount
Total needed $9100 $72,000
As of December $6100 $38,000
As of March $7250 $42,000

The field is ready to receive us. The Lord has provided us with a window of opportunity to get a good price on airfare and arrive in Dublin with just enough time to begin to put down roots before the children begin school. It has been recommended that we arrive before the school year begins to maximize the children’s transition and opportunities for belonging and friendship, as well as for academic reasons.

We are trusting the Lord for his provision and we are hopeful that He will move in the hearts of many to get us to Dublin. Our one prayer request is that God will provide the remainder of our support by the end of April so that we can leave in June. Would you pray with us? We are grateful for the many who give and pray and encourage us as we step out in faith. We’d not be standing without you!

If you sense that the Lord would have you invest in His work in Ireland, you may make a pledge and/or give a financial gift at www.gemission.org. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have and let us know if the Lord is moving in your heart to pray for us – it is a huge encouragement to our family.

Serving the Lord through your partnership and His strength,
Scott & Tara

tslate@gemission.com
http://theslatefive.wordpress.com

Four Years Ago

2008-03-31T01:28:00.003-05:00

That's how long it has been since we left the United States to live in Budapest, Hungary. We left the Huntsville International Airport on March 30th, 2004, and arrived in Hungary on March 31st. Things seem a little hazy to us those first few days. We were experiencing major jet-lag and were also sleeping in an interesting hotel situation. Plus, we didn't have our bearings as to where we were in Budaors. New people, new food, new landlord. NEW!! And DIFFERENT!! But God can even work through new and different and make those characteristics things we would love and cherish.

We're very thankful to all of you that have stuck by us and cared about what we were doing and how we were feeling. Many of you gathered at the airport that day and prayed for us and sent us off to Europe. Your support has meant so much to us. Thank you!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

A Letter From Serbia

2008-03-29T10:16:00.000-05:00

Below is a recent prayer letter from our First Bible Church-supported missionaries in Serbia. Jarko and Elena are Serbian nationals and have become very dear to our hearts. God is using them to reach their countrymen for Christ:

Novi Sad, Serbia
March 28, 2008

Dear in Christ,

Dear brothers and sisters, warm greetings from Elena and Jarko Jurik in Serbia.
Thank you for your continuous prayers, support and financial gifts for God's work here in Serbia. It is very encouraging to have such strong support from you who are physically far away but feel spiritually near by.

The situation in Serbia is very tense since the independence declaration of Kosovo on February 17th. The current government has fallen apart and new elections are scheduled for May 11th. Essentially people are split into two camps - pro west Europe or pro east Russia.

Economy is very unstable, inflation is high and prices change and go up every day. People are dissatisfied and the government employees are corrupt.

We think this is a great opportunity to tell people the good news about the Gospel in this time of turmoil. My wife Elena and I are traveling a lot visiting local churches to support, teach and encourage members to go out and tell the good news. The number of born again believers in Serbia is very small and there are few churches. The Serbian Orthodox church has a stronghold on people and an orthodox priest told me personally that the second coming is close and that us evangelical should change our belief before it is too late.

Please continue to pray for this country and the people in Serbia that they have an open heart for the Gospel. Please pray for us on our travels across the country and our soon occurring move to smaller town outside of Novi Sad.
In Him,
Jarko and Elena Jurik

If the Lord leads you to partner with us financially, a check can be made out to PIONEERS and mailed to:USA - PIONEERS, 10123 William Carey Dr., Orlando, FL 32827
Serbia – Jurik Account # 136005
Canada - PIONEERS, 51 Byron Avenue, Dorchester Ont. N0L 1G2 Canada,
Serbia – Jurik Account # 31160

Pictures From Recent Serbia Trip

2008-03-26T01:40:00.003-05:00

Jarko and Elena's House Being Built

Igor and Anita's Church in Ruma

Erdevik Church

The Material DID Arrive in Erdevik!

He is Risen......

2008-03-23T09:07:00.002-05:00

HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!!!! Happy Easter from our home to yours. We pray God's glorious blessings for you on this special day. The most important day on the Christian's calendar!

"Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb....." John 20:1

Eventful Week Continues.....

2008-03-20T14:06:00.004-05:00

Our week continues to be an eventful one. Curt returned from Serbia last night. He had a very productive, SAFE trip which we're thankful for. Thank you to all of you that prayed for him and for his travel into Serbia this week. Although, yesterday, we did hear that Serbia had recalled their ambassador to Hungary. Hungary, on Wednesday, declared support for Kosovo independence which is against the government of Serbia. It was good that we didn't hear about that until today! It might have made crossing the border be a little more nerve-wracking.

We'll be posting pictures from his trip. Some of the pictures will have snow in them--something Curt didn't expect! Especially since he didn't take a heavy coat. He left Hungary in bright sunshine. Curt also got several completed copies of the Picture Bible given to him by Dane. The Bible is just beautiful. The copies will go to the family from our home church that financed this important translation project. Hopefully, they'll be pleased with the finished product.

The packing continues this week as we're heading toward a Tuesday deadline to get our U.S. stuff ready to go. We're sharing a container with two other families and so we have to be ready to go when they're ready to go. Our house looks so strange with many keepsakes already packed up. What a blessing this house has been for us!

Tomorrow, Curt goes back to the border to meet Jarko who's bringing Pastor Ronnie from the Bible School in Opovo. This saves Curt a lot of time and he doesn't have to go all the way into Serbia.

Thank you for your prayers for us!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Eventful Week!

2008-03-17T07:09:00.005-05:00

The Lord's Day yesterday was a wild and crazy day. We started the week off with a bang! On "Mind Control Conference" Sundays, it's always going to be a little different because this conference meets in the building next to our church about 10 times a year. So, when they meet, there is no parking to be found around our church. It's a hike to church but certainly worth it! Yesterday was no different and it was a little challenging getting to church on time--even for those of us that arrive early to set things up. Also, with a guest speaker, that adds some stress because things don't usually go as smoothly as when Pastor Ronnie is preaching. But Dr. Stanley Touissant certainly blessed us and he added much good to the worship service. And as a positive note to the Mind Control attendees taking our parking places, the Adult Sunday School class decided to turn the situation for good. Several of the class members arrived early and gave out bottled water and invitations to the attendees for the Danube Easter service this week. According to the class members, it was really positive and they believe that some of the Hungarian attendees will visit us for Easter. We pray they will and we know they will hear TRUTH.

To continue the crazy Sunday, Curt's car had began to die on him on the way to church and that wasn't good. He was planning on taking that car to Serbia on Sunday afternoon. A rental car had to be hastily arranged since he couldn't take the van! Curt was responsible to get Ronnie down to the Bible School in Opovo in time for Ronnie to teach. So, leaving for Serbia HAD to happen. Praise! Curt and Ronnie arrived safely in Serbia even in a rental car and even with the car stuffed with things for people in Serbia. They sailed through the border and got to the Bible school late Sunday night.

Then we had another adventure this morning--Monday. Sarah Duggan, the daughter of Shay's good friend, came to visit for a few days. Sarah is an Auburn student and she is studying Spanish for 4 months in Spain. She flew over to Budapest from Madrid on Thursday. We had a terrific time with her over the weekend. Since Curt was in Serbia, Shay and Olivia were planning to take Sarah to the airport this morning. Sarah's family was also flying into Madrid THIS morning to visit with her for a few days. So, of course, getting her to her flight was important. We left in plenty of time but oh no! The traffic was at an incredible level. We inched along. A 40 minute trip to the airport turned into a 2 hour trip. It truly was looking like Sarah would miss her flight. We were really praying that wouldn't happen! She just couldn't miss a minute of being with her family. But Praise! After some "speeding" on Shay's part, we arrived at the airport about 20 minutes before the flight was to take off. Sarah and Olivia ran in and checked in. The lady checking her in was shocked that Sarah was just checking in. They ended up esorting Sarah to the plane and told her that her luggage wouldn't make it. Oh, well. At least Sarah made it.

Whew! What a week and it's only Monday. We're busy packing to send stuff next Tuesday so that will make our week full. Plus, with Easter Sunday coming and so many logistics to work out for that, it could make for an interesting few days. We're sure you've had crazy weeks like this, too! So, you'll know how to pray. It truly encourages us to know that people read our blog and pray for all of us. Thank you! Your prayers are appreciated.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

March 15 National Hungarian Holiday

2008-03-15T07:42:00.002-05:00

Today is a national holiday for the Hungarian people. This holiday marks the 1848 Independence Revolution against Habsburg domination. After the Habsburg rule ended, the first Republic of Hungary was established.

Today is a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. There will be events around the city marking this day. Flags and bunting will be flying all over the city. Hungarians are very patriotic and enjoy marking important days in their history.

We celebrate with them and salute their country!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Last Things

2008-03-10T01:53:00.007-05:00

Our Yang Ming Container full of our stuff finally arrives!

