WITH the world and the internet highway at their fingertips, millennials are more adventurous to look for greener pastures elsewhere than their home country. Be encouraged with the inspiring story of Janzen and Cherrylene Zarzoso on how God led and opened the doors for them to move from Davao to New Zealand.
In one of our conversations in January 2017, we were talking about the possibility of traveling around the world and we thought New Zealand would be a great place to start this journey. In February 2017, I saw advertisements online about a free trip to New Zealand for a job interview, and the same ads were shared by friends on social media. I read that they were inviting 100 IT talents around the globe to come for an all-expense-paid trip for a week to have job interviews. I thought it was too good to be true, that it was some form of scam, or if it was legitimate, I wouldn’t be qualified enough to compete on a global scale.
My wife, however, received messages from people telling her to encourage me to try and apply, and if I don’t get the job, at least I get to see New Zealand for a week. I completed the registration form, and received an invitation to record a 2-minute video introducing myself and why I should be chosen in the top 100. I dislike seeing myself on camera. I recall with firm belief telling myself and my wife it was utterly and completely impossible for me to get chosen because I am far from being a world-class talent. I decided not to proceed with my application. The next morning, I did my usual routine and followed my Bible reading plan on Luke 18. When I read verse 27 where Jesus said, “What is impossible for people is possible with God,” I almost fell off my chair in amazement as if Jesus was present at that very moment and spoke the words audibly. I was stunned and I couldn’t continue reading. Jesus’s words gave me supernatural confidence to continue my application and eventually recorded my 2-minute video that same day and submitted it.
After the videos were reviewed, companies had to nominate the talents they wanted to interview and the applicant must have 3 nominations to secure their slot. I got 2 nominations and on the last day of the application, I got my third nomination which secured my slot in the top 100. One of the employers that nominated me informed me that although they wouldn’t be able to hire me due to some restrictions, they still gave me a nomination anyway. On that day, Jesus’ words in Luke 18:27 became a reality. I received an invitation to visit New Zealand and applied for the visa. I received my passport with the visa 2 days before I was to leave – a miracle in itself because my past applications for a visa in Canada 3 times, were also 3 times denied.
On the first day in NZ, I was overwhelmed to see the people from all over the world picked to be part of the program. We met the mayor of the capital city Wellington and the people behind the campaign. I discovered that there were 48,000 applicants who tried to get the coveted seats we were in. After a week in the city and the series of interviews, we all went back to our own respective countries and waited for any job offers from the companies to be finalized (To be continued).
