At the time, we were both seeing other people; however, Anthony kept me on his email distribution list over the years when he sent out photos he had taken and prayer requests.
Sometimes we would email one on one the odd time as encouragement in response to prayer requests. In the spring of 2010, we started communicating via email more one on one since we both learned that our previous relationships had ended and we were no longer seeing anyone.
Anthony, an avid photographer, asked me if I was going to the local jazz festival in July. I said I was a volunteer and would be there, and if I saw a tall man with a Nikon camera around his neck, I would come and introduce myself.
Up to this point I had never met Anthony in person, even though we only lived 10 minutes away from each other in the same city!
Well, on July 16th, 2010, which happened to be Anthony's birthday AND my born again birthday (on July 16th, 1981, I gave my heart to the Lord), I did see a tall man with a Nikon camera. I went over and introduced myself and sure enough, it was Anthony.
We exchanged pleasantries and went on our way. Well, Anthony emailed me thereafter and eventually I decided to invite him to a music gala event in August which was our first 'official' date.
He accepted my invitation and the rest is history.
We were engaged December 26th, 2010 and married October 8th, 2011.
Carolyn-clancy620 {Ontario} & Anthony-anthony353 {Ontario} January 2012
I lived in Ohio and he in Australia. Four months later we decided to meet in person.
In July of 2010, my daughter and I flew to Australia to meet Colin and his family. It has been a long journey but when GOD is in it, it is an awesome journey and ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!
Seventeen months later on November 5, 2011 we were married. We are all now living in Australia.
Thank you for being a singles site that keeps true Christian values, morals and standards. Technology CAN be used for good.
Sheryl-sunshine8275 {Ohio} & Colin-colin449 {Victoria, Australia} January 2012
Our Lord answered my prayers in very short order.
ChristianCafe.com was new to me; in fact it came up on my screen while I was doing my email. This was a tool used by God. Given the fact that I had ten days free time, I went ahead and filled out my profile.
A wink came back to me right away. From there things progressed fast.
We were married Jan 1, 2010 in my daughter's living room in Chattanooga, TN. We just celebrated our 2nd anniversary, two years of bliss. Thank you ChristianCafe.com.
We now reside in western PA. Leon has proved to be the Godly man that I asked the Lord for in my profile. We are still "on our honeymoon".
We give all praise to our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are united in all our service and activities, as we serve Him together.
We have used ChristianCafe.com many times in our testimony to others of how we came together and have encouraged others to use your website.
Thank you ChristianCafe.com for what you did for us. We are so blessed and happy, at 79 and 80 years of age. Two great grand parents acting like teenagers.
Leon-mark3089 {Tennessee} & Millie-caylyn345 {Pennsylvania} January 2012
2 years ago I met the woman of my dreams (Julie) by simply chatting one evening.
We traveled from California to Yorkshire, while she was living in the UK up until Oct of this year. After going through the Visa process (still a little more to go) we were married Nov 19th 2011.
Donald-bayareakid207 {California} & Julie {England} January 2012
We had a wonderful first encounter, and from there gradually got to know each other well by long, in depth emails over a period of nearly 3 months.
We could see that we had many things, and most importantly our serious Christian faiths in common, and we soon graduated to Skype IM and then Skype for real!
We met for the first time at Cardiff Airport arrivals lounge at the end of June 2010, and enjoyed a lovely few weeks together. Following a number of UK visits by Cliff, Redhead110 holidayed in the US over New Year 2010/11 where we got engaged in Central Park in a snow storm in early January 2011.
We got married on October 8th 2011 in Cardiff, Wales, UK and are now living together as husband and wife in Cardiff.
We praise God for bringing us together, and are immensely thankful to ChristianCafe.com for your quality service that God used to accomplish this.
Cliff-chap721 {New York} & Jenny-redhead110 {Wales} January 2012
Doug and I began corresponding with each other five years ago, thanks to ChristianCafe.com. He was a forester/mine reclamation specialist in central PA, and I was an elementary school teacher in NJ, with an MA in Environmental Education.
We met for dinner in PA and secretly never wanted the evening to end (we kept ordering water just so we could be with each other!)
Our first date after that was Arbor Day, when Doug hosted a TV event announcing the progress made with bringing back the nearly extinct American chestnut tree to the forests of PA.
I motivated my students and their parents to get involved in the project, and we planted 200 trees in NJ.
We had so many similarities and interests in common that, of course, falling in love was natural.
We were married in September of 2011 and have ChristianCafe.com to thank for facilitating the connection that only God could have planned. Yes, He works through the internet, and any way He chooses!
How blessed we are! Many thanks to your website for making this possible. God does have plans for each of us - "a plan to help us and not to harm us, a plan to give us HOPE and a future".
Darlene-gaplady274 {New Jersey} & Doug-moshannon664 {Pennsylvania} January 2012
Being an Asian Indian, it went without saying that I would have an "arranged marriage".
