Daniel and Rebekah

"Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord." Proverbs 18:22

The story starts in late 2010 after Daniel started working at MissionTV in McDonald, TN. He just arrived the past summer and the team had been busy shooting MissionTV shows during the General Conference Session in Atlanta. Jon Wood, Director of Jesus for Asia, had to leave for Thailand in September to shoot a show he was working on called "I Want This City." However before Jon left, there was one and only one MissionTV show that he edited himself and inserted multiple times in the running playlist of MissionTV's daily streaming programming.

It wasn't until the following January of 2011 that Daniel was updating the programming for MissionTV when he came across the MissionTV Show that Jon felt people had to see. Curious, he hit play and began to watch. At first he was amazed at this girl named Rebekah who had a burden for missions like no other girl he had ever seen. But as he watched he began to see some character traits that he knew he couldn't deal with, and he dismissed her from his mind as having any potential.

After spending 11 unexpected months in Kenya in 2012 Daniel turned over management of Second Coming Broadcasting Network (2CBN), a local Adventist TV Station startup, to Frank Ricks and returned to the USA planning to travel to the Generation of Youth for Christ (GYC) Conference in Seattle, WA to help Gospel Ministries International (GMI) and MissionTV man their booths during the convention. When he learned that his brother Josiah was driving out to Washington with a group of students from Arkansas he made arrangements to travel together with the group as it was cheaper than flying. He traveled out to Ouachita Hills College (OHC) in AR where Josiah would be leaving from and spent one night there while Josiah and the rest of the group made preparations to leave the next morning. Daniel had heard that Rebekah was going to school there, but doesn't recall seeing her during the short period of time he was there. However she did see him.

Rebekah had just finished her first semester at OHC. She had heard Josiah mention his older brother who was a missionary in Africa, and that he was going with the group from OHC to GYC. Coming out of the cafeteria early one morning, Rebekah saw a visitor walking towards the administration building. As she watched the young man walking away from her, two thoughts flashed through her mind: (1) that had to be Josiah's older brother, whatever his name was and (2) if she met him, they would have much in common, which might very well lead to something more than friendship. At that point in her life, a relationship was the last thing Rebekah wanted. Determined to avoid anything and anyone that might lead to romance, Rebekah turned back to the girls' dorm and hid herself in her room until the group had left for GYC. She was quite content with having successfully avoided meeting Josiah's brother.

At GYC Daniel spent most of his time helping at the booth area and stayed busy. Rebekah was the last person on his mind, until one night she was in the booth area. He was interested in learning more about her and adding her to his growing missionary network of contacts, although he was still not interested romantically. His memory of this encounter is somewhat vague but Rebekah's certainly is not!

Rebekah could tell she was coming down with the flu. She could feel the fever coming on, and her head felt like it was going to split. She knew she needed to get to her hotel room and into bed, but she had to find something first. Her mom had asked her to pick up some DVDs from GMI, and Rebekah's sister Carli (who was at GYC with her) didn't know which DVDs Mom wanted. Rebekah was determined to get the DVDs for her mother before succumbing to her fever and headache. So she dragged Carli around the booths until they found the aisle with the booth she was looking for. Rebekah had almost reached the booth when she saw Josiah's brother standing at the booth. Frustrated and unexpectedly confused, Rebekah stopped for a minute at a nearby booth to gather her thoughts and form her plan. Looking up, she saw a large group of people stop to chat with Josiah's brother. Stepping quickly, she grabbed her sister's arm and scooted to where the DVDs were. She spotted the two DVDs her mother had requested, and just as she reached out for the first one, she heard a chipper voice behind her say, "Hi! I'm Daniel! What's your name?" Stifling a groan, Rebekah turned around to see Josiah's brother beside her. She introduced herself and her sister, then explained that their mother had asked them to bring back a couple of the ministry's DVDs. Daniel handed her the ones her mom wanted, but instead of letting the girls go on their way, Daniel started asking Rebekah about her experiences in the mission field. Rebekah doesn't remember much about the actual conversation, just a few thoughts of aggravation because he talked too much and smiled too much while her head hurt terribly! Finally the girls got away and returned to their hotel room. Rebekah was too sick with the flu to leave her bed until she had to go to the airport to head back home.

