Church Planting Wives

• DONATE to MNA Church Planting Wives
• Brochure (.PDF)
• Events & Conferences
• Parakaleo Home Page

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.   I Thessalonians 2:8

Greetings from Parakaleo!

Welcome to the Parakaleo (Church Planting Wives Ministry) MNA informational page.

We are Shari Thomas, Tami Resch, and Leanne Downing. The name Parakaleo is a Greek word meaning “coming alongside”.  Having been co-laborers with our husbands in church-plants and experiencing the work and frustrations of the job first hand, Parakaleo’s mission is to “come alongside” church planting wives in coaching, caring, connecting and celebrating the life of church planting and the love of Christ for us.

If you are a church-planting wife, you will know the unique challenges confronting you. Many of us have navigated these challenges, but it has been alone, untrained, and without resources. Our research* shows the top challenges reported by church planting wives are:

1. Intensified stress on the marriage
2. Lack of a support system and training for the job
3. Lack of understanding her identity in Christ leading to an inability to rely on Christ
4. Feelings of isolation and loneliness
5. Boundary ambiguity especially in relation to family, time, physical space, carrying emotional burdens, and her role.
6. Exhaustion stemming from overwork
7. Lack of time for self-care:

• Sabbath rest
• Personal recreation
• Receiving coaching and training
• Developing friends

8. Intensified stress in parenting especially as her husband may withdraw his leadership and support in the home as he gives more to the church
9. Expectations from herself, others, and her husband
10. Lack of understanding her own personal calling thus impacting her relationships to the church, her husband, and her family

 

Parakaleo  helps church-planters wives and families with these and other stresses. We  believe the success of a church planting effort is directly affected by the training of both people in the church planting team - the husband and the wife.

Parakaleo provides coaching for wives, and connection with other church planting teams. This is in an environment of care and celebration of the work of God in the midst of an extremely hard job. We don’t tiptoe around issues, but instead, take a truthful look at our lives and work; the joys, sorrows, victories and struggles, confidant of God’s renewing work towards us.

For more information, please look at our web site parakaleo.us

          

We Invite Your Prayer and Financial Support

1. The ministry of Parakaleo is in need of prayer as we minister to the church planters.  The church planters themselves need showers of prayer.  To sign up for our quarterly e-mail  letter please contact   sthomas@pcanet.org or tresch@pcanet.org. Parakaleo keeps all e-mails and e-mail addresses confidential.
   
   
2. Financial contributions to this ministry are greatly appreciated! We depend solely on your financial support. Your support may be designated to an individual staff person or the ministry at large. Donate online or mail your contribution to:

-Mission to North America

 1700 N. Brown Road, Suite 101

 Lawrenceville, GA 30043-8122

 Designate: Church Planting Wives Ministry

3. Will your church support us?  Please tell your church and others about this young ministry.  Church planter’s wives are the forgotten minister to the minister and need your help.

Thank you.

 

In His service,

The Parakaleo Team

*A Study of PCA Church Planting Spouses Stress and Satisfaction Levels.  Shari Thomas 2005

last revised 9/11/07