THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 1, 1995 TAG: 9508300172
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
ERIC LIGHT WAS a single man when he volunteered to be a guinea pig for Cupid. A year later, there was a wedding band on his finger.
When it came to marriage, Light embraced the teaching of the Apostle Paul, who wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:14, ``Be not unequally yoked to unbelievers.''
He dated seldom, confident that at the proper time, God would bring the right woman into his life. But he is still amazed by the way it came about.
Light, a videographer for the Christian Broadcasting Network's ``The 700 Club,'' travels all over the country taping stories that air on the program.
``We had heard about a Christian introductory dating service operating in California,'' said Light, 27. ``The producer asked me to go through the process as an Equally Yoked member for a story which would air on Valentine's Day.
``And being the ham that I am, and thinking that it would be fun, I said, `Why not?' ''
In February, Light and a CBN crew went to California.
Normally, members spend two to four weeks going through the Equally Yoked procedure. Since Light was scheduled to be in the area for only one week, the company chose a young woman for Light.
``But we talked them into letting me go through it like a normal client with CBN videoing the whole process,'' Light said.
In addition to making a personal, five-minute video, Light filled out a profile to which he attached photographs of himself.
Next he looked through the company's listings for women who shared his interests and whose spiritual maturity and faith in God set them apart.
``There were literally hundreds of listings,'' Light said.
In just one day, he narrowed the field to concentrate on the ministry interests and Christian background of four young women.
From those he chose Karen Krueger. She agreed to meet him. At this point, neither knew the name of the other.
They talked on the telephone and planned a Saturday night date. She was warned that her meeting with Light would be videotaped for a television audience.
``The best possibility could be a new relationship,'' Light remembers thinking. ``The worst would be just a fun date. So there was no pressure. Either way, I thought, I'm out of here early Sunday morning.''
But he was pleasantly surprised.
``I remember being impressed,'' Light said. ``In person, she was better than her pictures.''
Nothing was spared in planning their first date.
Light convinced the producer that it would not be cool to take his date out in a mini-van.
While the television cameras rolled, Light and Karen hopped into a Mustang convertible and drove off down the Pacific Coast Highway with the top down and music playing.
``We ate at a Laguna Beach oceanside restaurant. It was an ideal setting,'' he said, built on a cliff overlooking the ocean. ``After dinner we walked down a winding pathway through the gardens and talked. It was like a scene from a movie. It could not been scripted more perfectly.
``There was an instant chemistry,'' Light said. ``We really hit it off and decided to keep in touch.''
The next day, Light returned to Virginia.
Then CBN flew Krueger to Virginia Beach, where the two appeared live on the Valentine's Day show of ``The 700 Club.''
Krueger joined Equally Yoked because she wanted to meet Christian men.
``I was meeting a lot of people and going out on dates, but not the kind of men I wanted to marry,'' she said.
Krueger was impressed that her profile and Light's were nearly identical.
``The only thing that bothered me was that I lived on the West Coast and he was on the East Coast,'' she said. ``I thought, I'm going to meet this guy and then he's going to leave.''
On May 27, a year after they met, the two were married in Anaheim, Calif.
``It was like a Cinderella story,'' Karen Krueger Light said.
She gives God the credit for making the match.
``God completely arranged this whole thing from years ago,'' she said. ``I can see the whole picture. I have everything I waited my whole life for including the storybook wedding of my dreams and a honeymoon in Hawaii.
``Equally Yoked is really a blessing and a gift from God,'' she said. ``I had tried all other avenues to meet people, from churches, to dances, to bars which I didn't like because I was meeting all the wrong people. I didn't like confronting new people and being confronted.
``It provided a great opportunity to screen the person without saying I don't want to go out with you. It was an easy way to be in the background and have someone else work it out.''
When Joanne Waldecker saw the couple's story on television, it was the answer to one of her prayers. It seemed to be the business opportunity she had been seeking. She opened an Equally Yoked franchise in Virginia Beach.
``I'm totally amazed at the acceptance in the community,''she said. ``That was my major concern. I do advertise. But after six weeks, the responses are primarily word of mouth.''
The 9-year-old parent company, which began in Irvine, Calif., now has 15 affiliates.
Six weeks after Waldecker opened her business, she had 84 members, ranging in age from 23 to 69.
``We are averaging 12 to 15 new members a week,'' Waldecker said. ``It's a much needed service. It seems like people forget about Christian singles. They don't want to hang out in bars. That's unsafe. They don't want to settle for second-best.''
``With Equally Yoked, they learn a lot about the person before they ever go out with them,'' she said. ``This is not a computer match-making service. Members are in control. We are just the vehicle which offers the service and the information.''
The member makes the choice and submits an invitation. Equally Yoked makes the call.
``This is the nice part,'' Waldecker said. ``If the second party does not want to go out with the person who extended the invitation, they just R.S.V.P a decline.
``The thing that I like best about the Equally Yoked is the Christian aspect,'' she said. ``I'm 52 and was married three times before I became a Christian. I want to help counsel people who are looking for mates.''
Equally Yoked offers one-year, two-year or until-married memberships. Discounts are available for college students and for military personnel. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Eric Light met his wife, Karen, through a Christian dating service
operating in California.
KEYWORDS: CHRISTIAN DATING SERVICE by CNB