In 2003 I moved to the US. After years of looking around, my parents could not find anybody "suited" for me and three years ago they gave me permission to date / court.
After several months of being on ChristianCafe.com, I stumbled on Philip's profile. He had set up a profile for the trial period. Since we lived barely 70 miles from each other, we decided to meet for coffee and then went on a few dates.
I was instantly attracted to his quiet, endlessly patient, intelligent, and honest personality. And as my friend said, it didn't hurt that he is super-cute.
We both had a deep, long-standing love for God, which was, in reality, the bridge that helped traverse the great difference in our backgrounds.
We were married in October 2011. Being his wife and sharing his home has tremendously increased my admiration for him. He is the personification of everything that is noble, kind, and godly - in essence, everything I had dared to hope for in a guy.
Who would've guessed that a South Indian girl and a Louisiana boy who grew up thousands of miles away on different continents in different cultures would meet and fall in love one day. In God's plan and in His time, nothing is impossible.
ChristianCafe.com played a very vital role in being a conduit for God's mysterious working in our lives. And for that, I thank you.
Anita-ameliamay395 {Louisiana} and Philip-philip271 {Louisiana} January 2012
We have met in June, mostly through the forums, and got married on November 14th.
We both are extremely grateful for finding each other, for fellowship on ChristianCafe.com and we could not imagine how we would have met was it not for this website.
Erika-username680 {Indiana} & Howard-wildatheart135 {Florida} January 2012If it weren't for Sydney, Verna and ChristianCafe.com, we wouldn't be here and married!! I think of you and Verna often, and miss being at the Cafe.
My 5 years as a prayer warrior on the prayer page was such an important part of my spiritual growth and I took each responsibility of prayer very seriously. Nothing pleases me more than the blessing of being able to encourage people in the Lord (and in themselves).
So many hopeless, hurting, lonely people there and I was honored to be able to do the Lord's work and fellowship with so many other believers. I'm still in touch with many of them today!
I also loved that your site wasn't exclusively for dating. I mean it is, but my point is there was real opportunity for prayer, as well as I made lots of friends with other women!
Allen and I were just talking this morning about the other, so called "Christian" sites and how there is no comparison to ChristianCafe.com. The commitment you have to keeping ChristianCafe.com "truly Christian", by setting real Christian guidelines, is what sets you above and apart from the rest.
It's why there is so much success in marriage from ChristianCafe.com and how the marriages grow deeper in Christ because of its pure foundation.
So, I wanted to take this opportunity to say "Thank You!" from Allen and me, and Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family! If it weren't for the birth of our Saviour, we wouldn't be here today! Much love and many blessings in the new year!
Kathleen-kathleen865 {Florida} & Allen-keitolife338 {California} January 2012
[Editor's note: See November 2009 testimonial for Kathleen and Allen's marriage announcement]
Nine months ago I met the most wonderful godly woman on ChristianCafe.com and we got married 12/21/2011. A truly happy ending. Thanks ChristianCafe.com!
Mark-repguy200 {Alabama} January 2012It was a difficult decision in some ways (was I showing a lack of faith in God? was I trying to 'force God's hand?), but I decided in the end that I would join in an attitude of submission to God.
I don't mean that I had a message from God about it - I didn't - but I joined with this kind of prayer: 'Lord, I think you have a partner for me, but with my job it's hard to meet someone, so if you can use this website to help me meet the person who's your choice for me, that'd be grand; if not, or if I've misunderstood, I accept that too.'.
So I joined, and I had email conversations with several people. I met up with a couple of people - one was lovely and remains a friend (he met his lovely now-wife on ChristianCafe.com!).
Now I'm married to a really great Christian man and we're well suited and I know it's God's plan for us both. But I didn't meet him on ChristianCafe.com, so why am I writing?! Because my time on ChristianCafe.com gave me some confidence and helped my outlook. I can't meet people in my job in Christian ministry, because everyone I meet, I have a pastoral responsibility for - so how on earth was I ever to get even a date?!
Enter... ChristianCafe.com. Going on some dates/meet-ups with people I met on ChristianCafe.com helped me to meet some nice people and gave me confidence and basic dating experience. It made me more aware of what I needed in a partner, and things I would and wouldn't be able to cope with. When I finally met my now-husband, I was able to have the confidence in myself and the self-esteem to be relaxed, wait to see how he treated me (no more sitting longing for the phone to ring! I only wanted someone who would phone if he said he would - no games!).
I am really thankful for my time with ChristianCafe.com - not because it brought me my soulmate etc. (though I'm grateful for the friendship I still have because of it), but because it gave me hope, confidence and good, safe, dating experience that helped me to be ready when God's choice of partner wandered into my life, just at God's timing.
So thank you. I hope this will encourage people to safely use your site with hearts submitted to God.
Joy-sculptingjoy683 {England} January 2012