Gio and I continued to talk to each other…nearly every day. I found myself hanging on her every word, enthralled by her sense of purpose and vision.

I was inspired by her love for children and youth, I was impressed by her dedication to her work, and I admired her persistence in walking out the path God laid out before her.

We texted daily and connected over video calls once a week. The time difference is 11-12 hours, depending on the presence of daylight savings time – making video calls a bit challenging to coordinate. But it was always worth the effort.

A few months after we began this routine I believe we both saw potential for something deeper than friendship – but we knew the next step was meeting in person. I had never left U.S. soil (unless you count Canada – I don’t), and I had dreamed of traveling to another country for most of my adult life. But the burden of finances and work schedule had kept me from pursuing that dream until now.

With a vision in mind, we set a goal: I would travel to Indonesia to visit Gio and meet her family in April of 2024. This gave me roughly 9 months to save up money. We planned for a budget of around $2,500. This might seem like a small amount to some, but for me – a self-employed single man living nearly paycheck to paycheck – it was a lofty, albeit exciting challenge to overcome. But neither of us were worried. We knew this was the direction God wanted to take us, so we thanked God for His future provision and carried on.

It wasn’t long before the first answer to prayer came. Within weeks of our decision I received a reimbursement check in the mail. Apparently, several years ago, I had been paying too much for my health insurance premiums and the company sent me a check for over $500.

Soon after, an old friend reached out to me with a wedding videography job that would bring in another $500. Several other odd jobs, money-making opportunities and bonuses came in over the following weeks. By the end of 2023 I had already met our proposed budget! God is so good.

During this process my mother caught onto the exciting prospect of traveling and joined our plans to visit Indonesia. Having her join me for the excessively long flight was a blessing and it fostered an environment for Gio to feel safer her first time meeting me. So my mom and I ordered our plane tickets, packed our bags and set out for the trip of a lifetime.

After all, it was my first time leaving the States – and you can’t get much farther than Indonesia!