Junre & Jirah Zekia
Junre & Jirah Zekia
Our Story/Q + A
When and where did they meet?
Find Junre and Jirah in the picture above. The event shown in this picture is how we first met.
According to Junre, he had a crush on Jirah year 2012 - UCF vs MCCC Sports (Basketball & Volleyball) but they never talked at that time, and Jirah never saw him not until...
June 2014 in UCF Church (United in Christ Fellowship) -Banilad. They were both part of the Music Team and Youth Ministry. Junre is a bassist and guitarist player in their church while Jirah is a worship leader, keyboardist, and also a guitarist. Both were youth leaders.
When things got tough, they both remained to be part of the Music Team, and Youth Ministry, and both were allowed to be Worship Team Directors. Jirah directed the team year 2019-2021 then was given to Junre year 2022-present.
They were good friends starting in 2014, they don't know much yet about each other but in August 2014 Youth Outing happened and Junre, though an introverted guy approached Jirah and with no hesitation, confessed his feelings to her in messenger after the outing.
Some say "ang haba ng hair mo" to Jirah because Junre had some competitors during the time he was courting Jirah. For almost 10 years, Junre was still persistent, pursuant, and patient and prayed for the right time where Jirah who is still single to be his very own wife in the future. He prayed to have a God-fearing woman and Jirah prayed for a man that is in love with the Lord first.
And that's just the beginning of their story... but wait there's more... To be continued...
As time passes by, Junre boldly approached the father of Jirah respectfully asking his permission to court Jirah. The father (Ptr. Bong) told Junre the principles of what he taught to his children regarding relationships:
1. Prioritize God,
2. Graduate school,
3. Be stable, and
4. If mahal ka ng anak ko, why not?
Junre understood so, he told him, "I am willing to wait".
Junre did everything he could not only to pursue Jirah but for her family as well. Especially the mother of Jirah.
Jirah never wants to keep secrets from her parents and so, she confessed what she was feeling regarding Junre's persistence and love toward her.
It was never easy for the mom to hear this but... again.. she cried and prayed.
To make the long story short, both were "decided". Both asked for their parents' advice (both sides) but most of all they asked the Holy Spirit for wisdom to guide them. They surrendered it all to God Almighty.
How old were they when they met each other and how old are they now?
Age doesn't matter xD
Junre was only 12 years old when he met Jirah who was 13 years old.
Junre confessed his feelings to Jirah at age 14.
Now..both are getting married, Junre is 24 years old while Jirah is 25 years old.
Jirah always tells Junre before, "I'm your ate! I won't accept your courtship! I'm older than you! Like almost 2 years gap natin." But Junre is a very persistent guy who believes in the famous saying that goes, "Age doesn't matter." Well, he won since they're getting married, it doesn't matter. XD
In life, age doesn't make you grow up. It's the heart that counts. Growing up doesn't come from the passage of time, but from how you mold yourself into the person you want to become. It requires a change of heart (David Lorenzo).
Why did they both decided to get married at an early age?
In I Corinthians 7:9, Apostle Paul said,
But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
The simple answer to this question is that we love God and we want to honor Him. We are not perfect but we seek to do God's will, to live in His word and righteousness. We believe that the gift to build a family starts with marriage and we both desire to have our own.
Yes, some say that we are too young. It's too early to decide. We are still immature.
Please do know that we do not close our ears to all the reminders of those people we treasure and are concerned about our decisions. We appreciate them/you so much.
Please believe in us when we say "we thought of this through. It took us time." Especially since this is Jirah's first time. She never had any boyfriend relationship and Junre never expected him to decide to wait for Jirah's approval that took him 9 years to wait, despite all the rejections.
Please hear and know our story. A story untold because we never posted on social media since we both decided to announce only if we are already married and also, we don't want to have a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. All we want is to focus on marriage because we want to avoid any temptation while we are not yet there or not yet the right time to do it. Where we avoided touching each other's hands or even kissing. We decided to enjoy it once we are legally and spiritually married. And yes, we are going to have our first kiss on our wedding day and you will be one of the people to witness it.
We don't want to make this story too long. If you want more of our testimony, we would gladly share it.
