SUAMICO, Wis. — Christy Parise vowed her life to her husband Josh for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, and stands by him even after she found out he was paying prostitutes for sex.
"I was really angry, and I had to choose every single day to forgive him," said Christy.
Christy said she had no clue the man she was married to, the father of her four children, had a dark secret that could shatter their lives.
"Honestly, I didn't know anything about his struggles for a long time. We had been married for about 10 years, and I found out he had been arrested," said Christy.
Josh said he was arrested during a sting in Green Bay in 2014, but he said he lied to his wife, saying he had only solicited prostitutes one or two times when it was really happening much more than that.
"I would've never thought that it would've snowballed into, you know, what it did," said Josh.
Christy found out the truth when she read his arrest report and after spending time apart to heal, she decided to forgive him.
"It didn't happen overnight. There was a lot of fractured trust. I was living in an RV outside of our home, and then I lived with my parents for a little bit during that process of, so we separated," said josh.
"People have a hard time understanding, why would you forgive him when you can just move on? And I just knew that the Lord had a different plan for us, and I was thankful for that," said Christy.
Now, they are dedicated to helping others who find themselves in similar situations. Josh is helping men who struggle with sexual temptation,while Christy is helping the women who feel betrayed by their husbands. Josh is helping men who struggle with sexual temptation,while Christy is helping the women who feel betrayed by their husbands.
"I just know that when I was hurt, and I didn't know where to go, and the Lord did provide people to come alongside me to give me comfort and love and healing and sometimes tough words," said Christy.
She said she hopes to be that person to another woman in pain, even if their spouse doesn't feel sorry for what they did.
"I hope that by talking about it, and the prevalence that, you know, it's out there more than we realize, and so I hope that people don't live in the dark anymore. That they choose to walk in the light and choose to get help," said Christy.
Christy is beginning a 10 week study with women soon at her home Suamico to encourage them when they're feeling heartbroken and betrayed after their husbands do something like pay for sex, which law enforcement says feeds the problem of human trafficking in our area.
For more information on Ephesians 5 Ministries, click here.
Linked below are other resources to help fight against sex trafficking and sex addiction:
