Kaya’s Perspective: We first met in November of 2024 at a series of gospel meetings at North Street. Ekrem started attending with mutual friends of mine, so we were introduced to each other quickly. My first impression of him was that he was very handsome and probably a troublemaker, so for the first few months I didn’t invest in getting to know him. He was incredibly friendly and seemed to get along with everyone, which made it easy to see why people were drawn to him. Every time the two of us spoke, Ekrem would make me laugh, and I enjoyed talking to him, but I thought he probably made every girl laugh and I didn’t want to get too close. However, when Ekrem got saved in November, I was very excited and intrigued by whether or not he would take his faith seriously because that was the most important thing to me. Ekrem’s Perspective: I first remember meeting Kaya at a fire hosted at a mutual friend’s house. We had all made hot chocolate to drink, and everyone had a different mug. Kaya looked at my mug and asked me to trade mugs with her because she liked mine better. I thought that was very unusual because I didn’t know her, and it was my first time meeting her. I couldn’t say no to her when I looked at her because she was so cute. That was the moment I began to be very intrigued by her. After that day, I started paying a lot of attention to her. I noticed myself being at a loss for words every time I talked to her (which was so unusual for me), and sometimes I would stutter. I thought she thought I was boring at first. I also thought that she was too good for me, and that I needed to become a better person before I tried to pursue her.

Kaya’s Perspective: I quickly began to see that he cared a lot about Jesus Christ and the Word of God, so I eventually decided that I wanted to get to know him more. I slowly started to look forward to the small conversations we had on Sunday mornings, and when January came around and everyone started making plans to go to the Ottawa conference in February, I heard him say he would take his van. I immediately told myself I would be going with him, and it would be the perfect chance to get to know him. That weekend, I very quickly realized my first impression of him was completely wrong. He was not a troublemaker. To me, he seemed like an angel. He was so kind and carefree. He was fun, too, and his music taste was great. I remember the two of us sitting in the back seat, singing our hearts out to Karma Chameleon. After that song, I put my head on his shoulder, which was very flirtatious of me. After the conference, I remember calling my mom and saying that he was like the better version of me, same sense of humor but funnier, free-spirited but completely without stress or anxiety, enjoying every moment… everything I want to be. We were inseparable that whole weekend, and I certainly expected him to ask me on a date when we got home. However, he did not. For two months. I resolved to get over my silly crush, but my resolve wasn’t as strong as I thought. It was hard when he was so funny. Luckily, on April 17th, he asked me on a date. We shared a pizza and had an amazing night. He misunderstood something I said about marriage and thought I had told him I never wanted to get married, but he decided he would do his best to convince me otherwise. I needed no convincing, and in fact, I knew that night that I would marry him. Ekrem’s Perspective: I realized that the more I tried to impress her and make her laugh, the worse I made it. So I decided to just start being myself around her, which was hard because she made me so nervous. I heard about a conference in Ottawa, and I decided to take my van. I really hoped she would come with me. When I asked who she was going with, she said, “You!” At that moment, I felt overwhelmed with butterflies, and I could feel my face turning red. I was so happy to hear her say that. When I picked her and Louise up on the morning of our road trip, I was so excited that she sat in the front with me. As I was getting to know her more and more during that car ride, I began to fall in love with her. We sang our hearts out to different songs for hours, probably annoying everyone else in the car, but I didn’t care because I was with her and we were having fun. When she put her head on my shoulder, I turned into a statue and didn’t move a muscle because I thought if I didn’t move, she would forget that her head was on my shoulder, and I could cherish the moment for as long as possible. At that moment, I thought she was an angel sent from heaven. She was so pure-hearted, kind, and sweet. I was also scared, because this meant she had made her move, and I would either have to pursue her or reject her. I thought to myself, I’m not ready, and I’ll just end up hurting her. So I tried to keep her at a distance because I didn’t want to pursue her and then have to leave her. After that trip, I had many meetings with the elders of the church. I was very curious and had many questions about God. At this point, I stopped thinking so much about Kaya, and I started focusing on Jesus and trying to get closer to Him. But after about two months, I couldn’t hold back anymore. I decided I would just pursue her and try my best to live up to the standard I felt she deserved. In April, we started to spend some time alone together, and our relationship began. She was an inspiration for me in how a Christian should live out their life, even in the small things. She really showed me the fruits of the Spirit through the way she lived her life.

We have been so blessed in our relationship. There have been many moments when it has been revealed to us that our success as a couple is guided and sustained by God. It seems like He is always teaching us the same lessons at the same time. Specifically, He has taught us that we can’t be the source of each other’s happiness, only He can be. As well, we have begun to learn (and we are sure we will spend the rest of our lives learning) that we need to live a life surrendered to Him and trust Him for the big and the small things. We learn so much about each other and about Him through every trial. The closer we draw to our Father in Heaven, the better our relationship is. We believe that the purpose of our relationship is to glorify Him and to be a picture of Jesus Christ and His bride, the Church. Though we fall from that often, His mercies are new every day. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.” – Matthew 6:33 (CSB)