An Autumn Wedding in Newport, NH: Felecia & Stephen
Felecia & Stephen were married on Sunday October 4th in Newport, NH at the Tekoa Missions property. It’s a beautiful property with apple trees, large oak trees, and a majestic view of the mountains.
A bit about Felecia and Stephen.
Felecia was born in Nassau, Bahamas. Her ministry journey after high school led her to become a trained teacher, radio and television host, magazine editor, graduate instructor, mentor, and speaker. Felecia has spoken in various countries including India, Rwanda, Jamaica, and Canada, and now serves as the Special Projects Manager at the Center for Online Evangelism, a ministry focused on helping individuals and churches share the Gospel Online.
Stephen was born in South Korea and came to America at the age of 10. After high school, Stephen became involved in full time ministry, serving in various capacities including media director, lay pastor, life coach, digital marketing specialist and as a missionary in Ethiopia. He is currently the marketing director at the Center for Online Evangelism.
And how their paths crossed . . .
I’ll let Felecia tell the incredible story of their meeting. It’s a bit long, but is an amazing tale of serendipity, providence, grace, love, and a bit of luck!
In Felecia’s words:
It all started with a prayer I prayed in the latter part of 2019. My 30th birthday was coming up on January 4 and I wanted it to be special. But I was scheduled to attend and exhibit at GYC, a youth conference during the New Year.
That didn’t leave me with many options to celebrate with family and friends. So, I wanted to do something different and I asked God directly for a “birthday gift.” I decided to pray a bold, unusual prayer.
THE PRAYER
Lord, I would really like to be married soon and my 30th birthday is coming soon. Can you make the day special for me? I'd like to meet a guy who would spend my entire birthday with me, from morning and into the evening. I'd like him to engage me in intentional conversation the entire time, asking questions and getting to know me. If I meet such a guy and spend my birthday with him, I would know that he's a potential spouse. I ask in Jesus' name, Amen.
Well, needless to say, I wrote the prayer down in my prayer app (Echo) but immediately thought it was a silly prayer. I deleted the prayer. But the next day, during my devotion time I got the impression to keep praying and not limit God. So I continued praying...
However, by the time New Year's day came, I completely forgot about the prayer.
December 31 to January 5, I was scheduled to attend GYC. The first day of the event went great! But the second day, I arrived late to lunch only to realize they ran out of rice. I stood at the food table contemplating what to do. Since I had a booth to manage, I thought it would be better to get lunch elsewhere than to wait for the rice.
As I turned to leave, a gentleman standing in line behind me said, “I think you should wait for the rice.” So I decided to wait a few more minutes along with a dozen others.
But when they started to leave, I turned to the gentleman and said that I think it’s better for me to get food somewhere else. Strangely, he kept insisting that I wait. “This is going to be the best rice you’ve ever had! It will be worth the wait, I promise!” he exclaimed.
More than 30 minutes later, everyone had left, the lunch hall was completely empty and I was still standing at the food table (hungry and now irritated because I felt like I wasted my lunch hour). But this man stood there like a cop, arms crossed, repeatedly saying, “Trust me, just wait!”
Soon after, a guy shows up at the food table. “Are you guys waiting for the rice?” He asked. I mumbled that we were. He wore a hat, and a light coat - burgundy in color.
As he asked other questions, I continued to mumble answers, hoping that he would get a hint that I didn’t feel like “networking.”
He asked my name and I told him.
“Yours?” I asked. “Stephen,” he replied.
The rice came soon after and the three of us sat to eat. At first, I wasn’t interested in the conversation. I joined in when I was done eating and had energy to engage. Victor (the one who insisted I wait for the rice) left and Stephen and I talk for another hour. He seemed interesting and I realized we had similar passions in ministry, mission, and media!
At the end of the chat, I left my business card with him, and wrote my phone number on it (something I would NEVER normally do). To my surprise, as I walked away, he called me back and offered to pray for me. He prayed and we parted ways. I didn't think much about Stephen for the rest of the day.
However, later that evening at the event exhibition hall, I saw him talking to Victor, the same man from the lunch line who insisted I wait for the rice. He invited me to sit with him and his friends (which I was grateful for because I was attending the conference alone).
The next morning (Friday January 3), he texted and asked if I wanted to come to lunch with him and his friends. I accepted and had a beautiful evening with a group of godly young people. It felt as if I had known them all for years! (side note: I later found out Stephen had told his friends he was interested in me and arranged for them to ask me questions during lunch so they would also get to know me.)
Sabbath morning (Saturday, January 4) was my birthday. I went for breakfast and in the sea of people, I saw Stephen and waved hello.
Moments later, he came over to my table with his plate. We spent the morning session engaging in deep conversation. We worshipped together during the main service, sat for an hour talking after the service, towed a lunch line for another 45 minutes, ate lunch together, and then talked for another 5 hours.
Later that evening, when the exhibition was open again, I told him I had to go back to my booth. He said that he would come to my booth to help break down when the event was over.
True to his word, at 9:59 PM, I saw him walking toward my booth. He helped me pack everything, got his friends to carry the items back to my hotel, then the group of us went into the town for a (very) late dinner.
Stephen and his friends then walked me back to the hotel and in a quiet moment between us, I wondered if he would ask to stay in touch. He didn't and we said good night.
When I arrived back to my hotel room, as I closed the door, it struck me:
My prayer was just answered! I spent my ENTIRE birthday engaging in conversation and getting to know a young man I met while at a youth conference! I was just in awe that the Lord heard me and answered!
Stephen called me the next evening and we spoke for hours. We continued to talk through the week and the following Friday morning, he asked to speak to my parents to ask them their blessing in getting to know me more intentionally.
My parents loved Stephen and expressed that they were happy he wanted to be intentional toward me. I met Stephen's family a month later and they were also excited about what God had in store.
The following months have been filled with answered prayers and divine appointments. The half has not been told but we do hope that as you celebrate with us, our story will inspire you in your personal walk with Christ and His desire to write love stories.”
*****Amazing right?!*****
And now, without further adieu, Felecia and Stephen’s wedding day!
Vendors:
Food Vendor: Pulse Cafe
Dress: Jeanette Behrmann
Florist: Pearl Hill
Venue: Tekoa Missions
Coordinator: Almarie Hill
Groom’s Suit: Miller Brothers-Newton
Hair: Alicia Joy
