ABOUT US: OUR HISTORY

Psalm 71: Since my youth, O God, You have taught me, and to this day, I declare your marvelous deeds.

We met in 1992, in the fall of 7th grade. We were twelve and never would have believed that we would be married about 10 years later and leaving for the mission field...not for a million dollars. We believe that God was smiling down at that time, patiently watching His perfect plan unfold.

Kristy: I was attending Wheaton Bible Church in 1992. I remember Ben at their jr. high youth group, the Herd, at retreats and other events. He attended Blanchard Road Alliance Church with his family but often went to to my youth group with his best friend (and 10 years later, our best man), Mike Lowe. Ben says the first time he remembers me is when I stalked him and his friends at Rice Pool in Wheaton, but I deny this (at least until Ben stops making fun of my 8 th grade Easter sailor suit outfit.)

Ben: We really didn’t become good friends until high school. Kristy’s family began attending Blanchard Road Alliance and her parents became friends with my mom. (Our moms used to tease that we were going to get married. We were 15 at the time.) We also had a good high school youth group where we both got involved. Plus, we began attending Wheaton North High School , and had Freshman geometry together. She tattled on me to our teacher, but needless to say, we remained close friends.

Kristy: I will never forget the first time Ben called me. It was around Thanksgiving 1994. It wasn’t long before we became genuine best friends. After lots of church retreats, Bible studies, a family vacation together at age 16 to Sea Isle City, NJ, long walks to Dairy Queen, tons of soccer games, a mission trip to the Czech Republic in 1997, and taking me to Senior Homecoming and Prom, we started dating. That was March 28, 1998.

Ben: We had a long distance relationship all through college (1998-2002). Luckily, Purdue University and the University of IL were separated by only a 1.5 hour drive. We often visited each other and spent time back in Wheaton together. We both love to travel together so our great college memories revolve around vacations to Starved Rock IL, Vail, Maui ,Belgium, Paris, Mazatlan, and a road trip to Atlanta . By the time we were seniors, we were ready to get married.

Kristy: Ben proposed to me on January 26, 2002 in San Francisco . (He tricked me into thinking we were taking a one-day trip for his job interview!) We planned a winter wedding for January 4, 2003 (another one of the greatest days). Ben had graduated from Purdue about three weeks before that, and we knew we were moving to… Marlton , NJ !

Ben: Looking back now, we see God’s guidance at work in this entire process. The summer before we got married, I felt God calling us to be summer interns for three months, living and serving Christian high school student ministries in the Czech Republic . It had been five years since we’d been back, and it was life changing. We experienced true missionary life in Eastern Europe . We contemplated the idea of being full-time missionaries at that time, but since we were going to get married and move to NJ, we tucked the idea away in the back of our minds.

Kristy: Now it has been almost 4 years since our 1/28/03 move to South Jersey . It has been so clear that God wanted us there. Our biggest highlight has been our church, Fellowship Alliance Chapel, in Medford. Our relationship with Jesus has grown and developed in so many ways through all of their great ministries. Our love for high school students led us to be volunteer youth leaders. God blessed us richly in this time, and we are reminded how important the next stage of our lives is going to be as we trust and serve God in significantly new ways.