Tyrel Wolfe was just 7 years-old when his family participated in an international project that would change the course of his life forever.

Through their church, the Wolfe family got involved with Operation Christmas Child and Samaritan’s Purse. As soon as he found out about the program, Tyrel rushed home to fill a shoebox with gifts for a little girl living overseas. Little did he know that this was the beginning of something magical.

After the Wolfe family brought the shoebox to church, it was sent off to the Philippines, and Tyrel soon forgot about it.

Eleven years went by, and the now-grown up Tyrel received a friend request on Facebook from a woman named Joana Marchan. When Tyrel asked who she was, he was stunned when she replied that she was the girl he sent the shoebox to all those years ago! As the two started messaging each other, Joana said she wanted to meet Tyrel in person to thank him for the present.

Tyrel saved money for years to have enough to travel to the Philippines, and when the day to leave finally came, Tyrell was a bit nervous.

“I knew I was taking a big risk,” Tyrel said. “I had never traveled alone, let alone to a foreign country before and I was meeting people I didn’t know or even knew really existed.”

However, it’s safe to say that the risk paid off, as Tyrel and Joana immediately hit it off!

“When I finally got there and saw her, I had to punch myself a couple times because I thought it was a dream,” Wolfe says. “I was immediately attracted to her.”

In fact, they fell for each other so hard that they are now married!

Find out more about their story in the video below, and SHARE this so your friend and family can see it as well!