Robertson, WC, South Africa | April 18, 2026 Greenville, SC, USA | May 2, 2026

We first met in October 2023. Christian was in the middle of his first budget season as Country Director at the Samaritan’s Purse office in South Sudan. Joanna was on her first trip with Samaritan’s Purse to support the team in Juba. The setting wasn’t exactly romantic - lots of meetings, logistics, and formalities, but in our spare time we both joined a group hike up Jebel Mountain and spent some time playing games with mutual friends. A few days after Joanna’s departure, a message from Chris on Instagram sparked a budding friendship across time zones. In January 2024, we saw each other again when Joanna unexpectedly returned to Juba for a six-week work visit. Shortly after that trip, she accepted a long-term position in South Sudan, a decision that neither of us expected , and, honestly, took some time to process. A hiking date in April wrongly convinced both parties that the other wasn’t interested, and when Joanna officially moved to Juba in June, we found ourselves unsure of how to move forward. From June to August we maintained a cordial but slightly awkward friendship. Then, in September 2024, everything changed. That’s when we met Bakita – a young girl who had just survived a horrific assault and arrived at church gravely injured. She was battling sepsis from her wounds when her friend brought her to us seeking help. In the weeks that followed, we visited the hospital every single day, advocating for her care, praying over her, and walking through a traumatic season together supporting Bakita and her young sisters. Caring for Bakita was a heart wrenching but clarifying time, showing us how naturally we worked together when our lives were aligned serving Jesus. We saw each other’s strengths – deep empathy, steady support, prayerful presence – and something more than friendship began to take shape. In the middle of the brokenness, we discovered what it meant to walk side by side in both purpose and compassion. A few busy weeks passed, including another budget season, evacuating Bakita to Kenya for surgery, and individually praying through how to move forward. Eventually, Chris mustered up the courage to share his feelings with Joanna (thankfully, she felt the same !), and we officially started dating on October 5, 2024.

In South Sudan, Samaritan’s Purse staff live together on a compound two blocks from the White Nile River . We share the base with about 30 other expats who have answered the call to serve Jesus in South Sudan. Our commute to work every day is less than a five-minute walk from our rooms to the office. We share meals, celebrate birthdays together, and look out for one another when we get sick. It’s a vibrant community of fellow believers , and the friends we’ve made there are the forever kind. They’ve counselled and cared for both of us as we’ve grown closer together. In March, conflict broke out in South Sudan , and Joanna was evacuated to Nairobi along with a number of other expats, while Chris remained behind. The team remained out of the country for over a month. It was a challenging time in more ways than one. It was the longest we had been apart, and the situation in Juba was pretty stressful. Leaving Chris in the middle of it was frightening not only for us, but for friends and families as well. Joanna made the most of it in Nairobi, where Samaritan’s Purse has an office. She also spent a weekend in Eldoret, where Bakita and her sisters were getting English lessons from a tutor. After many interviews and lots of exploring, she was able to find a Christian boarding school for the girls. This school has turned out to be a wonderful place for them and a clear answer to prayer. At the end of April, we travelled to the US together to meet Joanna’s family and for Chris to attend a conference at the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters. We did a road trip from Florida, through Georgia, up to South Carolina where her family lives, before heading to the conference. From buying batteries at a Dollar General, to eating at Sonny’s BBQ, to going to a rodeo in the Smoky Mountains, Joanna made sure Chris had a proper induction to Southern American culture. After another few months of work in South Sudan, we travelled to South Africa. We visited Chris’s family and Joanna received many history lessons about Dutch settlers, British colonialism, and Nelson Mandela. Joanna loves a good museum, too, so we’re obviously a great match. Near the end of the trip, Chris arranged a “surprise” picnic on the beach. Joanna did a great job acting shocked when Chris dropped to one knee and popped the question … AND she said yes ! … to going to a Springbok rugby game … well, after she said yes to marrying Chris. Our story hasn’t followed a script. It’s been shaped by serving Jesus in dark places, stepping out in faith , and navigating some unexpected turns. But it has been clear from the beginning that God was going ahead of us long before we knew. We’ve seen love grow not only in shared interests or adventures but in shared burdens and callings. We’ve continued to serve together with Samaritan’s Purse in South Sudan where we work to support our teams responding to refugees fleeing war in Sudan and internally displaced people affected by flooding and conflict. After marriage, we plan to continue serving the Lord together with Samaritan’s Purse .