Merry Christmas from the Brazzells!

Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas! We hope that each of you will have a blessed Christmas season with your loved ones as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. This Christmas is an exciting one for us as we celebrate as a family of three! Our little Eden has changed our world, and we are so grateful to the Lord for blessing us with this precious gift. 

This year has held many life-altering changes for our family! God has guided every step of the way, and we rejoice in all that He is doing in our lives. 

The biggest change was the birth of our baby girl. Eden Brielle was born on Friday, November 25th at 8:26am. She weighed 7lbs. 14oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. I greatly appreciate all those who were praying for Eden and I. My labor and delivery went wonderfully, and Eden was perfectly healthy! We are enjoying every moment we have with our precious little girl! The miracle of a new life is an amazing testament to the incredible design of our Creator God. We are so blessed and honored that the Lord gave Eden to us. 

Another big event was our survey trip to Australia. We have been praying about this trip for years, and God opened the door for us to go at the exact time He wanted us there. Several weeks ago, Simeon wrote a post telling all about our trip and God's call on our future. Read it HERE. We are so thankful for God's clear guidance and direction in showing both Sim and I that He would have us serve Him in the city of Paramatta, NSW, Australia. Many decisions lie ahead, but we know that God is faithful and He will lead as we follow Him.

Simeon has now been with Cellular Sales for one year. This job has been such a blessing for our family, and it is one that Simeon absolutely loves! He has had the opportunity to take on some leadership/mentoring rolls the past few months. He enjoys getting to train new hires and assist them as they begin with the company. I am still working part time as a Mary Kay office assistant and as a piano teacher. Both allow me a lot of flexibility with my schedule and lots of time taking care of my home, husband, and baby girl.

We are enjoying being a part of all that God is doing at the Temple Baptist Church. Simeon and I are a part of the choir, and we have recently began working with the Collegians for Christ ministry at the University of Tennessee campus. It has been so encouraging to see the students devotion to Christ and desire to reach their peers. We know this is great preparation for us as we will one day be the university town of Paramatta, NSW, Australia! We are also very involved serving in our Sunday School class. I have the opportunity to play the piano, and Simeon enjoys sharing the missions updates from time to time.

2017 looks to be another exciting year for our family! Many great things lie ahead, and we can't wait to see all that God has in store. We have been so blessed by all the amazing people God has put into our lives, and we thank you for your love and prayers for our family. We hope that you and your loved ones have a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in 2017!

All for His Glory,
Brettnay Brazzell

Aaaaand....We're Back!

Well, we’ve been back for about a month now, but I assure you we've been very busy.

First, I'd like to thank every one of you who prayed for us as we were away. We had a great time with some new Aussie friends, and more importantly we were able to get some clarification as to what the Lord would have us to do. God is good. Brettnay and Eden stayed healthy throughout all the traveling! We could not have had a better time with the Hullana's and the Marshall's during our stay in Australia.

The Hullana Family

Eaj and Doris Agatep

Our first week was spent with Hernan and Azariah Hullana in the Sydney area. They are Aussie born, not missionaries, so it was great to get their perspective. We spent most of our time tagging along with the Hullana's and helping in their ministry in whatever ways we could be of assistance. We had the opportunity to sing, and I preached once as well. The Hullana's opened their home to us, which was our immense pleasure as spending time with the kids was a riot! We did a few tourist type things as well, but obviously, that was not the focus of this trip. Mainly, we just wanted to experience the people, culture, and most importantly the spiritual need of the area. All those desires were met thanks to the help of the Hullana's and a few other of his friends and staff, namely Eaj Agatep and his lovely wife Doris.

