Behind Every Good Pastor stands a Great Wife

Behind Dwight Nelson stands Karen. . . Behind Dr Derek Morris stands Bodil. . . Behind Mark Finley stands "Tinnie" (Earnestine).   But what about the rest of us pastors are our women just as supportive?   Yes and even more important to us.

Recently at the ordination of the 9 Pastors here in Jayapura my attention was drawn to the fact that standing 2-3 paces behind the ordination candidates were 9 women.   Many of these women have moved many times in support to difficult places in support of Pastors whose mission is constantly in a state of move.

9 Pastors wives stand as the Prayer of ordination is prayed over their husband Pastors.
There are very few callings or jobs in life that are more publically scrutinized than that of being a Pastor.   Frankly, if it were not for the calling of God most of us would find something far less open to peoples opinions to do for work.   You can finish working a 80 hour week and then find someone who says,  “Pastor I don’t know why you Never returned my phone call this week.   Honestly the last pastor was way better. . . he came to see my Grand-Nanny 3 times a day 8 days a week for the last 590 days of her life.”   (exaggeration intended for emphasis of the point). 
  
Dr/Pastor Bruce is backed by his wife, Dewi, who has moved with him for the past dozen plus moves.
So how do we Pastors make it through all the criticism and stressors of living in the public eye?   By God’s grace!   And in God’s grace he gave us a wife. . . who sometimes has to sit quietly by watching as the members verbally beat on us.   Sometimes she knows we deserved it yet she still supports us.    She is the fill in Pastor when we are called away for the Wedding, Funeral, Baby Dedication, Evangelism Meeting, Board meeting, Committee Meetings, Conference or Mission office, Youth Camping, Church building project, Baptism and countless other things that we preachers do.    She does all that while dealing with our sick kids and answering our phone calls and planning the social that should be planned by someone else but they decided “they aren’t going to do anything this year because they are needing to take a break.”
Pastors wives keep us Pastors going.   Without them we’d be non productive.   Pastors wives cook our favorite meals before that high stress event and then consul us after that high stress event doesn’t go as well as we’d hoped for.   Pastors wives have to give us that helpful challenge to our prideful selves that will keep us from getting to high on ourselves.

Mrs Dike (with the Mic) gives a charge to the pastors wives.
But enter the Pastor and his wife from the third world. . . They take the meaning of “behind every good man stands a great wife” to a new level.   I’m use to Pastors being able to stay in his district until God impresses him that its time to talk to the Conference office about a potential move.   But here, often with the first complaint from a church member, the Pastor is moved.    One retired pastor moved 36 times in his 40 year ministry.   That’s even more amazing when you consider that his last 5 years were spent in 1 house.    He and his wife had 4 children and 2 of them died while he served in a remote location where there is no phone service and then his wife died while he was taking a boat down river to try to get help for burying his children – Malaria.   He eventually remarried and as I talked with him he said, “Thank God for a Great wife but why did my first wife have to die?   That was probably the lowest I’ve ever felt in life.   I was feeling low about loosing my 2 youngest children but when I learned my wife died I just wanted to die myself.”
These Pastors wives have to be ready to move with only a day or two notice and often to locations that have no consideration to the needs of their family at the particular time.   Through giant waves and torrential tropical downpours.   Having to feed every guest who decides that He’s out of food, ‘So lets just go to the pastors home’ to dealing with disgruntled members.   She is the wind and sometimes even the wing that keeps the pastor going.   Pastors wives house hundreds each year as they pass by their house.   They give and give and give and get little in return.    Thank you ladies for your incredible support to your husbands and for keeping his head high even in stress-filled times.

As for this pastor.  I know that without my Ruth I’d be Ruth-less.