Photo credit: Ben Smallbone

Congratulations goes out to Rebecca St. James who is one of Christian music’s most recognized and beloved artist. She is engaged to be married!

St. James will wed Jacob Fink, a former missionary, on a date soon to be announced. The Christmas Day proposal came at Rebecca’s family farm in Franklin, Tennessee where she was presented a brilliant, solitaire diamond ring. The groom-to-be asked her parents, David and Helen, for their blessing prior to him surprising Rebecca with the engagement ring and his request for her hand in marriage.

Jacob, originally from Colorado, now resides in Southern California. He spent two years as a missionary in South Africa before attending college and graduating summa cum laude with a degree in communications and an emphasis on film production. He worked in television production prior to his current career in music. The couple met through mutual friends in Los Angeles.

St. James stated in a communication to friends: “We are truly amazed at finding our dreams and ideals met in the love we’ve found. We are exceedingly grateful for this precious gift from God.”

Rebecca’s signature song, “Wait For Me,” released in 2000, inspired national attention to the ideals of purity before marriage—a self-lived message she has taken to young people worldwide from her concert stages and through her best-selling books and personal testimony. She has shared her committment to wait until she is married and now that day will come to past. True love can wait and she is proof of that statement.

2011 will be a milestone year for St. James, who recently signed with Provident Label Group’s Beach Street/ Reunion Records. Her new studio album I Will Praise You releases on April 5 with its first single “Shine Your Glory Down” impacting radio on Feb. 11.

Currently planning promotional and concert tour dates, and a wedding, Rebecca is also putting final touches on her ninth book, “What Is He Thinking?” (Hachette/Faithwords), which is due out in September.