God Parts the Immigration Sea—for Love

This past weekend, Mike and I attended the wedding of my dear friend and assistant, Cree Rillo, who married Casey Feigum, a wonderful young man from North Dakota.

The story makes me a bit nostalgic. In 2020, Cree came to Abide Network struggling with low mood after a personal loss. She became part of our very first online Anxiety & Depression Relief group during the pandemic. (The group bonded so deeply they still meet online six years later.) Ultimately, Cree began interacting with Abide Network, providing tech and assistant services. She even moved to Abiding Place Farm here in Orlando for several months.

Sadly, immigration wouldn’t issue Cree a work visa, sending her back to Canada, where she lived with her sister and brother-in-law. I like to say regarding immigration, “God parted the Red Sea, He can part the bureaucra-Sea.” Well, in this case He didn’t, and we were heartbroken. But it wasn’t over.

Back in Canada, Cree longed to find a life partner. She overcame her natural reserve to join a dating website thesingleadventist.com, where she met Casey Feigum. (Yes, dating websites still help!) The two began a three-year courtship. This past weekend at the wedding celebration, Casey told me part of their story.

Early in their courtship, the two decided they didn’t want a mere distance relationship, so made plans to (legally) spend a few months together in North Dakota (Canadian citizens can potentially spend six months per year in the U.S.). They arrived at the border with Cree’s belongings in the back seat. When the overzealous border authorities saw the rice cooker and other items, they subjected both Cree and Casey to hours of interrogation. Their conclusion: Cree was illegally immigrating. (Oh, c’mon. All Filipinos carry rice cookers. Rice is life, silly!)

Crushed, the pair turned the car around, parked in the parking lot, prayed, and then decided on a bold move. By God’s grace, she’d fly with him. Understand that the two were not 100% sure of their relationship at this point. They’d been talking for some time but decided that in-person time in North Dakota would help them discern the future of their partnership (Cree would rent an apartment). They felt they needed that time in person to move forward as a couple.

Back at the airport, Casey breezed through customs, but unsurprisingly, the officials marched Cree into an interrogation room. Casey waited outside with only about an hour before he’d have to board. The clock ticked away. Five, ten, twenty, thirty minutes passed. The door would swing open, he’d glance up, but someone other than Cree would walk through. Meanwhile, the authorities saw Cree’s record of being turned back from the border the day before and doubted her sincerity when she claimed she was only visiting for a legal amount of time.

Casey’s face buried in his knees, he prayed for a miracle. Everything from her status to their future as a couple was uncertain. Meanwhile, things didn’t look good for Cree. The agent doubted her honesty while she insisted on it. Frustrated, he called in his supervisor.

Then the prayers began to have their effect. Cree reflects:

I'd like to think the supervisor was an angel or influenced by an angel. The tension disappeared as soon as I stood before him. He just had this calming presence. I intentionally made note of his uniform patch which said his name: Kamal. Later, I looked up the meaning of the name, and it means "perfection" in Arabic.

Kamal listened to Cree’s story. He believed her despite her record of being turned back. Then, with only minutes to spare, he approved her visit. The door swung open, Casey looked up, and there she was, all 5’3” of Filipino beauty. They breathlessly ran to their gate.

The rest is history. The months together sealed their decision to marry. Cree ultimately received a fiancé visa, then residency, and has now moved to the U.S. I just attended the simplest, most godly wedding I’ve ever witnessed. Two hearts found each other across national boundaries in troubled times. God parted the bureaucra- Sea for them.

How I ended up in the dating business, I’ll never know. But I think it’s because after 47 years of marriage and a lifelong study of human nature, I’ve decided that marriage is a blessed covenant, ordained by God, shaped by His Spirit, and enacted by His Son, for the deepening and elevation of the human race, and I want to see more marriages like the one I’ve described here.

In just 10 days the inaugural Try This at Home: Dating retreat will take place in Dayton, Ohio. Come to Dayton and get datin’. Click here for details.

The TTAHD team want to see more godly, happy marriages.

Don’t you?

Do you have an incredible love story? Let us know in the comments below.