Learning to mow the yard with an extension cord???

Oliva had the first birthday in Budapest (her 14th)

We found TGIFridays early in our tenure! (Big cokes WITH refills!!)

Learning about Budapest (Nice hair, Mom!)

Yesterday marked 2 months until we leave Budapest for an extended stay in the states. Well, actually, it's the 3 ladies of the family (four ladies if you count Tessa!) that leave on May 8th for the states. Curt will stay a few more days in Hungary and wrap things up with the house and other logistics.

So, we recognize that we're in the stage of "last things" to do and experience. And that stage has been harder than we thought. The four of us went out to dinner a couple of nights ago and had some interesting table conversation. We talked about the TOP 3 things we would miss the most about Hungary and the TOP 3 things we would NOT miss about Hungary. What was the best "high point" of our 4 year stay? What was the worst "low point" of our time here? And we all came to the conclusion that we were going to really miss being in Budapest and in this part of the world. Amazing! Who would have thought we would have felt that way as we prepare to leave? But it did encourage and remind us that it could have only been God that worked all that out and made this place our home. We celebrate Him and marvel at His Work in us!

Talking about these things made us fill very nolstagic so we decided to post some pictures from our first weeks in Budapest. Laugh away!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Moving The Church

2008-03-03T00:55:00.005-06:00

Well, not the actual building! But the people of Danube International Church. At least for one Sunday morning. And that was a "test drive". Not a permanent thing yet. But we need space. We're outgrowing our current facility. Certainly a good "problem" to have. But one that has to be addressed. Curt has been working on the "problem" for months and was asked by the Danube Church leadership to find the next facility for our church. That's a pretty big project with 300 people and a children's ministry to accomodate.

So, yesterday, March 2, we tried out the building next door to our current building. This building has so much more to offer us. A 500 seat auditorium. A large atrium for the foyer with lots of light and openness. A terrific place to hang coats. Nice bathrooms. (Ladies' bathroom STILL smaller than the men's. ???) Chairs already set up and we don't have to set them. Good stage area. So, you can see, a real possibility. The problems? A challenge for rooms and their configuration for our children's ministry. A 10 week contract that the building already has with a "Mind Control" Conference that meets there about 10 times a year. But God can work it out if this is our new place!

Curt meets with our church leadership tonight to get some feedback on the "test drive" from yesterday. All we got yesterday was positive feedback from the church members that we talked with. So, we shall see which direction the leadership feels we need to go. Pursue this possibility? Or keep looking. We'll keep you posted....

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Serbia Update

2008-02-26T08:59:00.006-06:00

Thank you to many of you for checking in with us about the Serbia/Kosovo situation and thank you for your prayers for Serbia and the believers there. Since the volitale situation started last week when Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia, there have been riots and also some large peaceful demonstrations. Much of this unrest has been in Belgrade and Novi Sad but there have been problem spots throughout Serbia and parts of north Kosovo.

We have checked in with the believers we know and work with in Serbia and all of them are safe. But they do continue to ask us for our prayers and to ask other believers to pray for them and for their country. They ask us to pray for protection but also to pray for opportunities during this difficult time to share the gospel of Christ.

Curt is still scheduled to go to Serbia in a couple of weeks and will be near and in Belgrade. Please pray for safety for him and that he will accomplish the work he needs to do.

A BIG praise that we have from Serbia is that the picture Bible translation project that Curt has worked on for months with a Serbian publisher and a very generous family from our home church is COMPLETED! We told you about this project in an earlier blog back in the fall. There have been many obstacles to the completion of this important project but God graciously allowed it to be finished. Please pray for this picture Bible to be used for eternal good and that many would come to know Christ through reading the pages of this precious book.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Car For Sale!

2008-02-18T13:44:00.003-06:00

*2000 Chevy Mini-Van

*Miles: Over 100,000!

*Clean? Sort of

*Automatic (Shay's favorite part. Stick shifts the norm in Eastern Europe)

*Cost to fill up: 90 USD

*Remote Doors Work? No

*Power Windows All Work? Sporadically, at best.

*Heater and AirConditioning: Not bad. Especially the air conditioner in summer!

*Well Traveled? Absolutely! Italy, Austria, Poland, Serbia, Romania, Slovakia

Know anybody that might want this well-loved car?? Believe it or not, this car will be hot property in the missionary community here. :) We won't have any trouble selling it. We're leaving in May so it's time to start thinking about selling, giving away, and throwing away stuff. Having this van the last 4 years has been such a gift. It has worked well although the transmission did have to be changed about 2 years ago. But hey, that's not too bad. This van has hauled people, furniture, luggage, pets, and when it was on our container that shipped over here, the van was packed full of clothes.

It does still have the Dixie Alabama plates on it, though. And we have gotten a lot of funny looks and stares! Especially crossing country borders.

"Blue Bessie" has been a blessing!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T11:10:00.002-06:00

We send our love to all of you from Budapest! In Hungary,Valentine's Day is a holiday that is gaining a little more in importance each year. When we were first here in Hungary, we saw very few things in the stores that advertised for Valentine's Day. Now, 4 years later, we see a lot more. Flower shops have their front windows decorated with balloons and red roses. Grocery stores have large stack-outs of heart shaped boxes filled with chocolates. And even the restaurants are getting in on the act by advertising specials like free desserts and special musical entertainment. So, more Hungarians understand us when we say Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you have someone to tell you today that they love you. And hope you have someone to say "I love you" to. But even more important for us to know and be joyful over is that God loves us! In a real, eternal way, He loves us. And that's something to be celebrated everyday. Celebrate with us and thank Him for His love!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Lost Fabric and a Trip to Serbia

2008-02-08T01:43:00.000-06:00

58 pounds of fabric

Maybe some of you remember the story of the "Lost Fabric for Serbia"?! It's really not as dramatic and mysterious as it may sound. But it was sort of a strange thing that happened last summer on our trip back to the states.

If you're a First Bible Church member, you know of the work that has been done on the church plant in Erdevik, Serbia. Several First Bible Church men have come and worked on this church with Curt. What a precious congregation and they have appreciated the interest and care for their church by First Bible Church. The Erdevik church is getting close to completion and will be dedicated this fall.

One of the needs this new church had was fabric for their church pews. Access to quality fabric and in large quantities is a challenge in this part of the world. So, Curt was able to work with a company in the states that graciously DONATED all the fabric for the pews. How excited we were to hear of this BUT we did know it would be a challenge to get the fabric across the ocean and then to Serbia. So, last summer, we smashed, pushed, rammed about 80 yards of fabric into our suitcases for the trek across the ocean. Unfortunately, through a series of events (late planes, missed connections, unusual interest in our bags by customs, etc), half of the fabric was lost. And we do mean LOST. The airline never found that bag of fabric. We were disappointed, of course.

Curt took the fabric we did have to Erdevik last summer. They were grateful for this and we all hoped that somehow we could get some more of the same fabric and then get that fabric across the ocean again. Well, while we were back for Christmas, Curt worked with the fabric company again and offered to pay for the replacement fabric for Erdevik. Incredibly, the fabric company DONATED the fabric again! Amazed we were. Then the process started again. Smash, push, ram fabric into our suitcases to get them across the ocean. Many thanks to Mark Elder for his help with that in weighing and packing! The picture is of the fabric wrapped tightly to go in our suitcases. Those bundles sort of look like bodies or like we're disguising drug running, don't they??! We're glad to say that the fabric, this time, arrived safely to Budapest.

This week, Curt and Shay went to Serbia to drop off the fabric with someone that could get it to Erdevik. We were a little concerned that crossing the border into Serbia could be interesting if they decided to open our hatch and see those strange bundles! But we prayed that the guard would be uninterested and he was. Didn't even bother to look. In fact, our car got checked on the WAY BACK. And, of course, we had nothing in our car that was unusual. All those things had been left in Serbia.

This fall when the Erdevik church is dedicating their building to God and praising God, they'll be sitting on beautiful fabric from the United States that had a long journey to arrive.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Braces Off!!!

2008-02-05T03:04:00.000-06:00

BRACES ON

BRACES OFF!!!

One of the big events during our trip to the states was Meredith and her cousin, Kaitlin, getting their braces off. Meredith and Kaitlin are very close in age and it's amazing to us how similar they are. We think they look a lot alike. Plus, there have been some events that happen to one and remarkably a little while later, the same thing happens to the other one. A few years ago, they broke their right arms within a few days of each other. They got their braces on at virtually the same time. And they got their braces OFF almost the same week even though Kaitlin's weren't scheduled to be off until a month later. Amazing girls! Amazing "sisters"!

We love you, Kaitlin and Meredith!

New Residence Permit

2008-02-01T09:04:00.000-06:00

A great day today! Well, maybe not to the Hungarians that live around us. :) But we returned to the Hungarian Immigration Office today to pick up our Residence Permit. We had started the renewal process back in October. In the picture above, that's Curt with our Hungarian friend, Julianna, that helped us submit our papers. She was terrific! Knew exactly how to navigate the Hungarian system and to get all our documents in order. In the background of the picture is the Immigration Building. Quite an experience to observe that whole operation!

