Merry Christmas from the Brazzells!

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas! It’s hard to believe it’s that time of year again! Many things have been going on in our life, so I thought it would be good to catch everyone up! The purpose of this letter is to bring glory to the Lord for all He has done in our lives during 2015, and to share what we have been doing and how you can pray for us!

July 12^th marked our 1^st year of marriage! It has been such a wonderful journey together! We were able to spend our anniversary weekend in Charleston, SC. It was such a treat to be able to steal away for a few days and spend time together!

This summer was full of traveling! In addition to our anniversary trip, we traveled to both of our family reunions. God worked it out that we could go to both of these, and we were so excited! This was Sim’s first time meeting most of my family. It was so good to catch up with loved ones we haven’t seen in several years!

During the summer, I was able to complete the courses required to receive my TESOL Certification (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) through Crown College. This is something I started while I was in college, and I’m so glad I was able to finish it! God opened up an amazing opportunity for me to teach English to a group of international students during the fall semester. The students are such sweet people, and I love being able to teach them English while studying God’s Word together! Please pray that my students will have an open heart and clear understanding as I share the gospel with them!

God opened up a new job opportunity for Simeon several weeks ago. He is now working as a sales representative for Cellular Sales. If you know Simeon well, you know that he loves technology, so this job is perfect for him! We weren’t planning on a job switch, but God had different plans, and as always, we are discovering that His plans for us are perfect! Simeon is also continuing to enhance his skills at web design and computer coding. He has had the opportunity to design several websites for different ministries in that past few weeks.

I am continuing to grow my Mary Kay virtual office assistant business. God has richly blessed me by allowing me to earn an income while I work from home. I work for some amazing ladies, and I love what I do! I am also still teaching piano lessons. This is always a highlight of my week! I enjoy getting to spend time with my students and helping them to develop their talents to use for the Lord. Soon, we will be having our Christmas recital at a local nursing home, and we are all so excited!

Our mission’s plans are starting to come together! We are still praying for specific direction as to what part of Australia God would have us serve in. We have decided to take a survey trip next fall to spend time with several ministries that are there. Through this we believe that God will show us exactly where He wants us, and how He wants us to serve. A lot of planning and preparation will go into this trip, so prayers are appreciated! We will continue to keep everyone updated as the time draws closer, and we receive more details.

In the meantime, God has opened several ministry opportunities at our home church. We hold a weekly service at a nursing home which has been such a blessing and encouragement to us! The people are so sweet, and we all love worshiping Jesus together. We also participate in a weekly ‘Teens for Christ’ Bible Club in a local middle school. Over one hundred different students have attended throughout the semester, and we had 2 accept Christ as their Savior just a few weeks ago!! We also enjoy singing in the choir and leading a prayer group in our Sunday School class.

God has richly blessed us with so many wonderful friends and family members! We love each of you, and are so grateful for your prayers and encouragement. May you have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

All for His Glory,

Brettnay Brazzell

Philippians 1:20-21

Bible Club Update

Those of you who keep up with the ministries we are involved in will know that we are in a Teens For Christ Bible Club every Tuesday morning. It's such an enormous opportunity to go into a public school and teach the kids about Christ.

We had a big "Friend Day" at our club on 11/17/15 where we encouraged kids to come and bring a friend with them. The purpose of the Bible club is to get the gospel to as many kids as possible, but also to get the kids involved in reaching their peers. We had 52 students that day and 2 made professions of faith in Christ. The following week on 11/24/15 those two students both came to club again, and one of them brought a friend with him. It's truly amazing to watch what God is able to do in the lives of young people, many of whom would never have otherwise heard the gospel. Please pray for Alex and Elijah as they try to grow as Christians. Pray that they will share what they've done with a peer.

We live in east Tennessee, and as such are in a highly "Christian" area. Many of our public school kids claim to be regular church attenders. Sadly, the types of churches they attend are not gospel preaching churches for the most part. Our pastor often says that the Great Commission doesn't say to open your church doors and ask people to come in. It says to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature". It's our responsibility to find them and get them the gospel. One such way to do that is through the open door we have with Teens for Christ.

