Jordan and Austin Hendrix are brothers separated by a mere 360 days.
“We’re twins five days of the year,” jokes Austin. At age 26, Austin is as extroverted as Jordan, 27, is an introvert. Both graduated from Crest High School. Austin lives in Iola and is the bookstore manager at Allen Community College; Jordan resides in Pittsburg and works for Midcon Cables of Joplin, Mo.
In an uncanny series of events, the brothers’ lives will soon be intertwined by another milestone: their wedding dates. Jordan will marry his fiancée this Saturday, Nov. 22, in St. Paul, Minn. Three weeks later, Austin, forever younger, gets married on Dec. 13.
It gets even stranger. The two are engaged to women they both met while students at Allen Community College. Both women are from Africa; Austin’s fiancée is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Jordan’s future wife is from Nigeria.
Each met his fiancée at a Bible study. And each will be his brother’s best man.
As Austin and Jordan look to the future, they and their spouses-to-be will share yet one more commonality: navigating a complicated immigration system in their quest to be together.
JORDAN met his fiancée two years ago at the Watershed Collective, back when the Christian faith group met at the home of David and Shaunna Sturgeon.
After graduating from Allen, she transferred to Minnesota State University in Mankato, where she is earning her B.S. in Biomedical Sciences. She’ll graduate next month and plans to continue her education, obtaining either her M.S. or PhD in the same field.
Jordan proposed to her in May. As the wedding approaches, he is his typically serene self. It will be a small wedding. Because of the cost, many of his future inlaws cannot attend.
In fact, it may be a while before he meets them. After the wedding, Jordan and his wife will apply for a marital visa, then permanent residency, and eventually, citizenship. But if the newlyweds were to leave the country before Jordan’s wife has established permanent residency, U.S. immigration officials would consider that abandoning the case and reject her request.
Jordan notes his fiancée hasn’t been back to Nigeria since she came to the United States.
“It’s been very hard on her,” says Jordan. “I understand the visa process takes about a year. It’s not cheap, and it’s also not guaranteed,” he says. “It’s a very involved process that can take several years.”
Including expenses for an immigration lawyer, Jordan estimates the costs to be around $3,500.
AUSTIN understands his brother’s predicament all too well.
Austin met his fiancée, Angèle Munganga, at Allen Community College’s Bible study. He remembers the date: January 28, 2020. He was a sophomore, Angèle a freshman.
Angèle is from the Democratic Republic of Congo but grew up in Burundi, a small country east of the DRC. Austin was excited to tell Angèle he knew where Burundi was — his roommate at Allen was from Tanzania, which borders Burundi.
