Category: Success Stories

Georgia, on the other hand, had grown up in a small country town just outside Adelaide, and was also yet to meet a compatible suitor. She had, too, grown over the past few years and was confident in wanting a man who had strong values and put God first, not dating for the sake of it.

One of Georgia and Peter’s Zoom dates

On the 15th, a day after the Prime Minister announced harsh physical distancing measures, Georgia messaged Peter. Luckily she had her location filters set for Adelaide and Sydney, as she loved Sydney and already had a brother living there. Peter, who was only previously talking to local bachelorettes, responded. The rest as they say, is history.

We exchanged via the Christian Connection messaging for about a week, before having our first ‘Zoom date’. The conversation was friendly and flowing, Peter was careful he didn’t commit his feelings too early, as advised by friends, as Georgia was interstate and by this time Australia had gone into a draconian lockdown with closed borders and regional travel. But they both focussed on getting to know one another first, before allowing their feelings to interplay.

The first ‘in person’ date!

The 2nd and 3rd Zoom dates followed, and subsequent dates began occurring on a weekly, or bi-weekly, basis. After 4.5 months, We were able to finally meet in person! By then, we were doing Friday night Zoom dates, plus texting and FaceTimes throughout the day/week. We really liked each other, although both agreed we wouldn’t pursue something romantic until we met in person. We had exchanged postcards and letters and Georgia sent a care package full of Barossa food and wine, when Peter was studying for his Chartered Accounting exam.

Georgia and Peter’s first ‘in person’ date

Due to border closures, the only place we could meet was Queensland. Peter drove up and a few days later, Georgia flew over. We met in Brisbane, before spending the day at the Gold Coast theme parks and a few days in the Sunshine Coast (separate rooms and hotels of course!). We were both elated meeting each other in person, although it took a few hours seeing each other to adjust to real-life conversation (as opposed to video).

Peter asked Georgia to become his girlfriend that afternoon, and at night we went for a nice French dinner by the Brisbane River, where afterwards we professed each other’s love to one another and had our first kiss! It was a great trip, and for 5 days we extended on the great conversations with in-person activities – that is: day trip to Fraser Island, swimming at the resort, and hanging out at cafes by the beach.

The farewell was bittersweet, with all states closing their borders to each other once again early August. Peter returned to Sydney and into a partial lockdown, while Georgia went back to Adelaide. But Peter went straight into problem solving mode, and 3 weeks later moved to the Barossa Valley to be closer to Georgia! After 14 days of self-isolation, we were finally able to spend time with each other again!

Relocation – and more

Peter arranged to work remotely in his employer’s Adelaide office. We had many more adventures, going for day trips and bush walks around Adelaide and the Barossa. After 5 months, Peter moved back to Sydney, and after 3 more months of virtual dating, in April 2021, Georgia found a job in Sydney and relocated! We were together once again, this time it was permanent and Georgia had in fact gotten a promotion into the corporate marketing industry – a space she had been wanting enter for ages.

Georgia and Peter’s wedding day

After just over 6 more months, which consisted of another 4 month hard lockdown, Peter proposed to Georgia in November 2021. It was an adventurous, yet beautiful 20 month journey of long-distance/lockdown-infused dating, but we glided through it with ease, the tough moments only growing and making us stronger. We married in October in the Barossa Valley, at Georgia’s family Lutheran church – a beautiful 140 year old building, surrounded by vineyards and meadows.

It is clear, through our experience, online dating does work. We have proved the naysayers wrong, and surprised our family and friends, who originally shared their concern around the difficulties of online and long-distance dating. Thank you for continuing to get the message out there!
God is good.
Peter & Georgia xx”

Read more Christian Connection love stories here.

Watch Christian Connection couples talk about their #MetOnCC experiences.

As it happens, I was at a conference recently when someone asked why we don’t have a theology of dating. It’s an interesting question. I am not qualified to comment on the theology, but I do have some practical experience to bring to any discussion!

