‘Our Differences in Age and Skin Color Meant Nothing to Us.’

Constance Collins and Matthew Steuer, 24 years her senior, met five years ago as each was about to begin a teaching job in Africa.

When Constance Collins began dating Matthew Steuer in October 2018, some of her family members were not too thrilled.

“They had some strong reservations with Matthew,” said Ms. Collins, who is 32 and from College Park, Ga. “They said that Matthew and I didn’t belong together for two reasons: They did not like the fact that he was 24 years older than me and that he was a white man.”

The two met in August 2016 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where each began a teaching job at the American School of Kinshasa.