A Match Made in China: True Love Knows No Boundaries

By Redd Starr

Redd Starr heard it all as the years passed by:

Why havent you found someone yet?

When are you going to find yourself a wife?

Dont you want to find someone?

The truth was that he had been looking for someone for quite some time. But, he could not find her. He tried dating women from church with no success. He tried dating many other different types of women as well with no luck at all.

After a brief encounter with an Asian woman, he began to wonder if perhaps he should take a more serious look at Asian women - more specifically, Chinese women. After all, he already knew he loved the food and their culture.

It wasnt long before he was on an International dating website, chatting with dozens of women, and trying to narrow down his choices. He was now on a mission to find his future wife. But, he would need to gather as much information as he could to actually find her, and then to bring her to America.

Join the author as he goes to China to find the woman of his dreams in a story that proves the secret formula to any relationship can be found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love never fails.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Dec 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781489710833

Redd Starr

Redd Starr is a native of Richmond VA. He has come to embrace the cultural exchange with his new extended family. He met and married his wife during a two-week period in China. This is their amazing true story of faith, courage, and determination.

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Copyright © 2016 Redd Starr.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-4897-1084-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1085-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1083-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016920263

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 12/21/2016

Contents

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Credits

Introduction

*** Names have been changed to protect identities. ***

Hello. Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story. When I began planning all of the necessary stages of finding someone overseas, it became much more than I ever thought it could be. This adventure has been an experience I will hold onto for the rest of my life. For anyone considering finding a spouse from a foreign land, I would implore you to follow your heart. However, you must also take the time to educate yourself on what’s in store for you, as well as what’s expected of you.

Indulge yourself in learning everything you can about their culture, their customs, and even their language (if possible) ahead of time. It has been said many times that the best things in life are worth waiting for. My wife is the most precious treasure that God has blessed me with. She is my closest friend and my deepest desire. The more I learn about her, the more I wish to learn. The more I love her, the more in love I become with her. I am miserable without her.

My wife has filled a void in my life. I wish we could have met and married her years earlier. Although, it is better to wait and do things right, rather than rush into a disaster. I am, by no means, a relationship expert, by any stretch of the imagination. I simply have learned a few things along the way. Relationships take time - a LOT of time. They also take commitment, devotion, and dedication. Relationships require trust, honesty, and patience - a LOT of patience. The secret formula to any relationship can only be found in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8. Love never fails.

Throughout this book, I have chosen some of my fondest memories, as well as things that may be of interest to you. This is not intended to be a how-to manual. Although, you will certainly learn many of the necessary steps involved. Bringing someone to America through proper channels is not at all easy. It’s all about planning and timing - most of all, planning. It is also very expensive.

It is advised that you find a support base of friends or family that have your best interest in mind. It is very helpful if you can find someone who has been down this road before. They tend to be the best mentors or teachers to guide you along this journey. Stay with it. The rewards will outweigh the costs. I hope you enjoy reading our story.

Chapter One

My story does not start out that differently from any other young man in search of a wife. However, things did take a turn for the extreme. After spending many years of searching in all the wrong places with all of the wrong people, I finally decided to brave the world of the Internet. Perhaps I should back up, and start from the very beginning.

I was always somewhat introverted growing up. I was the kid no one wanted to hang around or be with. Therefore, I never really learned how to have friends, or be around people. I didn’t know what people wanted or expected. I never knew the right things to talk about or how to just fit in. To some degree, I still struggle with this even today.

I found God at age sixteen, and that’s when I finally began to start making progress on how to fit in around people. Christians are much nicer and more friendly than what I was used to with my peers in grade school. I still would not really start getting the hang of this, though, until l hit my early twenties.

As one could expect, I began trying to find someone of like-minded faith, beliefs, and opinions. I began looking for a girlfriend in church. No such luck. I still had not figured out how to attract girls to me. I was basically still a loser in that area of my life. I spent many years pondering and studying what I was doing wrong, or not doing right.

One of the worst parts of being single is having to listen to married people, especially old people, always asking the old familiar questions: Why haven’t you found someone yet? When are you going to find yourself a wife? Like they have them at Walmart on aisle three. Don’t you want to find someone? And then, there’s my personal favorite, You do like girls, don’t you? What’s even worse is when they all feel the need to find someone for you. We need to find you a wife." That’s a perfect recipe for disaster.

If you are reading this, and you know someone who is single, leave them alone. It’s bad enough being single when you don’t want to be. It’s a hundred times worse when you’re stuck listening to everyone else’s opinions. If you happen to be single and you’re having this problem while reading this, simply have them read this paragraph, and the one before it, while popping in a set of earplugs. They will get the hint. If not, you should consider walking away very quickly.

Many years later (I’m in my late thirties, by now), I finally begin dating. Of course I did date a time or two time earlier, but nothing worth mentioning. I have a knack for finding girls with psychological disorders. No, I’m really not exaggerating here. I always wondered, are they crazy before I meet them and that’s why they are interested in me? Or, is it that they were perfectly normal and then I dated them, and helped push them over the edge? Either way, it didn’t exactly help my self esteem.

Eventually, I had girls that even used to stalk me. It wasn’t hard - they knew where I worked and where I lived. Some would even camp out on my front steps. Then, they would bang on my door shouting, Why are you so mad at me? I shouted back, It’s three o’clock in the morning and I’m trying to sleep. Some of us have jobs to go to! Suddenly, virtual dating someone overseas was becoming more and more appealing.

One day (even before all that), two young sister missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints showed up at my door. I could not help but wonder what Mormon girls were like. Are they normal? Will I continue to be an ugly turn - off? Please let me make one thing perfectly clear. I did not join the Mormon church in search of a girlfriend or wife.

My reasons for joining were all above board. I must admit that once inside though, I did take advantage of many new people to meet and friends to make (yes, women too). My luck did not change much, even in the Mormon church - or at least not in that area of my life. I did date Mormon girls, but found that they are really no different from anyone else. I’m still very fond of the Mormon church today. I’m also an active member. It has indeed helped me in so many other areas of my life.

Growing very discouraged, I decided to consider international dating. If the pond you are fishing in is dried up, cast your line in another pond. This became my motto for all intents, and purposes of finding a solution to my loneliness and boredom. Since I speak Spanish, and we have a wealth of Latinas here, I figured why not? I began exploring the possibilities of dating Hispanic women.

What I found is that they must have the same grading scale as American women. In other words, they were not interested in me, either. While trying to find Spanish singles in the Spanish Ward of the Mormon church, there was a Japanese girl in my home ward that was beginning to show an interest in me. Wards and branches are different names for congregations. Wards are big in size while branches are smaller, with fewer people.

This girl from Japan was very beautiful and personable. We had many similar interests. She was a nurse at one hospital, while I worked in the ER as a medic at a different hospital. Since we both worked in the medical field, we had some common ground for conversation. I had never really considered my chances with the Asian persuasion before. But then, I figured, why not?

Well, there we were - everything seemed to be going great at first, but only at first. On a positive note, she was a wonderful cook. She would bring the best food dishes over. This girl too had some problems though. I would describe our relationship as a Velcro relationship; on again - off again. I think she broke up with me a total of six times, three of which I didn’t even realize we were back together, let alone, had broken up again.

This did however, inspire me to consider the possibilities of Asian women. More to the point - Chinese women. I already had a love for Chinese food and Chinese culture. I wonder now why I didn’t consider this before. I began to study