Cross-Continental Courtship: A Marriage Story

by Beth Brown

“This is the story of how an Alabama boy living in Kuwait met a Taiwanese-born California girl in India while both were trying to discover God’s will for life and marriage.”

So begins the latest Marry Well success story!

We recently heard from Brandon and Amy and think their path to marriage showcases how this community works in a unique and God-glorifying way. In spite of being on different sides of the world and having seemingly mismatched life and career goals, God had marriage in mind for them.

Brandon tells the story of their Marry Well encounter on their blog — aptly titled, “Cross-Continental Courtship Christ-Centered Covenant.” And I really appreciated Brandon’s candor about persevering through some initial rejections. God’s plan for him took some time to unfold before he connected with Amy.

Their process of connecting and involving friends, family, and their church — in a beautiful mix of online and real world situations — is what we hope and pray will happen for each Marry Well member. Take a minute to read a portion of their story here and the rest on their blog.

How do I begin to tell our story, but from the beginning? Of course, in the case of a marriage there are always two beginnings that reach back beyond the lives of the two people who are joining with one another in the God-Glorifying-Covenant-of-Marriage. It encompasses the decisions made by our parents and grandparents before us. My mother, for example, faithfully prayed for my wife-to-be for over a decade before I met Amy. Yet, such a story would take too long to tell, so I will simply start with my joining of the Marry Well website.

I noticed an advertisement for the site while reading an article on The Art of Manliness website. Feeling rather single at the moment, I clicked. Who would have known where that simple click would lead? I appreciated the Marry Well site’s approach to finding a spouse on-line or off and decided to give it a try. Yet, fear of becoming too distracted with an online community gave me pause so I didn’t sign up for the site. Until I received an email from the Marry Well administration begging me to join as the male-to-female ratio was 1 to 4. Considering the ratio of single men-to-women in Huntsville is about 2-to-1, possibly higher in Christian circles, I decided it might be worth the $90 to join the site for life.

The months went on as winter gave to spring and then summer and I had a few potential relationships not come to fruition on the site. Also, during this time many things were changing in my life, the greatest of these was my preparing to move to Kuwait for my job. Right before I went to Kuwait, while still licking my wounded ego from recent rejection, I mustered up the courage to send a message to Amy. I had noticed her profile months before, but I felt that she would have little interest in me as I wasn’t in vocational ministry. Yet, having been recently turned down I decided that I had nothing to lose. So I sent the message. And she responded.

A couple of weeks later I found myself driving through the desert sands of Kuwait for my new job every morning and sending messages to Amy every night. Messages suddenly turned into online video chats and the weeks flew by as we grew to know each other.

November was approaching and Amy was preparing to go on a mission trip to India. It would be the closest the two of us have been together since we started talking to each other. I knew that meeting in person would confirm our growing interest in each other, or quickly show us that there was no possibility. So as I pondered asking Amy if I could meet her in India, I was pleasantly surprised to get a message from her, asking if I’d like to join her and the team for a few days at the end of their trip. Was this a sign?

This testimony brought to mind several online conversations I’ve had with Marry Well members who were reluctant to consider connecting with people outside a certain geographic area; or with people who were or were not involved in a certain ministry vocation they felt called to. Brandon and Amy are a perfect example of God overcoming significant factors in our lives to steer us in surprising directions.

And just a final note of encouragement to the Marry Well ladies — the women to men ratio is now 2 to 1 with new men joining every week!

1. betsyeileen said the following on December 20, 2011 at 8:17 pm

   

   Great story–thanks! Congratulations to Brandon & Amy, and glory to God!
2. kristennicole said the following on December 20, 2011 at 9:05 pm

   

   Loved reading this story!! Congrats and blessings to Brandon and Amy!! This makes me smile.
3. Erin said the following on December 21, 2011 at 12:14 am

   

   Congratulations! I love hearing how God works in people’s lives and each and every story is handwritten by God. Blessings on your new life together!
4. adeline said the following on December 21, 2011 at 6:41 am

   

   Great! – Another beautiful MW engagement story.

   The song by Hillsong “Potter’s Hand” came to mind as I read this story – “I know for sure that all of our days are held in your hands and crafted into your perfect plans”

   Congratulations my friends! May God bless the both of you richly as you plan to take the step into marriage..
5. Gene said the following on December 21, 2011 at 10:43 am

   

   That’s a really awesome story! Thanks Brandon and Amy for sharing. It’s been cool to know that there are a few other people on here that are outside the US. I definitely believe that anything is possible with God, so I try to not allow what I think is or is not possible to get in the way, but to simply step out in faith and trust Jesus every step of the way.
6. jonathanarm said the following on December 21, 2011 at 5:18 pm

   

   Congratulations and thank you for sharing your story!
7. LilyOfTheValley said the following on December 21, 2011 at 6:42 pm

   

   Congratulations! Thank you for sharing with all of us.
8. syntyche said the following on December 21, 2011 at 9:10 pm

   

   Cool! They look like a really silly and fun couple from their pictures. It’s great to have another engagement anecdote shared – thank you!

   It’s a great story, but I have to say I didn’t get the surmounting adversity that was implied in the post. Did it seem like they had to jump through many logistical hoops, like dealing with time zones and the like; definitely! But it seemed to me the biggest obstacle (at least from his POV) was fear. Maybe those elements were there, but just not talked about?

   • This testimony brought to mind several online conversations I’ve had with Marry Well members who were reluctant to consider connecting with people outside a certain geographic area; or with people who were or were not involved in a certain ministry vocation they felt called to. •

   Interesting… That actually surprises me. I can see in regards to missions, but don’t people generally have compatible, but different ministries? Is that really the norm to look for someone in the same ministry as you? I also wonder why someone would assume that where someone is is where they want to be without inquiring further. So it’s great to see not only this couple, but all the highlighted couples, because in the majority of cases they have been varying lengths of long-distance.

   Thanks Again and congrats to the couple!
9. blhardy said the following on December 22, 2011 at 12:13 am

   

   Congratulations Brandon and Amy! This is definitely encouraging, especially for those of us not living in North America!
10. boundlessgirl said the following on December 22, 2011 at 1:06 am

    

    Many congrats to Brandon & Amy~! It is wonderful hearing how God truly writes these love stories~!
11. BonnieJean said the following on December 22, 2011 at 11:58 am

    

    Congratulations! This story seems kind of unlikely in some ways, but it seems like God works that way much of the time! When people meet and connect this way, it does seem like only God could have done it . Blessings!
12. Bethany said the following on December 22, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    

    Congratulations! Happy for you both.
13. 4HisGlory said the following on December 22, 2011 at 11:05 pm

    

    Congratulations! This is a really encouraging story. I really think that it takes two committed and God-honoring people in order for something like that to work out. If one person is hesitant about the distance, it just won’t work out. Hope it blesses people out there to pursue long-distance after all.
14. Henry said the following on December 23, 2011 at 5:53 pm

    

    Hi Brandon,

    God bless you on your engagement to Amy. Your perseverance in overcoming your prior rejection is inspirational. I pray that you will have a fruitful and God-honoring marriage with Amy.

    Blessings,
    Henry