Well, so our communications started on this tentative note. My mom was in the USA at the time, and since Aaron knew that, and also knew that I was probably hesitating to open up to him because I hadn’t seen him for a long time and was probably wondering what he’d become, he decided to make the trip from Dallas to Oklahoma (a 3-hour drive), along with another Bahб’н friend, to pay my mother a visit. This, of course, after I’d told my mom about him, that we were friends and that he was also interested in getting to know me better.

You know how mothers are. My mom paid attention. She “looked him over”, and that first meeting left a positive impression on her. But Aaron didn’t end there. He learned that I wanted to send flowers for my mom’s birthday and that I didn’t know how to do that, so he surprised me by sending her the most gorgeous roses on my behalf; he continued to visit her and they became really good friends. Now keep in mind, my mom is very skeptical of young men who want to have anything to do with me, and she is not easily taken by them. But this one, she told me, this one was different. And as you can be sure, this assurance multiplied his points in my book!

All that said, I must say that what intrigued me most about Aaron, and made me feel that this was a unique and serious guy, was his approach. He was ready to start a relationship with someone that he hadn’t met for almost 5 years. I was in Israel, he was in the United States, we were thousands of miles apart. He didn’t ask to see pictures of what I then looked like, or what I’d become…no, he had fallen in love with the real me, my inner self, a long time ago, and that’s what was attracting him. We gradually built a strong relationship, without laying eyes on each other for 16 months! It was incredible, and I still think that it is the unique thing about our relationship

Of course, I soon asked to see pictures of him, because I was curious (remember my prayers?) And, hey, who am I kidding? I was happy with what I saw! However, just for the record, I also naturally made a lot of enquiries about him.

You know the rest of the story. I finally went to Cameroon, was able to visit his family, they were wonderful. Then I returned to Israel, and later left for the U.S. Our relationship has blossomed since then. We think so alike on many issues: education, work, service to humanity, all those important things that give life meaning.

I truly believe that God answered my prayers. Aaron is a great guy and I am thankful to God that He inspired Aaron to call me that morning in March of 2003.

Jacqueline Ngendab Ambe