Our Story

 

 

Here is "Our Story" that we wrote on the back of our wedding programs for our American Wedding on May 26, 2013...

 

Kind of crazy, isn’t it?  How do two 36 year old singles with a heart for Africa, who have never been married, meet and fall in love in America in such a short amount of time?  The answer is… God! Because what seems crazy to man, is just normal for God!  Our love story is not really something either of us could have dreamed up.

We were born 4 days apart, but grew up on opposite coasts; Daneen on the East Coast in PA and Joe on the West Coast in AZ.  Both of us had kind and loving parents who have been married to each other for around 40 years.  Daneen enjoyed competing in gymnastics as a child while also working hard in school to help her dreams become a reality.   Joe loved most sports, but eventually focused on basketball, learning that hard work could help him reach his goals. 

Daneen went south for college to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida while Joe went north to Dawson Community College and Rocky Mountain College in Montana.  After college Daneen headed west to take her first job as a rocket scientist at Boeing in California and then Digital Globe in Longmont, CO.  Joe moved east to coach college basketball at Northwestern State University in Louisiana and then at Charleston Southern University in Charleston, South Carolina.  We were destined to be together some day, but it wasn’t yet time.

Both of us experienced many adventures in our young adult years, from skydiving, scuba diving, white water rafting, mission trips to developing countries, and travelling the world. Joe received salvation at a very early age while Daneen made that decision as an adult. 

We both achieved success in our respective careers at very early ages; Daneen as a woman in the male dominated profession of engineering and Joe as a Division I basketball coach in the NCAA Tourney.

Both of us began feeling a call from God to go to Africa.  Joe left his coaching career to move to Kenya in 2004 to work as a teacher, coach and administrator at a school for orphans called Christ’s Gift Academy (CGA) in the district with one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in Africa (30%).  Before going to Kenya, Joe attended Mission Training International and met a couple from Longmont named Don and Kristie Drage who were also moving to Kenya. 

 
Daneen first visited Africa in 2005 on a mission trip to Kenya with LifeBridge Christian Church.  Don and Kristie Drage hosted the team in Kenya. At the time, Kristie wondered how she could get Daneen to meet this single missionary guy living out on Lake Victoria on the western side of Kenya.  It didn’t work out on that trip because it wasn’t yet God’s time.  Later, Daneen left her engineering career to volunteer with Peace Corps in Zambia and then with Invisible Children and Scripture Union in Gulu, Uganda. 

After returning from Uganda in 2011, Daneen had dinner at Don and Kristie’s house and Don mentioned this single missionary guy in Kenya.  Daneen didn’t want to hear about someone in Africa because she was now back home in America.  It still wasn’t time. 

In June 2012, Daneen felt called to move to Portland and found a job with a non-profit that was providing college scholarships to students in Africa.  When Joe came home on furlough in 2012, Don told him that when he travels through Portland he should invite this girl Daneen to listen to him share about Africa. 

Paul and Joyce Maier were hosting a small reception for Joe to connect with some old friends from around Portland. When Daneen walked through the door that night, both of our lives were forever changed.  We could ask why our paths never crossed during our younger years in the U.S., or while we were both living in Africa, but God’s timing and his way is always the best.  We don’t regret not meeting until we were 36.  Instead we are thankful that we met when we did and that we have the rest of our lives to be together.

Just two days before meeting Daneen, I told some friends that I was as content as I had ever been as a single man, and that maybe God’s plan for me was to remain single for the rest of my life.  Both of us have met so many wonderful people in our lives, but it wasn’t until we found each other that we realized what we had been waiting for all of this time.  During our adult years we have both gone through times of being very content in our singleness and other times when we just wanted to find a husband/wife.  Some days it was easy while other days it was very tough, but both of us were patient in waiting for God’s best.

That special night in Portland on October 23^rd started with a friendly hug and ended with a long discussion on the possibility of our organizations partnering together to help some CGA students with college scholarships.  That was the connection that allowed us to get together again two days later at Daneen’s work and began to build our relationship, starting with business and moving to more personal things. 

It didn’t take long to feel a connection with each other and Joe asked Daneen to come and spend some time in CA before flying back to Kenya.  After just a few days together, Daneen changed her flight back to Portland to stay longer in CA for Thanksgiving, and Joe postponed his flight back to Kenya so that he could visit her again in Portland and spend Christmas with her family in PA. 

It hasn’t been a very typical relationship.  We have only known each other for 7 months and 2 of those months we were half a world apart.  But the rest of our time together has been intense.  From our time in CA, OR, PA, Uganda, Kenya and CO we have been with each other almost every waking minute; we have seen each other through highs and lows in different settings and different seasons.  It isn’t what we would have imagined; actually it is much better because it is exactly what God had imagined.  Sure it is a little crazy, but so is leaving a successful career and moving to Africa.  When you follow God, it is sometimes crazy, but it is sure to be an adventure!

We are excited for the adventure ahead!