About Us

Hello, and welcome to Brande Central Station!

We're Phil & Christiana Brande, missionary teachers to the Czech Republic. We met in Moscow, Russia in 2003, and married in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2012. Our history is long & complicated & amazingly beautiful, and someday perhaps we'll write a book about it.

Phil moved to Russia in January of 1998, to teach 6th grade at Hinkson Christian Academy. He knew he was called to teach overseas; he didn't know he'd end up in Russia for 13 years. 

Christiana moved to Russia in July of 2002, and she thought she was going to serve in orphanage ministries for the rest of her life. When God moved her to Moscow in 2003, she wasn't thrilled with the change, but she knew she was called to remain in Russia.

For nearly 8 years, we served together as teachers, drama directors, youth sponsors, worship leaders, and servants in ministry, and we were never more than "just friends". When we parted ways in 2011, we both thought it was for good, and neither of us was happy with the way we'd left things.

Over the next six months, God worked in both of our hearts & lives, and brought us back into communication with one another in January of 2012. We knew we didn't want to go forward without one another, so we were engaged by March & married by August.

We were eager to return to international ministry, but there was just one problem - we didn't know where we were supposed to serve. Phil knew he'd been called out of Russia; Christiana knew she had been called into a new ministry role with our sending organization, RCE. We ended up remaining in the US for an extended home assignment while we waited on the Lord to lead us to our next destination.

In November of 2012, we accepted new positions with the Christian International School of Prague in the Czech Republic. We set about to raise the necessary support to be able to return to international service. We also began to do battle with the VISA office over the necessary documents for eventual residency permits. We arrived in Prague on Aug. 16, 2013.

The students of CISP

Mid-March of 2013, we were thrilled to discover that we were going to become parents. Rather than staying stateside for another extended assignment, we began making plans to welcome Baby B once we were in Prague. The Lord was so good to provide exactly what we needed in the way of maternity care, and just three months after we arrived, we welcomed this tiny bundle of joy:

Susanna Jane Brande arrived on Nov. 10, 2013

Each day here in Prague brings unique challenges, new learning experiences, and multiple opportunities to be Salt & Light to our community. We're excited to share this journey with you. Please remember us in your prayers!