Gremelle Balacuit, Philippines and Riho Tatebayashi Balacuit, Japan, 2018
I am from the Philippines, and my wife, Riho is from Japan. We met when we were both studying in School of Theology (SOT) in 2018. Even though we were from different backgrounds, cultures, and countries, we enjoyed each other’s company tremendously. When we individually enrolled into SOT, our purpose was to be trained to become an effective vessel for the Lord. We were not searching for a relationship; but God became our match-maker. Though we both felt the chemistry for one another, we continued to stay focused on our studies in SOT. Right after we graduated, we got attached and eventually, I proposed to Riho. In February 2019, we got married in the Philippines. After our wedding, Riho had to go back to Japan to continue her work. Due to the processing of the paperwork, it took me six months to obtain a visa. Finally, in August 2019, I reunited with my wife!
My plan was to start serving in Riho’s church and continue my freelance business as a website developer after settling down in Japan. However, it was not as easy as I thought. I couldn’t find any clients and I was practically jobless. During that period, although my spirits were a little down, I purposed not to remain idle. With a renewed fire in my bones, I started serving in the church’s media team and held weekly cell group meetings with Riho. Up to that point, there was no cell group in the church. In October 2019, Riho and I started our first cell group meeting. After six meetings, we grew to nine members. I was so consumed with ministry that it created tension between Riho and I, resulting in quarrels. As the sole bread winner, Riho often felt physically drained as she had to juggle between work and ministry. We were living from hand to mouth and there were months we even had to borrow from my parents-in-law. Riho felt that she was the only one contributing to our marriage.
I shared my struggles with our senior pastor in Japan, Pastor Elwyn, who advised us to focus on building our relationship instead of being busy serving in church. Especially since Riho and I have only known each other for a little over a year, our priority should be building and strengthening the foundation of our married life. And so, we decided to take a break from the ministry. Since then, we made effort to share with each other our revelations from our personal devotion and had open and honest communication. The biggest breakthrough came from Riho. She used to suppress her emotions but now, she verbalises her emotions when she is upset.
We prayed a lot as a couple, and we began to see the hands of God moving in my job. After much prayer, in January 2020, I managed to secure a job at a pet food factory through a friend’s referral. However, due to increasing COVID-19 cases, Riho had to stop work in June 2020. If I didn’t get the new job, it would have added so much financial strain on the both of us. I cannot imagine what would happen if both of us were jobless together. A few months later, due to my back pain, it was uncertain if I could continue to work at the pet factory. But God is good and He opened doors of opportunities for me. Not only was I hired as an English teacher in a tuition centre to teach twice a week, I was also being approached by two clients to manage webpage projects in August 2020. Since then, I have completed four webpage projects. Now, I have one new client in 2022 and the tuition centre has increased my teaching schedule to four times a week. These two jobs together pay me twice the salary compared to my previous job—with shorter working hours and lesser physical work. Hallelujah!
During that period when Riho has to stop work in June 2020, she prayed a great deal. The Lord reignited her passion to start a prayer and cell group meeting. Especially during a time of pandemic, we felt there was a need to connect and engage the church members. After discussing with Pastor Elwyn, we decided to conduct prayer meetings twice a month, as well as on-site and Zoom cell group meetings once a month. It has been over a year now that we have gathered consistently.
We were also able to engage two new friends to join us for service via Zoom since they stayed quite far away from the church. They have been faithfully attending service since year 2020. Even though we are back to church for on-site services since October 2021, we felt the need to upgrade our church’s media system so that we can continue to live our church services via Zoom. This would help our church members who couldn’t travel to attend service. Ever since we went back for on-site services, it felt like our members thirst and hunger for more of God’s presence.
In February, we celebrated our third wedding anniversary. It has been an adventure doing life with my lovely wife in Japan. I also want to thank her for loving me unconditionally. We’re believing our years ahead are going to be glorious in Christ Jesus.