We were hoping for at least a 2 year extension to our permit but had ambitiously asked for 5 years. Why not? Maybe they would give it to us. We are happy to report that we did get a TWO YEAR extension which is still very good. Recently, some missionaries had only gotten a year. So, we are legal to stay in Hungary until January 3, 2010.

Some of that time of our extension we will be in the states for several months. We are returning in mid-May for several months to get Olivia in college in the fall and to address several other personal things that have come up in the 4 years we have been overseas. But it will be good to know that we can easily return to Hungary if God leads us back to live here again. We plan to stay in the states at least through the end of this year and some into 2009. Then, we're asking God to direct us where to go next. Stay in the states permanently? Return to Budapest? Live overseas on a part time basis? Your prayers for our decisions are needed! Thank you for praying with us. We will keep you updated on how things progress.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Back Safely

2008-01-30T07:04:00.001-06:00

We celebrated Mere's Birthday in the states

Brannon Family Christmas

Merry Christmas!

New Year's Eve Fun

Practice Graduation

Shay and the girls arrived safely in Budapest this morning. Thank you to all those that prayed for our trip to the states, for our protection and health, and for it to be a restful time. Because it really was an encouraging trip spent with family and friends. These pictures are just a few of the many we took on our trip to states! Good memories!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

We're Freezing!

2008-01-23T18:25:00.000-06:00

The weather this month in Alabama has amazed us. We just heard the weather lady on channel 48 reporting that tonight will be the 5th night this month that the North Alabama area will hit the teens. Yikes! Budapest hasn't had too many more nights like that this month. Curt is in Budapest already and he gleefully emailed us and told us that yesterday Budapest had sunny weather and almost 50 degrees. That's amazing for Budapest during this time of year. So, what gives?? What's going on with these low temps in Alabama? Well, guess we can't complain too much since we had incredibly beautiful weather in December during this state-side visit. Guess this is helping us get prepared for our return to Budapest next week. February is usually full of snow!

Happy New Year!!

2008-01-17T10:09:00.000-06:00

Hello to faithful friends and family that check our blog!!

It has been an incredible trip back to the states for the holidays. So many wonderful memories have been created and we all have just been amazed at the relaxed time we've had. It's been of our best trips back and we're grateful to God for that. AND grateful to the many of you that went out of your way to help us feel welcomed and make our time so special.

Curt leaves tomorrow (1/18) to return to Budapest. He'll arrive on the 19th. (Yuck! a long flight!) When we booked our tickets to come for the holidays, we talked about how long we could stay and should stay. There's alot going on in Budapest and Curt, for sure, needs to get back. Not to mention that we've had a house sitter for 6 weeks and she's probably ready to get back to a normal life herself! Shay and the girls will stay for a few more days in the states and return to Budapest on the 29th. They have some more medical appointments to wrap up and then they'll start the packing up process, too. It'll be hard to leave!

Just wanted to check in with you and begin sending our thanks back to you---even before we get back to Budapest. In the coming weeks, we'll update you on our plans for the next few months. In mid-May, we are beginning our transition back to the United States for an extended stay. We want to tell you about some of those plans.

Please contact us! We would love to hear from you and hear how your 2008 has started out.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Last Blog For A While

2007-11-28T02:55:00.000-06:00

Pretty bad to say last blog for a while when we haven't been keeping our blog updated in the last few weeks! Our excuses for that are long and boring, for sure. But it has been a crazy, busy few weeks as we move toward leaving Budapest for the states during the month of December and January. We probably won't post to our blog while we're gone. We'll catch back up with you sometime in February. :)

Wow! We'll be home for Christmas. The first Christmas in the states in 4 years. We are really looking forward to this time with family and friends. We leave next week and there is much to be done before then. So many projects to wrap up or at least put on hold until we get back in January. Hopefully, we'll get to see many of you on this trip back and thank you personally for your prayers for us. And speaking of prayer, a few requests from us to cover us during this trip back.

*Meredith sings a Christmas solo this Sunday at church. Please pray that her singing would honor God.

*Pray that our responsibilities here would be covered by the people that we have asked to step in and help us.

*Pray for our house to be safe and that no break-ins will occur while we're gone.

*We tend to get sick on our trips back to the states. Different germs??! Please pray that we will be healthy and safe during this time.

Thank you for caring about us! In case you would like to contact us during the month of December and January, our permanent mailing address in the states is:

PO Box 1943
Madison, AL 35758

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

A Busy Lord's Day

2007-11-18T14:29:00.000-06:00

ICSB Choir (Olivia and Meredith are somewhere in that big group!)

Such a full day comes to a close. We're all tired---but it's a "good tired". So much going on at Danube International Church! We arrived early, as we usually do on a Sunday morning. Making sure things were set up, folding the bulletins, checking on childcare, roping off a section for the ICSB High School choir that was singing during the offertory, recruiting ushers, checking on translation equipment, etc. etc. were some of the things we worked on. Olivia and Meredith were singing on the worship team so they were practicing. Plus the girls were a part of the ICSB choir and performed with them.

The service was just wonderful and we had our all-time high attendance for Danube. Worship was so meaningful, Pastor Ronnie did a super job, and we also got some new potential contacts for Danube from all the vistors. The day wrapped up with the girls going to youth group, Curt going to the pastor's house to drop some things off, and Shay going to a Danube Missions Committe meeting.

Danube International is such a strategic church in Budapest and we feel privileged to be a part of its leadership team. Please pray for new leaders to be raised up, for more internationals to attend (especially Hungarians!), and for many people to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

http://www.danubechurch.org/

First Snow!

2007-11-11T08:01:00.001-06:00

We went to church this morning in the sunshine. But when church was over, it was beginning to snow. And it's kept snowing every since we got home. We certainly weren't expecting this! Only rain was predicted this evening. It's a beautiful sight to see outside our window. Last year, we had almost no snow. This year, the first snow is November 11th! Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Birthday Curt!

2007-11-04T03:02:00.000-06:00

Today is Curt's birthday. This is a picture of some of the celebrating of his day. Curt and Shay went out with several friends to a local Greek restaurant and had such fun---especially seeing Curt blow out the firecracker on top of his chocolate cake! Thank you to those that sent birthday greetings!

Blog Sites for Olivia and Meredith

2007-11-03T04:28:00.000-05:00

A reminder that Olivia and Meredith still have blogs. They're just not posted with the family blog. You can check out their sites on:

New Blog for Olivia: www.thinkingclearly.wordpress.com

Meredith's Blog: www.meredithbrannon.blogspot.com

October 23 and November 1

2007-11-01T06:28:00.000-05:00

A Mounument Commemorating October 23, 1956

Today is a national holiday in Hungary. It's All Saints Day, a religious commemoration that many Hungarians view as important to their faith. As with many religious holidays in any culture, the significance of the day for younger people has decreased over the years. Younger Hungarians tend to think of this day as something that the older generation cares about. Although the younger Hungarians are not opposed to having the day off from work! So most businesses, grocery stores, and government offices are closed today.

Last week (October 23), was the 51st celebration of the Hungarian uprising against the Soviets in 1956. That uprising in 1956 was eventually crushed after only a few days but Hungarians mark October 23rd as a significant triumph in their history. On the 50th anniversaryof the uprising last year, the celebration was marred by riots against the current government. With this political unrest, the days leading up to October 23, 2006, were very tense. We had hoped that this year in 2007 would be different. But unfortunately, there were some riots and some blockades of the bridges over the Danube. We just tried to stay out of the areas where this was going on.

Please continue to pray with us for the country of Hungary. Pray that there will be spiritual revival in the land and a turning toward God as the supreme authority in life.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Puppy Update

2007-10-23T02:09:00.000-05:00

Be sure to check Meredith's blog out for a new puppy video and pictures of the first bath!

http://www.meredithbrannon.blogspot.com/

Purity and Abstinence

2007-10-18T02:50:00.000-05:00

Andris (one of the speakers) and Me

Mara and Jay-Fellow Team Members

This past Friday, I was involved in an abstinence outreach night put on by Fek, the Hungarian student ministry I get to work with. As you can see from the title, this night was totally devoted to the topic of saving sex for marriage. This is a VERY unusual message in the Hungary. I think some people came just because they thought we were a little crazy :) Several students, including myself, shared our view on this topic and one newly married Hungarian couple on our team shared, too. The students listened and paid attention the whole evening. I was quite suprised and delighted. When it was my turn, I shared a poem I had written about my promise ring....it went something like this:

With this ring, I make a promise.
I’m waiting just for you.
Purity and anticipation linger in the que.
Even if you’re not here now, this can still be true
With this ring, I say, all I want is you.

