Wedding Date on Jun 1, 2021

This is a love story of two people who crossed the earth to be together. Abigal is from Canada, and Samuel from New Zealand. They met on a 30-day internship with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) in Tauranga, New Zealand. They caught each other's eye on the very first day but decided not to say or do anything about it until the very last week, right before Abigal flew home to Canada. One night, on the last week of the internship, they were chatting, and Abigal (fully giggling) asked, "well....what do we do with uh....this?" gesturing between the two of them, not even sure if Sam would understand what she meant. Sam leaned back with a big smile and said, "I'm all in." That was the very start! God had clearly brought them together. After that, Abigal flew home, and long-distance was their way of life for three months. Then Sam flew up to Canada!!! In a whirlwind of 10 days, he met all of Abigal's family and friends and then we were off together, back to New Zealand. They have been here in NZ since, falling in love as they serve Jesus together at YWAM. They knew from day one that they wanted to get married. The question was more just about how and when. Through A LOT of prayers and waiting and more prayer, they decided they would get engaged by the end of 2020. On October 26, 2020, after they had just finished staffing another school at the base, Sam took Abigal out for a lovely relaxing day, nothing crazy, just some mini-golf, yummy food, and time spent together after a busy month. Sam had been throwing Abigal off all week, so she had no hope of being engaged on this day even though it was the PERFECT opportunity! They went to a beautiful beach in Bowentown and climbed up a lookout that faced the ocean. Sam had it all perfectly planned and got down on one knee and proposed! He had a sneaky photographer hiding nearby capturing the moment! It was a perfect day. They finished it off with an amazing dinner and filling in the family all around the world! We asked Abby and Sam what marriage means to them, and this is what they said, “Marriage to us is being all in, always and forever—choosing to make a covenant commitment to living our lives as one. Marriage means being united under God as husband and wife, loving each other how Jesus loves. Marriage is being best friends and teammates. And SO much more. We are choosing to get married now because we felt God speak to us to get married in May 2021, and we want to be obedient! That and we are so in love and so keen to spend every day doing life together. Forever and always, all in.” And now they did it! They got married in NZ! But that’s not to say it was without their challenges. They sacrificed a lot to get married this year. With travel into New Zealand not being allowed due to Covid-19, they made the impossible decision to continue with their plans even without Abby’s family present. You’ll see in the film that Abby’s family sent videos of their speeches for them to watch during the reception. They Facetimed and live-streamed and stayed connected however they could. We can only imagine how difficult it would be to get married without your family present. Abby and Sam, you guys are so strong and special. We’re so proud of you for taking this step and honouring your families as you did so. Our hearts are with you as you begin your life together. You guys are incredible. We wish you a lifetime of happiness together, and we can’t wait to see you again. Whether that’s when we come to New Zealand or you come back to Ontario. We’ll see you again soon.