We had the late Peter Brandon over for lunch one day during his week of ministry at our church, and he told us about his family. The Brandon family lived in London's Docklands, within the sound of Bow bells. His Dad was a boxer and also had a grocery store. His mother was a dancer. They lived above the store. There were two girls and five boys, football mad. One played for West Ham, and Peter said another of his brothers was good enough to play for England.
Their involvement with God started with Nellie, who suddenly and without any warning, became a Christian. She told her mother she had 'got saved.' 'What's that?' was the response. Mrs Brandon took the problem to her sister and said: 'Nellie's says she is converted. What does that mean?' Her sister said Nellie was in danger of losing her marbles, and needed a big shock to bring her to her senses. 'So what should I do?' 'Cut her hair short - that should do the trick.'
So Mrs Brandon took Nellie and said, 'Nellie, I think you need a big shock to get your mind working right again, so I'm going to cut your hair short (every girl had long hair in those days).' So Nellie had a haircut, but somehow it didn't work. She remained faithful to the Lord Jesus. In fact, she was so faithful that she told her sister Lily about Him, and Lily got saved too! Then the girls started praying together for their mother.
They took her to a gospel event, but she came out saying: 'Don't you ever take me to anything like that again!' But as the days went by, the words of the preacher kept coming back to her as she was dancing. Before long, Mrs B. too was converted, and she began praying for the rest of the family. One by one the boys trusted the Lord Jesus for their salvation. Said Peter: 'She prayed us in, one by one. Never give up praying for your family!'
The West Ham brother gave up football, as did the other brother who was gifted in it. They said: 'It's like another god; it goes on the altar.'
So the entire Brandon family came through. It is a great encouragement to keep on and not give up.
See Peter for yourself on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Po7UILtV0g