I’ve felt the inner longing and wishing just to be,
A girl who gets affection for all the world to see.
And even though I want you now,
Delaying brings true joy somehow.
With this ring, I set myself apart for you.

Though some might call me crazy
Or say my head is full of daises.
In my heart I know, that someday they will see
That waiting was the key that brought you here to me
With this ring, I take my stand.

And while I watch the world go by,
I see misery in people’s eyes.
Society does look back and wish
They’d preserved their bodies as a savory dish.
With this ring, I choose to wait

By Olivia

Please pray for open hearts in the youth of Hungary.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

The English Language

2007-10-16T02:25:00.000-05:00

The Two English Teachers At The School

Hungarian is a very difficult language that few expatriates gain fluency in. Our Hungarian is pretty low-level but we do seem to get by with the everyday things of life. But what we have found many times is that English is the language that helps us the most. So many people in Hungary and in Europe have at least some English. So, we are able to communicate. Thank you, God, for allowing us to be native English speakers!

Being a native English speaker has opened doors for us and allowed us opportunities to serve Christ. We are amazed that Hungarians, who many times already speak another language (like German), want to know English, too. We feel ashamed sometimes that we speak only English and most Europeans speak two or three languages or even more. But, for whatever reason, they want to speak with and learn from a native English speaker, if possible. Even "Alabama English"! They don't mind that drawl, at all, ya'll.

Yesterday, I (Shay) was invited to an elementary school to help in the English classes for the day. What a terrific experience and privilege to be exposed to a village school like this and to meet the hard-working teachers. The kids were so sweet and were interested in listening to me. This school was a German-language school which means that children in this school begin learning German in the first grade. They begin learning English in the fourth grade. So, when the 8th graders leave for high school, they have been exposed to 2 other languages besides Hungarian.

One little girl, Gaby, especially tugged on my heart. Gaby is an orphan and she is 12 years old. Gaby's English was really good and she even gave me a sweet note when the class was over. I could have taken her home with me! But I will pray for her and pray that she will be exposed to the gospel despite her living in an orphanage.

Be thankful for your English! It truly is a gift from God and can be used by Him.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Great Trip to Serbia

2007-10-06T09:43:00.001-05:00

Curt and Shay in Ruma with Igor

At the Bible School in Opovo/Ronnie Stevens teaching

Shay with Jarko and Elena

This past week, Shay got to visit Serbia for the first time. Curt has been so many times! And Olivia has been once. But Shay and Meredith had never been able to work things out to go. So now, we need to get Meredith to Serbia for a visit!

It was a very full 3 days of driving, visiting, meeting people for the first time, and listening to Pastor Ronnie do 2 of his sessions on Matthew at the Bible School. What a great trip! We were so encouraged to see how God is working in Novi Sad, Erdevik, Belgrade, and Opovo. It's a slow process in Eastern Europe to spread the gospel and for people to respond. But there are diligent believers in Serbia that are staying the course and working tirelessly for the sake of the gospel. What a privilege to come along side them in the work of the harvest.

Thank you for praying for our safety as we went to Serbia and for the girls back in Budapest. They did very well and didn't seem too sad that we were gone for a few days!

If you want more information about the work in Serbia, email us and we can give you more details. Most of all, please pray for the people of Serbia to respond to the gospel and pray for Serbian Christians that are being persecuted for their faith in Christ.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Prayer Points

2007-10-02T06:51:00.000-05:00

Just a few prayer requests that we have for the next couple of weeks. Thank you for praying!

*Curt and Shay are leaving tomorrow (Oct 3) for Serbia for 3 days. The plans are to see Jarko and Elena, Igor and Anita in Ruma, and maybe swing into Erdevik to see the believers there. Also, we plan to stay one night at the Bible School in Opovo and listen in on Ronnie Stevens' Matthew study. He will be teaching all this week and next on the book of Matthew. Please pray for travel safety, that we will be an encouragement to the believers in Serbia, and that the girls will be safe here in Budapest while we are gone.

*Pray for Olivia as she begins leading a Discipleship group for 9th grade girls next week. She and her friend, Lauren, are co-leaders and will be training and teaching on evangelism. Meredith will be a part of that group, too.

*Pray for Orsi, a Hungarian girl that Shay meets regularly with to help her with her English. Orsi needs a relationship with Jesus Christ.

*Pray for Meredith as she takes care of all our pets! At this point, we have 7 pets! The puppies are growing and doing well. Pray for homes for all 4 puppies when they're old enough. (about 6 or 7 more weeks)

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Discipleship Group

2007-09-27T01:54:00.000-05:00

An essay by Olivia that explains a little bit about her new Discipleship Group that will be starting in October. If she comes to mind, please pray for her. Thank you!

I have been given the privilege of working with one of my dearest friends, Lauren, to start a discipleship group this year for 5 freshmen girls. Lauren and I have spent our high school years working with Fek, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. We have been taught, encouraged and trained to make Biblical evangelism a part of our daily lives. We’ve gone from being scared beyond belief to wanting to share our faith with our peers. We have learned the value of our faith and now we’ve reached the point where we want to pass along all that we have learned to another generation of young believers.

First of all, we know that evangelism needs to be a part of our lives. Normally there are people that work on a short term basis with Campus Crusade. These people take students like Lauren and me out in Budapest to share our faith. This year, however, there are no short term workers. So we were posed with the problem of meeting our evangelism requirements and needs. So Lauren and I began thinking about what we could do that would challenge us and involve evangelism.

The possibility of leading a discipleship group is something that I have been thinking and praying about over the last few months. I have gotten to the point that I feel that I have been given and taught so much that I need to be doing my part of returning the favor by passing it on to others. I continued to consider the idea and mentioned it to Lauren while we were working at an English camp this summer. It “just so happened” that God was speaking to her heart about working with a group of girls, too. We talked about the possibility of leading the group together and made the commitment to keep praying and seeking where the Lord would lead.

Lauren and I discussed having a discipleship group with Kelly Butts, the women’s university and high school director of Fek. (my Hungarian ministry) She loved our idea and prayed and met with us to help plan our approach. We then spoke with the girls and plans are in order to start the discipleship group here in the next two weeks.

My desire is that the girls would learn to treasure and explain their faith. I want the importance of evangelism to grow in their hearts and minds. I want them to learn to share their testimonies but mostly I want them to grow in their relationships with God and with the understanding of who they were made to be. I cannot wait to see all that God can and will do in these beautiful freshmen girls.

Puppy Anouncement!

2007-09-24T14:49:00.000-05:00

I am proud to announce that Tessa gave birth to three girls and a boy today! They are only an hour or two old in this picture. There are two white girls, a black girl, and a black boy! Awww!

P.S. I will be putting up pictures of Tessa and her babies on my blog, www.meredithbrannon.blogspot.com, for the next few weeks while the puppies grow up!

Meredith

A New Home

2007-09-20T23:18:00.001-05:00

A new home for our church, that is. It's time to move on to the next phase of our spiritual growth as a church by looking for a building that looks like it might grow with us---physically, that is.

The building we currently are in has worked pretty well for us for the last 3 years or so. But if our hope and desire is to be a firm presence in Budapest for years to come, we've got to start thinking about a building that works better for our needs. Obviously, our OWN building would be wonderful! But that's something that will probably stay on our "wish list" for a while until it makes sense to go down that path. So, the next step in our church life needs to be a different rental facility with accomodating rental management, better rooms for our children's program, more privacy and less distractions during the actual worship service, and more storage for things we need to leave during the week.

Curt has the huge task of finding this building in Budapest! Not as easy as one might think in a city full of 2,000,000 people and many buildings. He's got a great guy working with him, Andras, a really neat young Hungarian guy. Andras is Danube's new worship intern and he has already been a blessing and a big help to our congregation.

Please pray that a new facility will be found for a new church home. Also, please pray that we will be open to the possibility that God might want us to stay where we are for a while and just continue to search for the new building in the coming weeks, months, years.

Thank you!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Street Ball Fever

2007-09-16T08:38:00.001-05:00

Curt was asked to join a 3 member basketball team to participate in the annual Street Ball Competition that happened yesterday in downtown Budapest. There were at least 70 or so 3 member teams made up of all ages including guys and gals. The teams played simultaneously on one goal courts with double elimination rules. It was neat to watch so many games going on at once. The event last all day and there were also free throw competitions along with a fancy hoops competition.

Curt's other team members included an American and a Hungarian. Great relationships have been made through Curt's basketball contacts. Curt agreed to participate just for the fun of it and the experience. But his team ended up winning in the category they entered!

After his part in the competition was done, Curt and Olivia raced off to participate in another invitation that Curt had received through a different group of Hungarian guys he plays with. It was a garden party with his teammates and some of their family members. A very busy day of continuing critical relationships and waiting for opportunities to share Christ.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Remembering 9/11

2007-09-12T03:04:00.001-05:00

Curt and Shay got the opportunity yesterday to represent Danube International Church at a 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony. It was by invitation from the American Embassy with Ambassador April Foley hosting the event. The ceremony was held in a unique Catholic chapel on the Pest Side near Hero's Square--the Jaki Chapel. It was an "interfaith" ceremony with a Catholic speaking, a Muslim, and a Jew.

