Georgia & Peter

Hello Christian Connection team,

Wanted to share our testimony, as we met on your platform over 2 years ago, and are now about to get married!

It was March 2020 and the Australian Government had just announced strict physical distancing measures in response to the spread of COVID-19. Peter was quite active on the Sydney dating scene, having been on many dates throughout the previous spring and summer, predominantly through dating apps Christian Connection and Hinge. However, he was yet to find a compatible partner. He was motivated and ready, having had unhealthy, and unequally yoked relationships in previous years. Georgia, on the other hand, had grown up in a small country town just outside Adelaide, and was also yet to meet a compatible suitor. She had, too, grown over the past few years and was confident in wanting a man who had strong values and put God first, not dating for the sake of it.

On the 15th, a day after the Prime Minister announced harsh physical distancing measures, Georgia messaged Peter. Luckily she had her location filters set for Adelaide and Sydney, as she loved Sydney and already had a brother living there. Peter, who was only previously talking to local bachelorettes, responded. The rest as they say, is history.

We exchanged via the Christian Connection messaging for about a week, before having our first “Zoom date”. The conversation was friendly and flowing, Peter was careful he didn’t commit his feelings too early, as advised by friends, as Georgia was interstate and by this time Australia had gone into a draconian lockdown with closed borders and regional travel. But they both focussed on getting to know one another first, before allowing their feelings to interplay.

The 2nd and 3rd Zoom dates followed, and subsequent dates began occurring on a weekly, or bi-weekly, basis.

After 4.5 months, We were able to finally meet in person! By then, we were doing Friday night Zoom dates, plus texting and FaceTimes throughout the day/week. We really liked each other, although both agreed we wouldn’t pursue something romantic until we met in person. We had exchanged postcards and letters and Georgia sent a care package full of Barossa food and wine, when Peter was studying for his Chartered Accounting exam. Due to border closures, the only place we could meet was Queensland. Peter drove up and a few days later, Georgia flew over. We met in Brisbane, before spending the day at the Gold Coast theme parks and a few days in the Sunshine Coast (separate rooms and hotels of course!). We were both elated meeting each other in person, although it took a few hours seeing each other to adjust to real-life conversation (as opposed to video). Peter asked Georgia to become his girlfriend that afternoon, and at night we went for a nice French dinner by the Brisbane River, where afterwards we professed each other’s love to one another and had our first kiss! It was a great trip, and for 5 days we extended on the great conversations with in-person activities - that is: day trip to Fraser Island, swimming at the resort, and hanging out at cafes by the beach.

The farewell was bittersweet, with all states closing their borders to each other once again early August. Peter returned to Sydney and into a partial lockdown, while Georgia went back to Adelaide. But Peter went straight into problem solving mode, and 3 weeks later moved to the Barossa Valley to be closer to Georgia! After 14 days of self-isolation, we were finally able to spend time with each other again! Peter arranged to work remotely in his employer’s Adelaide office. We had many more adventures, going for day trips and bush walks around Adelaide and the Barossa. After 5 months, Peter moved back to Sydney, and after 3 more months of virtual dating, in April 2021, Georgia found a job in Sydney and relocated! We were together once again, this time it was permanent and Georgia had in fact gotten a promotion into the corporate marketing industry - a space she had been wanting enter for ages.

After just over 6 more months, which consisted of another 4 month hard lockdown, Peter proposed to Georgia in November 2021. It was an adventurous, yet beautiful 20 month journey of long-distance/lockdown-infused dating, but we glided through it with ease, the tough moments only growing and making us stronger. We will be married in October in the Barossa Valley, at Georgia’s family Lutheran church - a beautiful 140 year old building, surrounded by vineyards and meadows.

It is clear, through our experience, online dating does work. We have proved the naysayers wrong, and surprised our family and friends, who originally shared their concern around the difficulties of online and long-distance dating. Thank you for continuing to get the message out there!

God is good.

Peter & Georgia xx