Unfortunately, we cannot reach the whole student body this way. Even with the club, there is no way we could get every student in the classroom to teach them about Jesus. That responsibility has to land on the students. This past Tuesday I encouraged our students to share their salvation testimony with another student this week. I explained how I got saved, then I asked a few of them to explain how they got saved. I explained to them that we all have different stories, but we all come to Christ the same way, as sinners in need of a Savior. Then I encouraged them to use their testimony to give the gospel to a friend. This is the only way to reach students in the school who would never come to Bible Club on their own. Who better to reach students with the gospel than other students? I would be more likely to listen to a friend than some stranger who I only see once a week.

Let me ask you this. When was the last time you spoke to a peer about Christ? We're asking these students to work up the bravery to talk to their fellow classmates about Christ. We don't have classmates anymore, but we do still have peers. Unless you work on staff at a church, you probably work with a group of people who are for the most part unsaved. They need Christ! Most of them will never darken the door of a church building except for weddings and funerals. Where are they going to hear the gospel? The dry cleaners? Not likely. The most likely place for them to hear and accept the gospel is at work from a coworker. I know it's hard to share the gospel at work. I don't work at a church either. They still need Christ and it's up to us to get Him to them! I'll give you the same challenge I gave my Teens for Christ club this week. Share the gospel with one coworker or classmate. It'll all be worth it if one person gets saved.

Have Faith In God

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

During the past thirteen weeks in our Sunday School class, we have been going through a study titled "Have Faith in God." This is probably my third or fourth time going through this study, but it has never meant as much to me as it has in the past few months! Why is that? Well, there are several reasons.

1. It never ceases to amaze me how you can read the same verses in the Bible, but God can reveal different truths each time. That is exactly what happened in this study. God brought to light the connection between faith and family. I think before as I have studied the people listed in the "hall of faith" in Hebrews 11, I have thought of how their faith affected them as an individual. Abraham's faith allowed God to use him to be the father of nations. Moses' faith allowed God to make him the one who would deliver the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. While all that is true, the faith exemplified in the lives of these people had a direct impact on their families. Take Moses' parents for example, their act of faith in trusting their baby boy to God's control allowed them extra time with him to train him in the ways of Jehovah. Their faith was planted in Moses' heart so that when the day came for him to choose the pleasures of Egypt or the way of his people's God, he could make the right choice! One day, Simeon and I look forward to starting a family. I pray that God can develop the kind of faith in our lives that will impact our children. And I am so thankful for godly parents who's faith impacted me!

2. The point was brought out in this study that God does not choose to use us because we in and of ourselves are worthy or strong enough. If you look at the lives of the individuals listed in Hebrews 11, you will notice that they weren't "super heroes." They were regular people like you and I who had weaknesses. 2 Corinthians 12:19 says that Christ's strength is made perfect in our weakness. What a promise! This truth spoke to my heart. I need not worry that I am not capable enough to do God's work because when I yield myself to Him, He will enable me to serve Him!

3. When we began our study, our teacher told us that when you pray for God to increase your faith, be prepared for Him to answer. At the time, I wasn't exactly sure what all that meant. Over the past several weeks, I have come to have a better understanding of his response. How does God increase faith? Under what circumstances does our faith have the chance to blossom and grow? God often uses trials in our lives to mature our faith. This could be looked at in a negative light. I don't want to have trials! Just like every other human, I love being on the "mountain top." I want life to be smooth sailing. But it has been through some recent trials that God has made Himself known to Simeon and I. We asked for our faith to be increased, and He answered. . . just not in the way that we would've chosen for ourselves. Has it been worth it? YES!! We still don't have all the answers, and we are still trying to climb back up the mountain, but God has proven over and over again to us that He is enough, He is in control, and He desires the best for our lives. I have seen God's hand moving, and that is worth the time in the valley!

You can listen or watch videos of this lesson series at this link- Have Faith In God. I challenge you to listen to these lessons, and I pray that it will bless your heart as it has mine!

All for His Glory,

Brettnay