Some of the remarks from the Cardinal: ..."Almighty God. We are unable to accept hatred and aggression. Please, behold mankind suffering from wars and the victims of the terrorist attacks. Strengthen the hope in the heart of your people so that peaceful and happy days will dawn upon them through your assistance....."

The Jew said: ...."We now have learned that history repeats itself and if we do not put an end to hate speech, then sooner or later we will be hit by war again.....We can never be safe when hate speech emerges anywhere in the world...."

The Muslim said:..."Only those who nurture a feeling of true love towards others are the ones who work together and strive to know each other better. Prophet Muhammad-peace be with him-who was sent by the Creator to all creatures of the world as a sign of his mercy, talks about unselfish love in a way familiar to both Christians and Jews....."

Ambassador Foley said: ..."As human beings and citizens of the world, the similarities between us are greater than the issues that divide us. We share a common humanity. We share a commitment to social justice, compassion, concern for the poor, love of family and community..."

Although it was a solemn and moving ceremony, we were struck by the fact that at no point was the name of Christ lifted up as the only hope that the world has for eternal peace and salvation. The name of Christ was not spoken at the ceremony as the answer to all the questions and fears that the world has. Only Christ can protect us ultimately from the evil in the world.

At the end of the speaking and the music, we were asked to light candles and to bring them to the front of the chapel to commemorate those that had lost their lives on 9/11. We filed quietly out after that where Ambassador Foley greeted each person as they left the chapel.

We were thankful to represent America and we were thankful to represent a church that names the Name of Christ as the only way to salvation and eternal life. How different the ceremony would have been had we been in charge! Glory be to God and to His Son, Jesus Christ.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Pictures from Adult Sunday School and Childcare

2007-09-10T05:36:00.001-05:00

Adult Sunday School

2007-09-09T00:59:00.000-05:00

This morning at church, Adult Sunday School begins. This is really a big deal because we don't have an Adult Sunday School. It's difficult logistically to make Sunday School work in our rental facility. Plus, our childcare situation can be a little tricky. Plus, Adult Sunday School is not necessarily a concept that a lot of people understand or really think might be advantageous to them. Why get up earlier on Sunday morning if you don't have to?

But we do have a really good teacher that felt led to start Sunday School for the adults. We'll be studying the book of Matthew. Hopefully, we'll have several adults that will begin today and we'll add to our numbers as we go along. Please pray for people to make the commitment to attend Sunday School and to desire to grow spiritually in the study of God's Word. Another wonderful benefit of all of this is community among the believers. Attending Sunday School builds up the body of Christ as we move and work together.

We'll report back on how Sunday School is going. Enjoy the Lord's Day today wherever you may be worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Excursion to the American Embassy

2007-09-05T00:18:00.000-05:00

Over the girls' left shoulder is a beautiful yellow building that houses the American Embassy.

Iguana's

Looking like autumn in Budapest already

A few days ago, we headed to the city for the afternoon. It turned out to be a rainy, overcast afternoon but the temp was so much cooler and we were grateful. The main event of the afternoon was to get Olivia and Meredith's passport renewed. Their passport doesn't expire until April 2008 but we will need to start the process very soon of applying for a renewed residence permit. Hungarian law requires the passport to extend the length of the residence permit and the girls' passport didn't allow that. So, off to the American Embassy!

We enjoy being on that small "patch" of American soil. Although most of the employees there are Hungarian! But we do get to be in a place that understands the needs of American citizens. Not to mention that we get to see the American flag displayed!!

Before we went to the Embassy, we went to our favorite (and only!) Mexican restaurant in Budapest for lunch. It's called Iguana's and there we enjoyed chips, salsa, tacos, and burritos. Almost like Rosie's! Well, not exactly. But we pretended. Then just across the square from Iguana's is the American Embassy.

We didn't have any problems getting into the embassy thanks to the wonderful privilege of an American passport. The actual process of getting the passports renewed didn't take long but we did run into a little bit of a glitch of when we can pick the passports up. Long story but we'll need to come back to the Embassy in a few months to pick up the passports. They'll be ready for us and prepared in order for the residence permit application process to start.

As we left the Embassy, we looked back at the American flag displayed on the front of the building. It caused us to break into the Pledge of Allegiance along with the first couple of lines of the Star Spangled Banner!

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

And to the republic for which it stands, One nation, Under God.....

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

A Big Announcement From Meredith

2007-09-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

I am happy to announce that Tessa is going to be a mother! We bred her a month ago and were not sure of the result. We took her to the vet yesterday and he informed us that she is pregnant! We expect the puppies at the end of September. Tessa is very tired these last few days and always hungry, but she is healthy and up to date on her vacinations, so I don't think there should be any complications. Just thought I would inform any Tessa fans out there about this news!

Love,

Meredith

Summer Ministry Report

2007-08-30T03:33:00.001-05:00

Here's an excerpt from Olivia's Summer 2007 Ministry Report. If you would like the full one page report, email us and we'll send it to you......

A New Perspective

This summer, I was given the opportunity to work at an evangelistic English camp called Speak Out. This English camp is run by Americans and Hungarians that come together with the aim of sharing Christ with Hungarian students. Speak Out is designed to impact the English students and the tutors who teach them. The perspective of the whole month was that God was enough and that people mattered.

Speak Out began with a week long orientation in English camp details. We cleaned, prepared, and practiced so that we could bring true joy to our campers. We knew we were at camp for our campers but the task of running Speak Out seemed infinitely small when we thought about God and His greatness. Orientation, however, united the love of our campers and God’s plan for their life. We were equipped and sent out on a journey of love and learning..........

.................Speak Out is over but it is not forgotten. God is still enough and people still matter. The lack of Speak Out cannot remove this truth. The perspective of Speak Out continues on in the staff that saw God work in our students and in the students that made our God their own. I pray that God will continue to be elevated and that people will still be loved because of the example of Speak Out.

Olivia Brannon
Summer 2007 Ministry Report-Budapest, Hungary

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

More Memories of Summer 2007

2007-08-28T04:47:00.001-05:00

Memories of Summer 2007

2007-08-28T04:43:00.000-05:00

Saturday in Budapest

2007-08-25T03:11:00.000-05:00

The weather is hot again! Probably most of you can relate as we continue to see the difficult heat and terrible flooding going on in the states. Europe is weathering another heat wave and many people are suprised that the heat continues to linger in the latter days of August. We're looking forward to a supposed break in the weather next week as rain is predicted for several of the days.

It has been a busy week filled with ministry, schooling, and planning. We have trips in October that we need to get organized and planned. The days are going by too fast! The third week of school was just finished and the girls are doing well in staying on task and motivated. They know that even busier days lie ahead which will make school a challenge to complete. Study, study now!

So, today is a fun day of rest with no commitments except time with friends and maybe a little time with the lawnmower and the dust mop! But we do plan to enjoy some down time before a very busy Sunday at Danube. Activities at church are back in full swing for the fall season and it's a crazy time until the end of the year.

Thank you for your prayers for our family!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Men's Prayer Breakfast

2007-08-22T03:18:00.000-05:00

In our growing role with Danube International Church, one of the desires we have for this church is that "body life" among the believers will increase. In an international situation like this, church life is really different from what we're famililar with back in the states. One of the big differences is not having the use of a permanent facility throughout the week. Danube International Church rents a facility for a few hours on Sunday morning in order for believers in Budapest to worship. We don't own our own church so that means that events throughout the week are a challenge and they have to be held in homes or other places that are easy to get to.

So, we're continually looking for opportunities for Danube church members to come together during the week to encourage one another and to grow in fellowship with each another and with Christ. One great way that Curt has accomplished this is through a Men's Prayer Breakfast this summer. He purposely chose the Pest side of Budapest for men to meet, pray, and have breakfast together. By having it on that side of the river, that helped men attend that wouldn't be able to if it was on the Buda side.

This Friday is another meeting of the Prayer Breakfast and there could be as many as 15 men joining together. That's a huge number for this part of the world! Maybe we'll be able to get a picture or two of this group and we'll post it to a later blog.

Pray that this men's group will grow and that there will be other groups that will grow out of this one.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Praise and Prayer

2007-08-20T04:01:00.000-05:00

No, we haven't gone on vacation from blogging! But we're sort of in the brainstorming mode of revamping how we do our blogs and whether or not our blogs are of interest to our friends out in the cyber world. But in the meantime, while we're thinking on those things, we do want to continue to ask you for your prayer and for you to join in praise of our great God as He does great things. A few praises and prayer requests:

*Praise!! Our FBC missionaries in Serbia, Yarko and Elena, now own a lot to proceed on building their much needed new home.

