We met in SLS, a ministry school run by our church, Mercy Culture, located in FT Worth, TX. Although we sat on different sides of the room, we served together within our church and interacted with each other…briefly. We’re going to say right off the bat, God’s timing is perfect, and His ways are higher than our ways! We had no idea the plans God had for us, individually and as a couple! Our God put us in a position that brought us closer together. Closer than we would have thought! (Let’s just say that we never saw this coming, but we are here for it!) The Lord’s steps don’t always make sense and looking back, we didn’t even understand His ways, but God started orchestrating our path’s closer and closer. 😍😍

In our first year we went from strangers to acquaintances to friends. (I, Nakoya, used to call Daniel brother!) Our friendship really began after we started attending the same prayer nights. The prayer nights were beautiful and powerful! If you’re not praying, start NOW! Prayer has changed our lives.

(Daniel, here. Nakoya was never a loud prayer, she would find a corner in my father’s house, where the prayer meetings were located, and would be hidden, just her and the Lord. It’s beautiful to watch her pray!) After prayer nights Daniel started approaching Nakoya more and we grew closer as friends. Our bond continued to strengthen as we started year 2 of our SLS journey. It was during this second year of SLS that the Lord began speaking to us about our spouses. Daniel about his future wife and Nakoya about her future husband. Unknowingly to each other, we both began to fast and pray for our spouses.

On March 3,2024, I, Nakoya started a 21 day fast, but it didn’t end in 21 days! God had other things in mind-have Your way, Lord! The same night I started my fast, the Lord woke me out of my sleep. He told me to find an orange dress for our SLS graduation. He said, “On graduation day, you will look like the refiners fire and the veil will be lifted.” Not exactly knowing what this meant, I did what the Lord asked, and I found an orange dress. The perfect dress my Father had waiting just for me. Next He told me to find royal blue shoes and His reason was, “Daughter, you are royalty.” So with that I found the sweetest pair of royal blue shoes. Then the Lord told me to look for earrings to match the shoes. Throughout this process I kept asking the Lord, “What do the earrings look like?” You guys, He doesn’t disappoint! He led me to these beautiful, feathered earrings and I heard ‘THOSE.” As I was in the middle of purchasing them, God told me to look at the company’s name. It read, “RIAH” and I heard the Lord say, “Look it up in Hebrew.” I looked it up and the definition in Hebrew is, “THE LORD HAS REMEMBERED.” God in His sweetness was revealing to me that He had not forgotten me, and I was undone at His mercy. I didn’t think this had anything to do with my husband! But the Lord knew exactly what He was doing. April 22nd, I ended my extended 50 day fast and it was during this fast that the Lord had me praying intensely for my husband. I was praying for his characteristics and declaring the word of God over him. I had no idea who I was praying for, I just listened to God and obeyed. Fast forward to May 25th, our graduation. That morning as I got ready, it felt as if I was getting ready for my Bridegroom, Jesus. I worshiped, I thanked God for His goodness and gave Him the day. As the ceremony began, I remember being so hot! The Lord reminded me, “This is the refiners fire.” It was such a beautiful yet overwhelming feeling! It’s hard to put into words what I was experiencing but it’s a moment I will never forget. As my name was called and I walked across the stage, it felt as if someone put glasses on my eyes, and I couldn’t believe how clear I could see! It was in that moment I heard the Lord say, “The veil has been lifted.”

On May 31st I got a phone call from my spiritual father about someone wanting to pursue me. He wouldn’t tell me who it was. He only told me to pray and then to call him back. Once we hung up the phone I prayed and asked God who He had for me, who was His son. The Lord quickly revealed Daniel’s face, and in a shock, I said, “Lord, I think you got it wrong” and prayed again! Hahaha! Don’t lie, we’ve all gone back and prayed about something! I wasn’t one that always took the first sign, but after my second prayer, the Lord gave me a vision of my dad walking me down the aisle to Daniel. I called my spiritual father back and said, “It’s Daniel isn’t it”? My father replies, “You hear the Lord.” That was the beginning of my heart being softened. I was hard to the idea of someone pursuing me, but the Lord was taking care of me. It’s Daniel. On June 1, Daniel called me and said exactly what I told Abba my husband must say in order for me to know this was to be my husband. I put out my fleece! We began our courtship on June 22nd. And the rest is history!

In my 2nd half of year 1 SLS, I, Daniel, heard the Lord instruct me to pray for my wife every night before I go to bed. I began praying on April 4th, 2023. I prayed intentionally! Every night I was declaring that her relationship with Jesus would deepen and that in all things she would succeed. In this year of praying for my wife the Lord called me to a 21-day liquid fast. I fasted from April 1st, 2024, to April 22nd, 2024. During this time the Lord gave me a dream of Nakoya. She was on a stage with a light beaming over her head. As I woke up from this dream, I asked the Lord what this meant. He spoke to me and said, “That’s your wife.” From the moment the Lord showed me Nakoya, I asked Him how do I could steward this word without releasing it to her? He told me to do kind gestures for her. That was my green light! It was go time! Almost every day for the rest of our last year in SLS I brought her breakfast, lunch or some type of dessert. I didn’t know how or what the Lord was orchestrating by me doing kind things for her, but I trusted Him. After graduating from Spiritual Leadership School, I felt the Lord tell me I was released to pursue Nakoya. Side note: I asked Nakoya to take a picture with me at our graduation and it didn’t happen! Lord, tell her to wear that orange dress again! The week after graduation I submitted my desire to court Nakoya with the intent to marry her to my father and he gave me a blessing to pursue her. Later that day I gave her a phone call and told her that I believe she is my wife and told her that my intention was to marry her. And that is the beginning of our love story! The Lord is just getting started!