I grew up in Fredericktown, MO than moved to Bulgaria in 2015, where I currently serve as a church planter. Something crazy about me is that I was a single father of five kids until God brought Bea into my life. One of the things that I love about Bea is her creativity and her desire to use that creativity for the Kingdom of God. It is still hard to believe that she chose me, but I am so excited to start my life with her!

Hey there! I’m a PK (but don’t worry, it’s still pretty fresh, so cut me some slack!). I grew up in the Assembly of God in Brazil with my awesome parents, Galvão and Patricia, and my amazing brother, Paulo. I've been in the U.S. for just over a year now, juggling studies and work while navigating this whole new chapter. Here in Michigan, I’m so grateful to call Oakland Church my home. Pastors Dominic and Amira Russo have been such a blessing in my life—they’ve helped me grow in both grace and knowledge. A few things about me? I’m all about crafts, travel, teaching English, and event planning (oh, and by the way, thank you for checking out our website—you're awesome!). If I had to pick one thing that made me say yes to Josh, it’s definitely his intentionality. When he sets his mind to something, you can bet it’s going to happen. I’m beyond excited to do life with him!

Online, I'm sorry mom and dad, but we trusted a stranger on the internet. We used a Christian dating app called Ark. But our first in person date was at Applebee's (Bea's fav restaurant)

Well, Josh is American, Bea is Brazilian and we will live in Bulgaria. It makes perfect sense, uh?

When we first decided to take a step back for a bit (which, honestly, lasted about three days!), God was already showing us that He had a beautiful plan ahead. We quickly realized that we couldn’t make the decision on our own anymore—He had already bound it in Heaven.

Bea – I feel a bit at a disadvantage since English is already my second language, but I decided to learn Bulgarian mainly to connect better with our church in Shumen. It’s definitely a challenge, especially since the alphabet is different, but since it’s my fourth language, I’ve picked up a few tricks along the way and I think I’m doing okay! Josh - Portuguese has funny sounds that make you use your nose a lot. I am still working on some of the basics, but I am really excited about having another common language with Bea and being able to talk with her relatives in Brazil!

For the vast majority of our relationship our "date nights" have been video calls. Otherwise, when we are together we enjoy Applebee's, American diners, and a good Chinese buffet. One date night that I (Josh) am excited about is cooking together different recipes from Brazil and Bulgaria.

Josh, of course!

When Josh thinks about what he misses most about America, one of the first things that comes to mind is corn dogs. When Bea thinks about what she finds strangest about America, one of the first things that comes to mind is corn dogs!

Josh - When you get several Brazilians in a room together, it can get very loud, very quickly. Once, I was in a car with Bea and two of her friends at the same time. My hearing still hasn't come back all the way! Bea - Why is so hard for Americans to eat real food? We were driving back from the Ark and Josh was responsible for dinner, he chose popcorn chicken and of course corn dogs, I had to drive 4 hours with that in my stomach. I can't wait to cook real food in our house!