*Praise!! The translation project we told you about in an earlier blog is well underway with hopes of completion by December.

*Praise!! Emil from Erdevik (who fell from a ladder a couple of months ago) continues to recover. He has 5 screws in his ankle and 3 screws and a metal plate in his forearm. But his health is improving. Pray for continued recovery. Emil has 3 children.

*Pray!! There is a need for a place to rent in Ruma for the small church now meeting in Igor's flat.

*Pray!! Pastor Ronnie Stevens, (http://www.danubechurch.org/) will kick off the new semester at HUB Bible school (north of Belgrade) during the first 2 weeks of October. He'll be teaching on the book of Matthew. Pray for clarity and understanding by the students.

*Pray!! HUB Bible School will launch a 2nd year of study in October. The 1st year of study will continue to be a study of the entire Bible. The added 2nd year will be a practical application of the 1st year of study to the importance of the local church. (preaching, teaching, leader development, counseling, evangelism, church planting, etc.) Pray for effective teaching and opportunities for practical application.

Thank you!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

A New Car!

2007-08-07T11:47:00.000-05:00

Well, not exactly. But "new" to us for the next 10 months. A missionary family left today for about a 10 month furlough. They didn't want to sell their car but hated to have it sit for that long. And we didn't want to buy a second car. Too much hassle to buy a car, pretty expensive insurance, and the upkeep on two cars is more trouble that we thought it was worth. So, the solution to getting another car? Rent! That's what we'll be doing for the next 1o months with this car. And for the first time since we've lived in Budapest, we'll have a second vehicle! Wow, we won't know how to act. No more meticulous planning of schedules to make sure that everyone has a ride to where they need to go. Curt will be able to hop into this car and Shay will take the van. The new car seems to run pretty well and has a pretty good air conditioner. Curt is even thinking about taking it to Serbia on his trip next week. Although it could be sort of tricky with Curt not being the owner of the car. He might get to the border and not be able to cross! We'll have to wait and see.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

First Day of School Pictures

2007-08-02T13:59:00.000-05:00

Olivia-12th Grade

Meredith-9th Grade

School Starts Back Tomorrow

2007-07-29T09:09:00.000-05:00

If you are hearing any moaning and groaning from this part of the world, that would be Olivia and Meredith! Summer is over and school is about to begin. Tomorrow is the first day of school for Olivia's senior year and Meredith's freshman year of high school. Although both girls know that we need to start in order to get our days in so we can do some traveling this fall, it's sort of hard to work on Economics or Algebra when everyone else is out swimming or going to the movies. But if we stay on track, then we can take a few days off this fall to be able to travel to some places in Europe we haven't been. Plus, both girls have a heavy load of school and outside activities this year and we need extra time to get it all done.

If you count Olivia's kindergarten year, this will start our 13th year of homeschooling. We're thankful that we've been able to continue homeschooling here in Budapest. Although it HAS been a little tricky getting our curriculum each year! Thank you to the Elder family for allowing us to order our curriculm online and have it sent to their house in Alabama. Then, when someone is coming this way to Budapest, the curriculum is loaded up in the luggage to make the trek over. Talk about heavy bags! Curriculum weighs a lot.

We hope and pray that if you've got school-age children starting school soon that you'll have a terrific year filled with God's blessings!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Happy 25th Anniversary!

2007-07-24T01:38:00.000-05:00

Curt and Shay celebrated their 25th anniversary today. Married on July 24, 1982, at First Baptist Decatur, by the Reverend W.K. Stephenson. Here's to the next 25!

A Missionary to Mexico

2007-07-21T08:05:00.001-05:00

This is our newest missionary from Danube International Church, Timi, with Pastor Ronnie. Timi grew up in a non-Christian family from Transylvania, Romania. She had a difficult upbringing and "wondered if there was love in the world at all." By God's grace, she was saved during an American Christian camp in the summer of 2000 in Romania.

For the last 4 years, she has lived and worked in Budapest. She was a Word of Life Bible School student for the first 2 years. Then she stayed 2 more years as an intern with Word of Life, serving as the Assistant Dean of Women. She also has been a valuable member in Danube International Church. Timi was one of Meredith's teachers in the Awana program when we first arrived in Budapest! The Sunday School program at Danube has also benefitted from Timi's service.

After getting the chance to visit the family in the states who payed her tuition for the Bible School, the Lord burdened her heart for the youth of the Americas. She started praying for an open door somewhere in the Americas. God opened a door to Mexico and beginning in September she will serve with Adventures in Missions (AIM http://www.adventuresinmissions.org/ ) in the First Year Missionary Program. Timi will be ministering to people that need the gospel, discipling others, and being trained by full-time missionaries in various areas of ministry.

If you're interested in knowing more about how God is preparing Timi for her 9 month stay in Mexico, please visit her blog. http://timeaszakacs.myadventures.org/

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Another Pizza Run!

2007-07-15T07:24:00.001-05:00

We had another opportunity to drive down to see Olivia during some off time she had this past Friday. Most everyone of the staff/counselors had gone to Vienna for the day. But some decided to stay behind and catch up on sleep and clothes washing. Here is Olivia and 3 of her friends that decided not to go to Vienna. So, we took them out for pizza and they even had leftovers to take back to the dorm! Olivia looked well and was greatly anticipating what God might do this last week of camp. This week she has 3 girls in her tutor group and she again asks the same prayer as last time. Please pray that the girls would open up and talk freely and feel comfortable with her.

Thank you to all of you that have sent her mail during her time during Speak Out. Apparently, she has been one of the ones that has received the most mail! After camp is over and she returns to Budapest, she'll be writing you and updating you on her ministry month.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

A Translation Project For Serbia

2007-07-11T07:44:00.000-05:00

We are very excited that the Lord is using a generous family from our home church, First Bible Church of Decatur (http://www.fbc.org)/to sponsor a new translation project in Serbia called : The Picture Bible for All Ages. At first, our enthusiasm was based on providing a new tool to reach Serbian-speaking children. But, we have since heard several stories about adults in the former Yugoslavian nations finding picture Bibles attractive. The Orthodox church does not encourage adults to read the Bible for themselves, but depend, instead, on their priests for interpretation. The Orthodox Bibles are not in modern Serbian and can be difficult to understand.

Please pray for excellent translation and quality production on schedule (before the end of the year) and on budget. Also, please pray that these Bibles will find their way into the hands of both children and adults whom will use them to find the Lord. Finally, we pray that more than the original 2,000 copies will be needed.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Thank You For The Prayers

2007-07-08T10:24:00.000-05:00

Curt and Olivia arrived safely from Korea. Thanks so much for those that prayed and kept up with what was going on with them. They'll probably post some more pictures later. We feel that the effects and impact from this conference will last a long time!

After arriving on Saturday to the airport, Olivia swapped out a few clothing items with us, and then got on a bus with other team members and headed back to Speak Out. They arrived at Keszthely with the 2nd week of camp in full swing. Campers had arrived and tutor groups were being assigned. Olivia has 4 girls assigned to her this week. Please pray for these girls to feel comfortable with Olivia and to be willing to interact within the group.

During Olivia's time in Korea, her 3 friends from the states, Drew, Amanda, and Anna, had a terrific week. All are doing well and staying healthy. They'll probably have a lot of great stories to share with Olivia.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-04T14:10:00.000-05:00

Another Independence Day celebrated in Hungary! Such an unusual feeling when no one else is celebrating. Just another day for the Hungarians. But Shay and Meredith did got the opportunity to celebrate the day with some other Americans. It's cold and rainy here (so different from yesterday!) but we still grilled out. It was wonderful to get together to laugh, talk, eat, and listen to patriotic music in the background. We miss Curt and Olivia and feel pretty sure that they didn't get much chance to celebrate in Korea!

Our thoughts and prayers turn to our men and women in the military stationed all over the world. Especially those in Iraq and Afghanistan. We stumbled upon a really neat website that gives people the opportunity to send needed items to an individual soldier or to a group of soldiers. The soldier updates the website by sending in emails. Prepare to have your heart broken! Reading about their excitement about receiving basic items that we take for granted really puts things in perspective. Maybe you would like to check the website out:

http://www.anysoldier.com/

We thank our God for America and for the many blessings He has given this great nation. We pray for revival in the land and that many would turn back to God in repentance.

CM 2007

2007-07-01T09:54:00.001-05:00

If you're interested in knowing more about the conference that Curt and Olivia are attending in South Korea, check out the information on the web: http://www.cm2007.net/ Click on the map to make the picture bigger. Also, there are new postings on Curt and Olivia's blog that you might be interested in, too!

Headed for South Korea!

