Idaho Boy Sent Christmas Shoebox to Girl In Philippines, They Wed 14 Years Later

Mark Ellis : Dec 22, 2022
GodReports.com

"When I finally got there and saw her, I had to punch myself a couple times because I thought it was a dream..."

[GodReports.com] Many Believers have stuffed a shoebox full of goodies for Operation Christmas Child, a project to bless children around the world run by Samaritan's Purse. But for one seven-year-old boy in Idaho, it led to a surprising outcome many years later. (Image: Pexels)

In 2000, Tyrel Wolfe packed a shoebox for a young girl his age and added a photo of himself wearing cowboy attire, holding a lariat.

After he turned in his shoebox at church he never gave much thought to the girl who received it 7,000 miles away.

Joana Marchan received the shoebox at a vacation bible school in a suburb of Manila. Not only was a photo of Tyrel included, but also his address.

She wrote a thank you letter to express her appreciation, but it got lost in the mail.

Eleven years later Joana decided to use Facebook to see if she could find the boy who packed her box. She searched for his name and got one hit in Idaho. She took a chance and submitted a friend request.

But Tyrel had never heard of Joana Marchan, so he ignored the request.

Two years later, Joana sent another friend request.

This time, Tyrel sent Joana a message asking how she knew him. She replied, telling him that he was the one who sent her a shoebox in 2000.

As the two got to know each other online, they discovered they shared a common faith in Christ and even enjoyed some of the same music.

Tyrel decided he wanted to meet Joana, but had to work to save money for a plane ticket. After his graduation from high school, he flew to Manila a month later. He had been on Christian mission trips before, but had never been to Asia and had never traveled by himself.

It was an emotional meeting. When Joana first saw Tyrel she burst into tears...Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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