Joe Marshall and Tony Evans

Our second week was spent in the Brisbane area with the Marshall family. Joe and Mellissa Marshall are missionaries from the States who have spent the last several years in Australia in various parts of the country. They have an obvious heart for the people of Australia but more specifically for the quickly growing area of Brisbane. One of the things I most enjoyed about this portion of our trip is that Bro. Marshall took me out one day just to show me all the places where homes are being built in the area. He and another gentleman I'll mention in a minute talked for hours about how many people will be moving right to that ministry's backyard! A great work is ready to be begun if only people will get excited about it, and pray that the Lord send forth laborers into His harvest. I also had the unique experience of meeting a missionary to Japan named Tony Evans (the gentleman I just mentioned) while attending the missions conference at the Marshall's church in Brisbane. Bro. Evans is an Australian born man who has spent the last 25 years ministering in Japan with his wife and family. He also had his daughter along who was a real blessing as well. We've since stayed in touch and I look forward to corresponding with him for many years to come.

The main thing I'd like to speak to in this update, however, is what we believe the Lord has done in our hearts in recent days. Although we'd love to go to every place we had an opportunity to see, we know the Lord has something very specific for us. We believe the Lord wants us in the city of Parramatta, NSW, Australia. Parramatta is a major suburb of Sydney and is a business hub as well as a university town. There are quite a few businesses that call Parramatta their headquarters. As such there is a busy hustle about the place. There's also a large student populous as there are a few universities as well. When we visited with the Hullana's, at first, we were a bit surprised by the size of the "small town" we were visiting. One of the main things that affected me was the many similarities I noted to a little place called Knoxville, TN. It wasn't long before I could hear the still small voice speaking to me letting me know that this was the place. It's a university town, there's a populous business district, and there are beautiful landscapes and sculptures everywhere. Those things are great, but the truth is I didn't even take many pictures (one of the things I regret). I was too busy looking at all the people around who had probably never once heard that Jesus loved them and died for them. Pastor Hullana probably thought I wasn't listening to him as he told me about the population, the area, and the work he'd like to see done there as I was so distracted by what was going on in my heart. Shortly after we got back and were in private, I told Brettnay that I thought that it was the place.

We've taken several weeks to pray, consult with our pastor, and try to get ready for this baby to arrive. Brettnay and I wanted to be sure that this is what the Lord wanted for us before we announced anything publicly. So here it is, Brettnay and I will be going to the city of Parramatta as missionaries for as long as the Lord would have us be there. I do not have specifics on how soon any of this will take place, where exactly in the city we will live and minister, or even what will be our first focus when we get there. I know that the Lord has all those answers. For right now, thanks to the advice of our pastor and parents, we'll be taking things slow and having this baby girl first. We have corresponded with people back in Australia to keep communication open with everyone involved. 

We’ve got a long way to go, and a lot of decisions to make in the next few months regarding deputation, boards, travels, church meetings, mission conferences, etc. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we pray and work through these things. I've attached a link here to all the pictures we took while we were there. Some of them are here in the blog, but I knew many of you would want to see them all. Thanks again for your prayers.

And We're Off!

Psalm 32:8 

"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye."

As we are just a few hours away from boarding the plane and heading to Australia, my mind thinks back to the years we have spent praying and planning for this trip. God has been so good to Simeon and I as He had led us to this point in our lives. From the beginning, our call has been sure, but there have been many unknown details concerning our future and our ministry plans. Our prayer is that God will use this trip to speak to our hearts and give us clear direction as to what the next step for our family is. 

Our hearts are filled with excitement at the ministry opportunities that we will have while we are visiting in Sydney and Brisbane! The Hullana's (pastor of the Southland Baptist Church) have an exciting, expanding work going in Sydney! We will get to be involved in soul-winning outreach and their youth ministry. We will also get to visit the site of their new church building project. We will be with Joe & Melissa Marshall in Brisbane (missionaries). They are doing a great work at newer church plant, and we get to help and participate in their church's first missions conference. We will also be involved in music, teaching, and preaching. 

We have been so encouraged by each of you that have let us know that you are praying for us! There is nothing like knowing our brothers and sisters in Christ are praying for us along this journey! God's presence has been so real to us through this endeavor, and it is in large part to the faithful prayers of our family and friends!

Specific Prayer Requests

• Safety as we travel
• Filling of the Holy Spirit as we minister to others and seek to be a blessing to the families we will be staying with
• Continued health for me during my pregnancy and for our baby, Eden
• God will give us clear direction as we seek His will

All for His Glory,

Brettnay