2007-06-28T10:23:00.001-05:00

Curt and Olivia left this afternoon headed for a Campus Crusade World-Wide Conference in South Korea. They join a team made up of Hungarian students and American students. Although Curt is not part of a Campus Crusade ministry like Olivia is, he's along to be a chaperone. The conference involves college-age leadership around the world that are meeting to be encouraged, taught, and trained for ongoing ministry in their place of calling. Olivia is one of the few high school students invited to come to observe and to be open to possible campus ministry in the future.

They'll be gone until July 7th and will have a very full schedule. Hopefully, they'll get some sight-seeing time and will take lots of pictures! Please pray for their safety and for God to speak to them during this conference. Hopefully, we'll have some communication with them this week and will update you on how they're doing.

UPDATE: June 29th. Curt and Olivia arrived in South Korea safely. Thank you for your prayers! More updates to follow.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Update on Speak Out

2007-06-27T03:22:00.000-05:00

We got to go down to Keszthely to see Olivia at Speak Out last night. She had about a 2 hour break in between meetings and so we took advantage of that!

We invited Anna, Olivia's special friend from North Carolina to go with us to dinner, too. Anna and Olivia have been great friends for 4 years since they met each other at Cove Camp in Asheville. They have kept up with each other over the years through email and letters. Last summer when we were in the states, Olivia went to spend a few days with Anna and her family. So, it was a special treat for Anna to be able to come to Speak Out with Olivia this year.

Also, we had the pleasure of taking Amanda and Drew out for dinner, too. They are two recent high school graduates who are members of our home church in Alabama, First Bible Church of Decatur. They also decided to spend a big part of their summer serving as leadership at Speak Out. We are very blessed to have these 3 terrific young people here in our part of the world! All 3 have sacrificed time and money to serve God in missions. We are proud of them!!

After a big meal of pizza, we took them to a local grocery store for them to buy things they needed to snack on. The food at the camp is not the greatest and takes time getting used to. If they ever get used to it! So having pizza leftovers and a few snacks definitely help.

This is a picture of the crew outside their living quarters for the next month. Please continue to pray for Speak Out and these faithful young people. Pray for more Hungarian campers to come and attend. The numbers are a little low this year. We want as many Hungarians as possible to be exposed to the good news of the gospel.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Speak Out 2007

2007-06-21T05:53:00.000-05:00

Olivia left today to be one of the leaders for Speak Out 2007. She will be one of the camp tutors and a discipleship leader. Speak Out is sponsored by Campus Crusade Hungary and has been an ongoing outreach for many years. Quoting from their information brochure: "Speak Out 2007 is a series of 3, week-long, English language camps for Hungarian students who want to improve their English skills. Each day, students will attend lectures, small SpeakOut groups, and spend individual time with American tutors."

Although English is emphasized, Campus Crusade doesn't hide the fact that they are a Christian organization. Hungarian students understand from the beginning that there will be times during the week that they will hear about Christ and His gospel. Exciting things have happened in the past. Many have come to know the Lord during Speak Out. We have no doubt that that can happen again this year! Please pray that God's Spirit will move upon the hearts of these Hungarian students.

We will definitely miss Olivia while she's gone! Not only will she be attending Speak Out but during one of the camp weeks, she will attend a world-wide Campus Crusade conference in South Korea. (June 28-July 7) So, we won't see much of her. We hope to travel a couple of times to see her in Keszthely where the camp is located in southern Hungary. But we know that God has called her to do this and we trust God to take care of her. Your prayers for her would be appreciated!

If you have any interest in dropping a card or note to Olivia while she's at Speak Out, here's her address:

Vendeglatoipari Szakkozepiskola Kollegiuma
Olivia Brannon
H-8360
Keszthely
Martirok Utja 1
HUNGARY

Check out more information about Speak Out at: www.feknyom.hu/speakout2007
We'll update you from time-to-time on how Olivia is doing. Hopefully, we'll even have a few pictures.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Fellow Workers

2007-06-19T17:12:00.001-05:00

Our friend, Laura, just sent us this group picture of the missionaries that have been sent from First Bible Church. The picture was taken during the recent Missions Conference this past March. It was the first time all of us had been together like this and someone suggested a picture. Our fellow workers are: Paul and Hope Cheshier and family(Mexico), Johnny and Maria Coker (Guatemala), and Wayne and Kitty Gute. Wayne and Kitty are the "patriarch" missionaries. They served for many years in Guatemala and have retired to Oklahoma. We feel privileged to be a part of this wonderful group and we pray regularly for their ministries.

brannons@scsonline.com

A Day in the Life of Danube International Church

2007-05-29T09:50:00.000-05:00

Worship Team

Sound Guy Mate

Chairs getting set up for church

European Air Conditioning

Attending church each Sunday at Danuble International Church is a big process. We don't own our own building so we rent a facility for a few hours on Sunday morning. It takes a lot of people to set up things for the worship team, put out all the chairs for 200+ attendees, and move around all our fans to keep us cool. It was around 80 degrees today and we're in a building with no air conditioning and no windows! But despite the work to get things ready to go in time for worship, we always leave with a sense that we have been privileged to be in God's presence and to bring praise to Him. That's the real reason to have church!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Proud To Be Americans

2007-05-25T13:00:00.000-05:00

It's holidays like Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and July 4th, that make us even more proud to be an American. Obviously, those are not days celebrated in Budapest, Hungary! As we go into the Memorial Day weekend, we reflect on the privileges and benefits of being a citizen of such a great country---the United States of America. We remember the great sacrifices of our men and women in the military that allow for us to wave the red, white, and blue.

Curt and Shay were at the home of some friends this afternoon. Their flat has a "U.S.A. corner". The husband and wife are American missionaries that go to our Budapest church. The U.S.A corner is all red, white, and blue American-decorated. Flags, quilts, pictures, and signs that all proclaim that they are proud to be Americans! It made us feel right at home and reminded us that just because we live in another country, we don't have to give up our patriotism and love for our home country.

This weekend, let's don't forget to thank God for our wonderful country!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Good-bye to Friends

2007-05-21T07:48:00.001-05:00

One sad thing that we've learned about being here in Budapest is that there are so many good-byes. Budapest is like a central "hub" for many missions organizations. There are missionaries that are stationed in Budapest but serve more regionally in their ministries. Others come specifically to serve in Hungary. Still others have ministries that include both Hungarians and other European people. With that much activity going on, it's a blessing that there are quite a few Americans that we can interact with and get to know.

But the downside or maybe the sad side with that many Americans being here is that there comes a time that some have to leave. Some leave because they believe God is calling them to a different part of the world and different ministry. Others leave because their work is finished in this region and it's time to return to the states. We know of some missionaries that are leaving for furloughs or to go and raise more support. Hopefully, they will return to Budapest. Another couple that we are friends with might have to leave Budapest because both sets of their parents are in failing health. They may have to become the primary caregivers for their parents thus honoring them in a proper, Christ-like way.

For many reasons, May is a natural break for people to leave and say their permanent good-byes. And that's happening again this year. So, although we're completing some of our ministry reponsibilities here, we also have to face the reality of saying good-bye to special friends. What helps us get through this sad time is to remind ourselves that believers have the hope of eternity to spend together and that wherever we go, God goes with us.

So, good-bye to you, our special friends! How grateful we are that we had the privilege of getting to know you, serve with you, see God use you, and rejoice with you in the truth of the gospel.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. " Joshua 1:9

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Wrapping Things Up

2007-05-17T04:07:00.000-05:00

May is such a full month. It's probably that way for most everyone! Maybe you can relate?? It seems that everything comes to an end in May. And that makes for hectic schedules. It's that way over here in Budapest, too.

During this month, we will see the wrapping up of many things. Curt's two men's Bible groups have come to a close. One of those met at our house and the other one met at the Campus Crusade Headquarters. The men would probably view those groups as successful and meaningful. Also, the mission team from the states has come and gone. What a great time we had with our friends from First Bible Church. All that planning for them to come and then it went by so fast! Continuing with ending things for Curt, he rotates off the Elder Board at Danube International at the end of this month. It has been a blessing for him to serve with such godly men.

Shay finishes up the BSF class on May 29th. Olivia has already completed her work for the FEK ministry. Their last meeting was this past Friday. (see Olivia's blog) Now, her next project ahead with this ministry will be the SpeakOut camp and Korea this summer. Also, the girls will finish homeschool on May 25th. There will be a couple of school things that will spill over into June but for the most part, they are done.

So, the "finish line" is ahead and God has sustained us by His grace and your prayers. Please continue to pray for us as we make ministry decisions for this summer and beyond. Although many things are coming to an end, we don't plan to take a "vacation" from God this summer! There are many opportunities and much work still to be done in this part of the world.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

The Work in Serbia

2007-05-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

Some pictures from the work done on the church in Erdevik. Thank you for praying for all of us here. The guys were put safely on the plane flying back to the states. They'll arrive late tonight. They'll still have a little time to say Happy Mother's Day!

