Unconventional Love: Christian husband and wife, Solomon and Liz Ocampo, share their arranged marriage story
Article By Onya Vanderbuilt // EEW Magazine Online // Love & Marriage
According to Pew Research Center, 88% of Americans cited love as the most important reason to get married. But a Christian couple that has been in an arranged marriage for six years is proof that not everyone ascribes to this idea.
On a recent episode of Switch TV Kenya’s “Full Circle with Joyce,” Elizabeth “Liz” Muyu, a Kenyan woman, and Solomon Ocampo, a Filipino man, revealed that their mothers, who were longtime friends, orchestrated their union.
Solomon Ocampo and Liz Muyu Ocampo discuss the details of their arranged marriage on Switch TV (Credit: Full Circle With Joyce/Switch TV)
Liz was first introduced to Solomon during a family vacation in the Philippines in 2012. Solomon’s family hosted her family for two weeks. During a farewell dinner party, before Liz’s family returned to Kenya, Solomon’s father announced in front of an audience that he wanted to betroth his son to Liz. Both were blindsided by the announcement.
Aside from being shocked, Liz, an instant fiancé, had another issue: she had a boyfriend back home that no one knew about!
So, what did Liz do? According to her, she broke it off with her beau to save her reputation. “People in the Philippines know I’m betrothed to the prophet’s son,” she said – something that deeply complicated her relationship. Despite the difficulty of the moment, both she and now husband Solomon are able to laugh about it.
“Some people come home with a keychain as a souvenir, but she came home with a man,” he said.
Though the two believe God brought them together, albeit in a strange way, Liz admitted that in the beginning Solomon “wasn’t my taste. I didn’t know him. He was a stranger, and we didn’t talk the entire time I was on the vacation.”
The Ocampo Family (Credit: Instagram/lizmuyuocampo)
After returning home to the Philippines, Solomon didn’t do himself any favors in terms of winning Liz over. He said he made a “mistake.”
And what was that mistake?
“I dilly-dallied. I procrastinated. Then she got impatient and told me I was wasting her time, which I was,” Solomon said.
After a few months, Liz, who was in her twenties at the time, broke off the engagement that she never asked for in the first place, changed her Facebook status to single, blocked Solomon on social media, and reentered the dating scene. Solomon said he continued to pursue her but, “She was done.”
“I was very serious about dating,” said Liz. “I was a pastor. I’ve been a pastor for 13 years.” Knowing that she was held to a higher standard because of her position in ministry, Liz was careful about the male suitors she considered as possible candidates. “I was only dating pastors, because I needed a spiritual head,” she explained.
Unfortunately for Liz, she was unsuccessful in her efforts to connect with another young pastor that had similar purity standards. Disturbed by the fruitlessness of her dating life, Liz said she went back to her “prayer closet” and asked God to give her direction.
The Ocampos are sharing their story for God’s glory (Credit: Instagram/lizmuyuocampo)
“During that time of prayer, the Lord reminded me of the Ocampos and their purity standards,” which Liz said are “on another level.”
After being guided back to the man she blocked, Liz unblocked Solomon on social media and sent him a message.
His reply was, “What’s your ring size?”
Advised by his mother to win his wife back, Solomon boarded a plane from the Philippines to Kenya, surprised Liz, and asked her to marry him. Solomon said it took Liz “a good two minutes” to actually say yes—a response she said she only gave as not to embarrass him.
But, as providence would have it, though the circumstances surrounding their courtship were unideal, things progressed quickly. The two planned their wedding and exchanged vows within a very short time span, and things have worked out well. Over time, they have grown to love each other and are committed to their marriage.
These days, Solomon and Liz, who are proud parents of three children, encourage young people not to focus on superficial things but the values and the things that matter most.
Watch the full, entertaining interview below.
