Pastors' Wives Ministry Care Packages

For some time, I have been thinking about our pastors' wives here in Mexico, and wanting to encourage them in their ministry...to help equip them to do the job of supporting their husband and enhancing their own ministry and impact in their local church. I have talked to several people, our Missions Director John Parker included, about this idea and have received their support.

I would like to put together a Pastors' Wives Ministry Care Package as a ministry arm of our Bible Institute Classes coming up in April - 13 through 18 (more on that later). Many of these pastors' wives cannot attend the classes although they would be welcome to. They stay at home, many times caring for children, home and even conducting services in their church in their husband's absence. I would like to assure them of our love and concern and that we value their contribution and ministry to their local church.

With this in mind, I recently went shopping for a resource book/Bible study guide for women in the Bookstore at the Rio Grande Bible Institute - a treasure trove of Spanish materials. I found an excellent book on How to Be a Woman of Prayer - Como Ser una Mujer de Oracion - complete with Bible study guides and discussion questions: a wonderful ministry tool. I have ordered one of these for each pastors' wife.

You might be wondering about the pastors' wives themselves - how many do we have? what are their names? Let me introduce you to them. I will give you her name and church first, then a photo of each one.

Hermana Esther - pastor's wife at Soledad




Hermana Areli - pastor's wife at La Florida


Hermana Edith - pastor's wife at Rio Bravo



Hermana Graciela - pastor's wife at Santa Apolonia



Hermana Sylvia - conference president and pastor's wife at Saltillo


Hermana Adalia - pastor's wife at San Rafael



Hermana Macedonia - pastor's wife at Pedregales



Hermana Rosa - pastor's wife at Cuchicuato

Hermana Anna - pastor's wife in Oaxaca City


Hermana Chele - pastor's wife in Jayacatlan (Oaxaca)

There are 3 other pastor's wives that I do not have pictures of. Pastor Panchito's wife in Galeana, Pastor Desiderio's wife in San Gabriel and Pastor Reveriano's wife in Las Palmas. Hopefully I will be able to post pictures of them very soon.


I have also included our Bible Institute President's wife - Hermana Isela. She has a ministry of support to her husband, much like a pastor's wife. He is very active in the local church there in Rio Bravo.




Now that you've seen their faces and know where they minister, would you be interested in helping with this project?

~ Funds are needed to cover the cost of the books we have ordered - about $105.

~ Nellie Miller, my late grandfather Miller's wife, is hand knitting dish cloths for each pastor's wife to include in her care package - thank you Grandma Nellie!

~ We'd like to include other small, compact items that would be beneficial for our pastor's wives to use in their ministry, whether it be entertaining guests, conducting Bible studies, etc....

~ Do you make or sell something that you'd be interested in donating to this project? Keep in mind - you would need to act rather quickly to gather the materials, ship them to our Texas address (see sidebar), or contribute money so that we can purchase the items here. Also, it would need to be a relatively compact item that we can include in the package and send home with her pastor husband in his suitcase, if she's not able to attend.

~ Maybe you cannot contribute at this time, but would like to adopt one of these pastor's wives as your Sister in Ministry - thinking especially of stateside pastor's wives here, but really anyone can participate. Let me know and I'll be responsible for communicating that to each pastor's wife in her Care Package card.

Thank you for considering this special Pastors' Wives Ministry Care Package Project!

Melodie Sankey