It is the internet world. You are getting bored? Scroll through the net. Hungry? Order it online or find a recipe. Want to play? There are thousands of games available. Want to study or read a book? Again, google the books and read. Even if you don't know anything, Google knows everything. But what if you want true love? Can the internet help you with that? Of course, now, one might say there are many dating apps available for that.
This is a real-life story of two individuals who met over Instagram. When this internet age has its own set of pros it comes an equal number of cons. And this is evident from the number of cyber crimes being notified. A man tries to grab the attention of a woman by following her over her IG handle. What followed next was something that woman had never hoped for.
Instagram handle works on the basis of followers and your followings. While a majority of the people keep their accounts private, there are hundreds of bloggers and people who would randomly follow anything they like or appreciate. This is something really common. But the thing not that common is...
Not many private account holders are aware that adding hashtags on their pictures make them available on a public platform. All the photographs having the same hashtag will always appear publicly to anyone who would be looking for that particular hashtag. This hashtag has made it an altogether new platform in the social world. What is that?
Hashtags are often followed by a group of people who share a common interest. There are many travel and food blogs running on the basis of their popular hashtags. The protagonist of this story found a woman while searching for a hashtag. And his searching skills soon turned into the one no less than that of an investigator.
He was a missionary residing in Kenya. He had a stable life, fixed daily routines, and chores. He would have gone miles following the same pattern if he wouldn't have stumbled upon an Instagram account of a female pastor. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the missionary was unduly attracted to her.
She was a female youth pastor. Not only was she firm and obedient in her prayers but she was also an avid user of social media. Like the majority of the women of her age, she too loved flooding her Instagram account with her pictures. And it was her pictures that garnered the Kenyan Missionary's attention.
The pastor and the missionary were complete strangers to one another. They had never known the other person. But neither had they thought that when they would cross one another's path. Not all strangers meet for one typical reason, there are some like these who etch a story not so common.
The very obvious question that will come to your mind will be how did this man come across this woman's account? How did it all begin? The missionary was working for a noble cause with an organization called Youth with a Mission in Kenya. There they collaborated with another organization called Dare to Dream. And it all ignited from there.
The man was updating his profile and was adding the stories to his IG account. He would often add a lot of hashtags in his post related to the Youth with a Mission. And while adding a hashtag he saw a profile that changed everything.
As a missionary, romance and love affairs was never on this man's list. So when he saw the female pastor's image, he was quite amazed initially. He was attracted to her, but nothing more than that. Approaching a stranger on IG isn't an easy thing. The missionary even wanted to talk to her, but little did he know not all strangers appreciate interference.
You must have heard people often saying that love knocks at the door when one least expects it. The missionary did not know whether it was a random infatuation or was he actually falling in love with this woman. One more thing which he did not know was his interest wasn't taking him to the ideal place.
The pastor did not know this man until now. She was totally clueless about a man who was drawn to her. She had numerous followers following her via hashtags. So in order to get some undivided attention from the woman, the missionary opted for a way which might sound too mainstream...
To gain some attention from the pastor, the missionary liked all the posts available in her account. He liked the posts like anything. When the pastor next used her account she was amazed to find that there are thousands of likes and that too from a single user. What she did next was something the missionary should have been hoping for.
What the Kenyan missionary did involve a lot of risks. Such ways of finding a woman's attention often lead to the opposite. There was a high possibility that the pastor did not appreciate his actions and may even block him. And even before the development of a rapport, everything might come to a full stop. What will she do?
The easiest thing which the pastor could do was to block this account or simply ignore it. But to everyone's utter surprise, the pastor somehow showed interest in the missionary's profile. She decided to accept his follow request and even requested to follow him back. Neither of them knew then where this chain of events eventually lead them.
The missionary was over the moon when he realized that the pastor had accepted his request. It was the thing he least expected. Soon only both of them started to follow each other and shared photos of the same interest. And now it was the woman pastor who decided to take a step forward. A step that would cost a lot to them.
The pastor searched for the missionary over Facebook. She could easily locate his profile and even verified that it was him only by looking at his profile picture. She dropped him a message there and finally, communication took place.
The pair started to talk. A casual one-time conversation lasted the entire night. They opened up their past and present life, their interests, likes and dislikes and what not. But if you are thinking that this blossomed a love story or anything similar, then you are wrong. It was an altogether different situation.
The pastor was already in a relationship and the missionary wasn't aware of it. As there was not even a single picture or any clue which could link that the female was dating, the missionary was on good terms with her. But then one fine day, he asked her to stop talking. Why?
While sharing his story on another website, the missionary explained his situation then and said, “It started off as just small talk and we talked about ways to impact our community. She had a boyfriend at the time and when things started to get romantic I told her we had to stop because I didn’t want to disrespect her relationship.”
The missionary on the same website further expressed his feelings. He even wrote something which was very surprising for the readers. He writes, "[The woman and her boyfriend] broke up instead and for months we talked. I felt like I knew everything about her except how it felt just to hold her.” This man from Kenya wanted to meet the woman, but was this even possible?
After the pastor's break-up, things suddenly turned smooth between the pair. They would now often connect over Skype and talk and would spend their days and night talking to one another. The only thing left was, they had never seen each other in person.
After nearly 10 months of dating and constant talking, the pastor took a decision. She decided to fly all the way to Kenya to meet the love of his life, the missionary. He was working here, and now it was difficult to stay away. The woman booked a flight and was all set to visit him. However, she didn't know what was going on the missionary's side.
Both of them were anxious. A lot of emotions were crossing their minds. There was excitement, eagerness, and yet some sought of fear and anxiety. Though they have been talking for almost a year, they were meeting for the first time ever. How would this meeting go?
The missionary decided to reciprocate the pastor's decision to fly to Kenya. He surprised her with 100 candles and 200 roses. The pastor had no clues that on the very first meeting itself the missionary would put forward a proposal to her. This was insanely amazing.
A proposal from the man one loves with all heart is the best gift any woman can ever receive. But the pastor never expected that a guy she met over Instagram and had a talk over Facebook, who called her on Skype would present a proposal to her the very first time itself when they met. There were no chances that the pastor could refuse. But...
The pastor initially would have flown back to her home the same day, but now that she was engaged, the couple decided to spend some more time together. The woman extended her trip by a week and the couple together decided to teach some kids at a nearby local school. This was however only the beginning.
Though falling in love and overcoming all the obstacles came easy to them, but getting married was never that easy. The couple had no other choice and decided to elope in Kenya, though their families to some point agreed for their union, still, neither of their family members marked a presence at the occasion. Why?
Keeping everything aside, the couple did not wait any longer and tied the knot in a closed ceremony. While they were expecting blessings from friends, family, and relatives, none turned up on the big day and only questioned their relationship. Majority of them were sure that their marriage won't last long. Not only this, something terrible happened with the pastor.
The missionary on the same website said, “It was such a scandal that she even lost her job with the church over it. They said we weren’t going to be able to make it and we would become another statistic. They said our story was a bad influence for their youth.” However, the church had their say as well.
The church felt that as a youth pastor, the woman had certain responsibilities. It was said that maybe she did not inform the church and concerned authorities about her decision to get married which led to some animosity. However, later the couple justified their actions. What next?
The couple then went on a world tour together and made the most of life. They created memories that they'll cherish for all their lives. We wish the couple all the happiness and good health. Isn't this beautiful how unexpectedly a stranger can affect your life...