Four Years Ago

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

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

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......

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.....

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!

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

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

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

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

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!

*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!

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

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!!!

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

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

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!

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!!

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

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

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/