That summer, Rebekah headed to Young Disciple Youth Bible Camp to serve as the head girls' counselor and Bible work teacher. When she arrived for the counselor orientation, she was given a list of the boys' and girls' counselors for the first week of camp. As one of the head counselors, Rebekah's job included more than just making sure everything went well in girls' camp. She also needed to help things run smoothly between the counselors. Some summers there were incidents between counselors, and knowing who she was working with ahead of time often helped her head things off before there was a crisis. Scanning the list of counselors, her eyes fell on one name and she had to bite back a groan. "Lord," she whispered, "this is NOT funny! What is DANIEL HILL doing here?!?!" The camp schedule was always busy, she knew, so she figured she wouldn't have to deal with him very much. Much to her chagrin, however, it seemed that several times a day Daniel was waiting to talk with her, with questions, comments, or insights. She tried not to show her impatience or her annoyance, especially when it seemed that he was coming up with random things just to have an excuse to talk to her. Some of the other camp staff noticed and began to tease her, claiming that Daniel couldn't keep his eyes off her. Daniel, however, didn't have any such intentions as people thought. Rebekah couldn't wait for camp to be over so he'd leave! Finally, camp was over and everyone went their separate ways.

Rebekah hurried back to Tennessee to pack for the new semester at OHC. But when she was sorting through some papers on her dresser, she came across a slip with several contacts and their information from GYC, including Daniel's name, phone number, and email address. Rebekah knew she must have been feeling even worse than she had remembered at GYC, because she had long had a policy of not exchanging contact info with men unless it was absolutely necessary for work! Curious though as to why she had his contact info, Rebekah emailed Daniel to ask him. His reply came rather quickly, but not before she had remembered the reason for the exchange. At GYC, Daniel had asked her for the information for a particular ministry and had given her his number and email so she could send him the information he needed. She had done so as soon as she had gotten back from GYC and had completely forgotten the request. However, apparently she wasn't the only one who had forgotten. Daniel's email said he had simply wanted to network! Rebekah was very relieved he was on his way back to Africa. She could tolerate seeing him once every five or ten years, if that's all it took for "networking."

When Daniel arrived at Ouachita, Rebekah was less than pleased. In fact, she was torn. Part of her wanted to give him the cold-shoulder treatment she was used to giving most males within her age bracket. But part of her argued that it was cruel of her to treat him so rudely when he'd done nothing to earn it. The fact that she was one of the only students he'd met prior to his arrival added to her turmoil, as her Southern upbringing demanded that she treat even casual friends with more politeness than she wanted to give him. It took less than a week for her friends to begin teasing her about Daniel. It seemed that most of the students noticed the way Daniel's face would light up when Rebekah walked in the room or the way his eyes would sparkle when he talked to her. Rebekah couldn't help but notice, too, although she tried desperately to deny the signs! Several months later, she eventually admitted to one of her best friends, Sarah Payne, that she was pretty sure she would develop feelings for Daniel if she allowed herself, but that she wasn't going to allow herself to do that. Finally, things came to a head in a most unexpected way...

Daniel was assigned to work on the school website from the first semester as his talents and experience tended in that direction. He was also assigned to a church as all the students are assigned to one of a number of local area churches to help with community outreach. One day Daniel found out that there was a deaf man named Virgil that attended the church that Rebekah was assigned to and as he had learned sign language 8 years earlier his interest was piqued. He asked more about it and when he found out that there was no one who was able to translate the church service into sign language for the deaf man, he decided to request a transfer to that church so he could translate the church service to sign language for this deaf man. When the transfer was approved, oh! did that fuel the rumor mill! Daniel, however, was unaware of this.

At the beginning of Daniel's second semester (Spring 2015), Rebekah was assigned by the school administration to work on the website. She was asked to generate and edit content and help to layout the website in a way that was more user-friendly. This meant that she had to work directly with Daniel. She tried to keep this one-on-one time to a minimum, but it was still unavoidable. At this point Daniel was in an intelligent mode. He started to ask Rebekah personal questions, and he observed her strong work ethic and dedication to doing a good job and doing it efficiently. About this time is when he really began to pray about Rebekah as someone who might possibly join him in his future labors.

He didn't have peace to pursue her yet however, as there were still character traits that he found objectionable. Finally a situation presented itself that forced him to come to grips with this dilemma. He took a walk around the campus loop praying and pleading with God to show him His way. It was at this time that God helped him to sort through all his thoughts in a logical manner. He realized that if God led him forward toward a relationship with Rebekah, that God would resolve the traits of character that he found objectionable. After realizing this, he felt free to knock on the door and seek God's leading concerning Rebekah. He was more free in talking to her, and he was open to the possibility of a future with her. And the more he got to know her, the more gold he found! He would find that the traits of character he once thought objectionable fading into insignificance.