For most of my life, I hadn’t seriously thought about online dating because, well, you hear stories. But in my forties, never married, I was in our local Christian bookshop and happened to pick up a magazine which featured Christian Connection, which is now a partner of Single Friendly Church.

Helen and Ralph at the beach during their dating relationship

I thought, well, I can probably spot a dodgy Christian man from several miles off so maybe that would be worth doing. So I constructed a profile, found some cheerful photos, and began. I set my parameters quite tightly, in terms of distance (I don’t drive) and educational background (for some insane reason I thought that Mr Right needed at least a first degree) and waited to see what happened.

Meanwhile, I found that the various discussion threads which at that time featured on the site were very good fun. They ranged from serious discussions of current affairs and theology to more entertaining topics. I started one on fridge magnets.

I found a supportive community in which people shared tips, checked out each other’s profiles to give advice and shared information. I even contacted some men whose profiles were just non-starters, not to set up dates but simply to give some sisterly advice.

Helen and Ralph on their wedding day in 2005

I was having such fun in this online community that the men who expressed an interest stopped being the main reason for being there. There was (and still is) a strong emphasis on keeping one’s details private, at least until you’d had a chance to meet in person.

I found people who matched the parameters I’d set up, chatted on the phone, and met two of them; both were lovely, but one seemed to be back in the water too soon after a very bad relationship breakdown and, while the other was lovely enough that we had a second date, there just wasn’t that spark.

And then I was contacted by someone who’d found me, rather than the other way around. He didn’t match all my parameters, so I wouldn’t have seen his profile; his own seemed to be “female, alive, no baggage, no animals, non-smoker”! But from the first email he came across as honest, happy in himself, and with an excellent way with words; those matter very much to me.

We talked on the phone and couldn’t stop talking (some time later he admitted he’d been to the loo somewhere in that first conversation!). He rightly pushed for a face-to-face meeting ASAP as, rather than falling in love with an image of each other, we needed to connect in person.

Helen and Ralph enjoying life together

I was busy the following weekend; what was I doing, he asked? I told him I was going to a plant sale and he announced he could meet me there (despite admitting to no interest in plants whatsoever – later, I’d find that his idea of gardening was to mow the flower beds). It was a Sunday; I told friends at church I was going to meet this man, and several turned out to be attending the same plant sale, meaning that they were lurking in the rhododendron bushes to check things were going well.

At the event, I managed to walk into a former student and also a colleague from a nearby university; both were clearly intrigued as to who this man may be, and I didn’t feel able to say “This is a bloke I met online a week ago”.

I’d taken the bus to our meeting, and there aren’t many buses round here on a Sunday. How was I going to get home? As we had tea at the plant sale, I also realised there weren’t any loos at the venue. I hadn’t entirely thought all this through, although in addition to the church people I’d notified a friend of what was happening so somebody knew where I was.

Helen and Ralph

Tentatively, I asked my date whether he’d see any sign of a loo. He went and asked, and once it was confirmed that there weren’t any he immediately said he’d take me to the garden centre down the road. Tricky. A firm rule of Christian Connection was not to get into someone’s car on the first date. But… So I did.

Impressively, he dropped me off at the garden centre entrance to reduce the length of time before I found that loo, and said he’d park and then find me. As I came out of the loo, I wondered whether he’d be there, or whether this was a way of dumping me… but he was there waiting for me, and has been there for me ever since.

We had more tea and cakes. He dropped me home. We had a little hug. And the rest is history; nearly 20 years of it so far.”

Read more Christian Connection love stories here.

Read Helen’s story on her blog here.

“Recently Single Friendly Church put up one of those little polls: “Have you or would you use a Christian dating site to meet other Christians?” I was surprised to see how many said they hadn’t used such a site, and they wouldn’t; around 40% of those replying. Well, I did, and I would recommend it…