Sent by Jonathan Benedict • Apr 23, 2023

Everyone dreams that one day they will meet that one partner with whom they will journey together for the rest of their life. I started with a prayer. Not constantly, but occasionally, I would ask the LORD for a partner/wife who would meet a few criteria according to the order:

1. She loves the LORD with all her heart and soul.
2. She loves every one of her family members.
3. She takes good care of her well-being.
4. She loves and cherishes her future husband.

Those were my constant prayers over the years. Fast forward to 2019, the year when my attention was drawn to one of the ministry partners in the Bahasa Congregation. We had been serving together in the ministry since 2014 and worked together on different BM ministries and projects. Never once did I see her as more than a ministry partner.

I did not rush and confess my feelings to her directly, but I asked GOD to give me confirmation. I told myself that I could not simply just ask her because I knew that she was from the Lunbawang tribe, a tribe that had experienced the Spiritual Revival in Ba’kelalan. I was fearful that the LORD might punish me if I was not serious.

As the years went by, I continued serving with her in the Bahasa Ministry, prayed with her, and occasionally just spent some time catching up with her about ministry and life. In 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we worked even more closely together, helping out in the ministry via online service and video editing. We started to share our life experiences, things we had never shared before such as aspirations, goals in life, hopes, and dreams.

Until one fateful day, she asked me a specific question: “Is there anyone you’re eyeing in the congregation?” I was taken aback quite a bit because she does not ask these types of questions. I then said: “Yes, there is, but you have to guess who it is.”

She tried, but in the end, she did not manage to get any clue. From this experience, I prayed and asked GOD again. If she is the right person, open all doors. If it’s not her, then close every opportunity. By this time, I had shared with a few church leaders who were already married and I asked them to pray together with me, and I listened to their advice.

It happened again the following week. She asked me the same question. A few days later, after being asked the second time, I prayed even harder, asking the LORD to lead me if she was the right one. On the same day, I prayed for guidance, and she asked me again the same question, and on that same day, I finally told her that it was her all this while.

She was flabbergasted and did not know how to react because she had never once thought it was her that I had prayed for all these years. I told her to just pray about it and let the Lord lead her, and we ended that conversation by praying together. I was prepared for whatever answer she would give, and I would not regret it.

After a few months of consideration, advice and prayers, at her birthday dinner, I got my answer. It was a few nods and a voice saying ‘Yes.’ She then shared one of the prayers she made a few years back during the Mount Murud Annual Prayer, which is the same year I started to take notice of her. It was about her prayer asking the LORD for the right partner. We both were amazed at how GOD had brought us close together over the years to that moment.

We both support each other in work, ministry and prayer, and the LORD has done great things in our lives and families. I believe that when anyone seeks GOD’s will in their life, He will reveal and bless beyond our understanding, making us a vessel of blessing to others. We got engaged in December 2022 and are eagerly anticipating our big day, which will be our wedding in her hometown of Long Semadoh.