Daniel was somewhat oblivious to the rumors that were starting to spread through college and even among some of the academy students. One pleasant March evening a few days before the spring canvassing break Daniel was eating his supper alone outside enjoying the quiet evening air when a bombshell landed.

A fellow student who also happened to be a good friend ran up to the table out of breath and spurted out that the college students and even academy students were noticing how much he and Rebekah enjoyed each other's company and had started talking about it. The student, who was a mutual friend of both Daniel and Rebekah, concluded with some very wise words: "I guess what I'm trying to say is this. If now's the wrong time and the right thing, then wait. If now's the wrong time and the wrong thing, then stop. If now's the right time and the right thing, then go forward."

Daniel's heart must have been beating loudly through dorm worship that night, because he was thinking about a lot! He didn't want to scar his reputation as someone who was serious about things and didn't mess around, and he certainly didn't want to stain Rebekah's reputation as a student well-respected by both students and staff.

During a flurry of texts between them over the next few days, Daniel and Rebekah came to realize that their interest was mutual. Now the question was how to deal with it!

Rebekah immediately went to her dean and laid the situation out to her, asking for her advice. The dean was beyond delighted, and gave them permission to figure out this conundrum. After a canvassing program in which Daniel and Rebekah voluntarily decided to curtail their texting to avoid distraction from the canvassing program, they gave themselves a period of time to text and discuss the situation and how to relate to each other for the rest of the school year. Rebekah asked for a month of silence with only necessary work-related communication.

Before leaving school Rebekah broke the silence by asking for a walk together. Daniel was happy to oblige! The story that came out was his surprise however! Rebekah had asked for a month of silence for two reasons. One, she had to sort out her own thoughts and feelings about Daniel, and second, she was testing him to see how well he respected her boundaries. "Did I pass?" Daniel asked much later in the walk. Rebekah said that she was able to see that he wasn't perfect, but yes, he passed the test. The walk concluded with several exchanges about the school policy which forbid romantic relationships unless approved by the school administration. "We could qualify for an exception," Rebekah muttered before they parted ways.

The OHC school administration approves relationships based on several quantifiable factors such as maturity, previous life experience, and the ability of the man to provide for a family. Daniel started right in by taking a walk with Pastor Baute one evening before vespers. Pr. Baute thought they might qualify for an exception, and told Daniel exactly what he needed to do. After sending the written request to the administration Daniel suffered an agonizing wait for what seemed like an eternity. Finally a week or two after, while knocking on doors with books in hand in San Antonio, TX, the answer came via text from Magda Rodriguez, the president of the college. It read: "Hello Daniel, if the Lord leads and you enter into a courtship relationship we approve the relationship…" Daniel was on cloud nine!

Daniel had planned to ask for a courtship when Rebekah came to the General Conference Session in San Antonio, but when her plans for that fell through he had to exercise patience. He decided to ask as soon as they both got back to school rather than ask by phone. He could hardly wait!

Rebekah got to school late and registered while everyone else was in orientation. It was her birthday, and Daniel had asked her to take a walk with him after orientation. She knew that, whatever was said on that walk, the friendship between them would be forever changed. The question was, in what way? As she went through the routine of registration, Rebekah talked it out with God. "Lord, if Daniel asks me for a courtship, I'm just going to say no. I don't want to deal with any romance right now. I'm afraid to." A quiet voice whispered, "That's not what I want you to say, though. If he asks, I want you to say yes." "But Lord, can't you just have him change his mind so he decides he doesn't want it? Then I wouldn't have to tell him anything!" "No, My child. He's going to ask you for a courtship and I want you to tell him yes. You don't live by panic or by preference, but by principle."

When there was finally a break in the meetings Daniel and Rebekah were able to go for a walk together around the loop on campus. Daniel couldn't hold his secret very long! Before even half way around the loop he blurted it out asking for a courtship. Rebekah chose to answer as God had directed her and said yes. So the adventure began a new phase!

Daniel was ready to get married almost before they were courting! But Rebekah needed more time. And it was as it should be. More than a year went by, until Christmas 2016.

While Daniel and Rebekah were at her parents' house in TN, Daniel took Rebekah for a drive up Lookout Mountain. After walking around Point Park sightseeing for awhile, they sat down on a bench and Daniel finally popped the question!

Daniel and Rebekah both have a burden for overseas mission work in saving souls for Christ's kingdom, and they plan to eventually settle somewhere overseas wherever and however God leads. In the meantime Rebekah is moving to Grants Pass, OR while Daniel continues working for Better Life Broadcasting Network which is now rebranding as Redeem.