About 10 years ago, I had an encounter with God.

That encounter gave me a conviction that He had called me to missions, and that I should spend the next 10 years of my life preparing for the mission field.

A part of wrestling through that call was surrendering some things to God that I felt I really wanted, including wanting to stay in Singapore and wanting many children of my own!

Nevertheless, as I surrendered these things to God, He gave me a clear vision of what He had called me to do and work on over the next 10 years (on hindsight, I am proud to say that as much as possible, I have been obedient to that calling for preparation!).

… the price of obedience meant that I honestly had little hope of finding a life partner here in Singapore

However, the price of obedience meant that I honestly had little hope of finding a life partner here in Singapore, because I wouldn’t even consider dating anyone who did not have a similar call to missions!

Statistically, that dwindled the chances of finding the right person — and I was okay with that.

However, God knew my heart. And as I walked with Him, He directed an amazing woman onto my path who also had her own call to missions. This is our story.

My wife, Natasha and I are from the same church, Bethesda Bedok-Tampines Church (BBTC).

However, even though both of us have been in BBTC for a significant amount of time and are the same age, we never had the chance to interact with one another!

Natasha has a sister, and for the longest time, I thought both sisters were the same person!

One sister was in the choir, and heavily involved in our church’s evangelistic productions, while the other was a cell leader and a lawyer. In my mind, there was this superwoman that did all these four things!

One day, when I finally met Natasha’s sister, Natalie, in person, I finally realised the error of my ways….

In order to make up for my folly, I started to be extra nice to the both of them.

I was trying to show them that I knew then, that they are two different people.

One day, I met Natalie for lunch on a public holiday before we bought lunch for Natasha, who was stuck working even on a public holiday.

That was the first time I met her in person. She came across as defensive (she thought I was trying to chase her sister) and spoke her mind — and that really attracted me!

Eventually, we started talking a bit more. I truly saw her as a friend, nothing more, simply because I assumed that a highly paid lawyer would surely not have missions on their mind!

It would only be much later when I discovered that God had placed missions on her heart as well, separately from me!

Natasha, however, knew my heart for missions early when we had dinner together one day.

I’m not one for small talk, so even though it was the first time we hung out, our conversations revolved around deep and intimate topics including life callings and our struggles.

She came to know my heart for missions then, but kept her own call to missions to herself.

I left that dinner feeling like I had met someone I could be good friends with, but God was beginning to work in both of our hearts.

While Natasha developed feelings for me earlier, I struggled with my intentions toward her as I didn’t know that she also had a calling to missions.

Nevertheless, my heart did begin to stir as we bumped into each other in church and ministry more and more.

One day, I chanced upon her attending a mission’s conference! That became a key factor in my decision to seriously consider pursuing her.

To cut the long story short, we had more deep conversations and spent more time together. Eventually, we started dating — and got married some time later!

Fun fact, we were also the very first Zoom wedding in Singapore!

Marrying Natasha has been an amazing journey.

Our marriage is a living testimony, that when we place the Master first and pursue God’s mission for our lives — He is the one who provides the perfect mate for us in this life!

I truly could not imagine marrying anyone else, for she makes me a better man and continues to inspire me to chase after God’s path for our lives.

Especially now that we have our first child (and hopefully more to come), I am so excited to bring my family into the mission fields God calls us into as we trust Him together!

My encouragement to anyone who chances upon this, is to trust that God has your best interests at heart!

Trust His timing and plans, and you will not be short-changed!