Team Doing Well

2007-05-09T07:48:00.000-05:00

Our interaction with the guys in Serbia is pretty limited. But what we have heard is what we definitely want to hear----they are safe and healthy. Certainly, an answer to many prayers. Apparently, the weather has been terrific for them which has allowed for busy, full days of work on the church in Erdevik. Curt said they have had very meaningful interaction with the nationals there and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ seem pleased to have had the team come. Looks like lots of things are being accomplished and our prayer that the team would be a blessing to the people there is being clearly answered. Thank you for your prayers and please keep praying!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Internet Issues

2007-05-08T10:04:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to alert you to some Internet problems we've been having. We've lost our Internet off and on in the last 24 hours or so. It makes us think that we might have missed or lost some of our emails. So, if you've sent us an email in the last 24 hours and haven't gotten a reply from us, please resend your email. We would hate to miss your contact! And we're pretty good about replying when someone contacts us. The way we feel about it is that if you take the time to email, the least we can do is answer you! So, if you don't get a reply, it means we didn't receive your email.

We hope to have an update soon from the crew in Serbia. We'll post that info as we receive it. Thanks so much for your prayers for us!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

First Bible Team Arrives

2007-05-06T07:49:00.000-05:00

We're glad for the safe arrival of Kevin, Steve, and Bob! Here they are with Curt right after Sunday lunch in Budapest. All of us enjoyed worshipping together at Danube International this morning and hearing Ronnie Stevens preach. Thank you for your prayers for their safety in travel. Please continue to pray for them as the 4 guys leave tomorrow for Serbia.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Prayers for Serbia Trip

2007-05-04T04:07:00.000-05:00

We're looking forward to our team from First Bible Church arriving tomorrow. They bring the rain with them since it's supposed to start raining tomorrow through all next week! But that's ok since they bring love and prayers from people back home.

They will have from Saturday until Monday morning to get acclimated to this time zone. Then they and Curt leave early on Monday headed to Serbia. Hopefully, before they go, we'll be able to squeeze some sightseeing and visiting in with the guys.

We would appreciate your prayers for all of us over the next few days. Please pray for:

*Safety in travel.

*No one to get sick or injured while in Serbia.

*That the team will be a blessing and encouragement to the church at Erdevik.

*That the team members will be blessed and will desire to glorify God even more through missions.

*Safety for Shay, Olivia, and Meredith while Curt is away.

Thank you so much!

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Happy Birthday Olivia!

2007-04-29T07:40:00.000-05:00

Happy 17th birthday to Olivia. Today we celebrate Olivia's birthday with a "ladies' tea" at our house for a few of her friends. These pictures are from yesterday's family celebration of her birthday. Thank you to those that sent gifts and cards. She had a pile of gifts to open! She'll probably tell a little more on her blog about the party.

Did Someone Hit Our House?

2007-04-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

It certainly looks that way! Our landlord was over today checking on some things. Curt was here at the house when the landlord arrived and Curt went outside to talk to Elemer. Elemer pointed to the concrete section above the garage door. Looked like a dent or a small crack. Earlier in the week, we noticed a lot of white stuff on the ground right outside the garage but just thought some kids had thrown some rocks around. It never occurred to us to look up and see that the wall had been hit! We're thinking the neighbors next door might have had something to do with it. They run an upholstery business out of their house and there is constant activity over there. Trucks pull up all the time with furniture to be dropped off and to pick up things. A lot of times their trucks block us in. So, the dent was high enough to make us think it had to be a truck. Well, no great damage, and it can be easily repaired.

But it IS interesting that the BSF study last week covered the part in Romans 13 about loving your neighbor as yourself! Seems like the Lord gave the Brannon family the opportunity to put that principle into action. We can thank God that He has given a way for this Hungarian family to live a decent living in a very difficult economy. And maybe we can be a little more understanding when they're loading furniture early in the morning or one of their trucks is parked in our driveway. It's great to have Hungarian neighbors!

"Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." Romans 13:9b-10

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Missionaries to Serbia

2007-04-21T03:50:00.000-05:00

This is a recent picture of Olivia and Curt with our friends from Serbia, Yarko and Elena. Yarko and Elena are missionaries to Serbia and are supported by First Bible in Decatur. (www.fbc.org) Curt has had the privilege many times of visiting these two special people in Serbia and has led several groups from FBC to visit them, as well. This picture was taken when Yarko and Elena were passing through Budapest on their way to see family in Vienna. What they're holding are hinges and doorknobs that our family brought back from the states. The hinges and doorknobs are needed for the church in Erdevik, Serbia. This is the church that the team from FBC will be working on when they arrive for their mission trip in a couple of weeks. We'll update you with new pictures of the work in Serbia soon. Please pray for Yarko and Elena. They serve in a spiritually dark and difficult country.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Prayer Needs

2007-04-17T06:14:00.000-05:00

We wanted to pass along a few prayer requests to those of you that would have time to pray for us. Thank you for continuing to pray on our behalf to our Father!

*Curt leaves Sunday for a conference in Turkey. Please pray for safety for him and for the rest of us here in Budapest.

*Time is fast approaching for the work team from FBC that will arrive for the mission trip to Serbia. Please pray for the details that need to be worked out for the trip to go smoothly. Pray for safety for the team and good health. Also, the men desire to be a blessing and encouragement to their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in Erdevik, Serbia, where the team will be serving.

*Pray for class members in the BSF class to remain committed to the end of the study. The last day of class is May 29th.

*Pray for all of us as we come to the end of another "ministry year" (May) and need to make wise decisions for our future.

We are aware of the terrible tragedy that happened at Virginia Tech. Our minds can't comprehend such evil and horror. Our prayers are with the families and friends of the victims. Please let us know if you are somehow connected to this tragic event. We want to pray for you.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Update on School

2007-04-14T06:48:00.000-05:00

It''s hard to believe that it's already mid-April and we're fast approaching another year of homeschool completed. We've homeschooled for 11 years (12 years if you count kindergarten!) and we continue to find it a blessing to our family.

Olivia is finishing up her Junior year and Meredith will soon complete her 8th grade year. Both girls have worked really hard to stay on track this school year---despite our crazy, erratic family schedules. Our last trip to the states threw us off a little on our usual school schedule. So, we'll probably school further into June that we normally do. But it's worth it since we got the chance to see family and friends in March!

It's quite a challenge to homeschool here in Budapest. Access to resources is limited and we have to bring most things we need back with us from the states. For example, Olivia is taking chemistry this year. She and Curt do as many of the experiments, as possible. We had to order a chemistry lab package from our curriculum company and bring it back in our luggage. Now that was tricky! Also, we don't have the great libraries that we're used to having. We are thankful, though, for a small Christian library run by some missionaries here. And we also have some access to the library of the Christian school in Diosd.

We do plan to continue homeschooling and Olivia will graduate next year as a life-long homeschooler, God willing. All of us are in the process of determining God's direction for her next step in her education. She's looking at several colleges and has had opportunity to visit a few. We would greatly appreciate your joining us in prayer for this important decision.

brannons4christ@yahoo.com

Contact Information

2007-04-13T14:54:00.000-05:00

Just to answer some questions we've had about our contact information:

*Yes, we do have an American address that is treated like a permanent address for us. The address is PO Box 1943 Madison, AL 35758. This PO Box is checked regularly by Shay's sister and brother-in-law and any mail that needs immediate attention, they graciously take care of that. You're welcome to send mail to us to this address. But please remember that it will be a while before the mail reaches us and we can reply to you. Shay's sister takes the mail received, bundles it up, and sends the mail periodically in a global package to us.

*Yes, we can receive mail in Budapest. It seems like it's getting shorter and shorter for a piece of mail to reach us. It used to take about 10 days for mail to arrive. Now, many times mail from the states reaches us in a week. Our address here is:

Tavasz Utca 4
Budaors 2040
Hungary

*Update on email addresses: Our main family address is brannons4christ@yahoo.com All our scsonline.com accounts are pretty much obsolete. The girls have individual accounts as well and if you would like those addresses, please email our family address and we'll let you know those. Please know that we DO answer our email and we love receiving email! So, if for some reason you don't get a reply from us, we probably didn't get the original email. Happens all the time. We sometimes even get emails a week or two later after the sender has sent it! Please be patient with us and just resend your email. Thank you!!!

He is Risen!!!

2007-04-08T06:02:00.000-05:00

This cross overlooks the village we live in. We hiked up to it yesterday to look out over Budaors and Budapest and to pray for the salvation of the people of these places.

Near the cross are some cave-like cuts in the mountain. We think they look just like empty tombs. Very appropriate we thought to have the cross and tomb together!

Easter Morning in Budapest

Olivia and Meredith sang on the praise team for Easter

Shay and Curt taught Sunday School for grades K-2. There were 19 of them! In this picture, the children are putting together a large-size puzzle. Then, we shared the Easter story with the kids. The children are from different cultures and have varying degrees of English language proficiency.

"He is not here. He has risen, just as He said." Matthew 28:6