09/08/2026
Meet Matthew and Leah Tisthammer, the driving force behind New Life’s Marriage Ministry.
Matthew and Leah relaunched the ministry in 2023 with hearts to help marriages not just survive but flourish joyfully. The impetus behind their calling flickered to life in 2018 after a final request from Matthew’s late father, who was battling cancer.
“He was emotional about marriage vows and the way his wife had supported him,” Matthew said. “One day at breakfast, he asked me to spend my life teaching people the meaning of marriage vows. That was a yes.”
Well before that – exactly a week after their 2009 wedding - Matthew and Leah committed to investing in their own marriage through couple’s mentorship and marriage ministry at Real Life Ministries in Colorado Springs. Now, they are passionate about helping others gain the tools and community to grow their marriages and relationships with their spouses.
“When things get hard, the skills we learned in the light were able to guide us in the darkness,” said Leah.
They want their work to have a lasting impact on generations and communities for the Kingdom of God.
“We believe a healthy marriage will bring about a healthy family, a healthy church, and a healthy community. But it has to start on an individual, grassroots level.”
New Life’s Marriage Ministry teaches five rhythms for a Christ-centered marriage: Date Nights, Business Meetings, Together Meetings, Sabbath and Church. They stress the importance of making marriage a priority and practicing these habits while keeping Christ at the center, as cultural and personal issues continue to threaten the fabric of marriage.
“We want to remove the shame of asking for help and get rid of the stigma of showing up with an imperfect or broken marriage,” Leah said.
They have built a faithful tribe of nearly 25 marriage mentor couples from all walks of life – young, old, military, widowed, remarried, blended – who share their heart for the mission.
These couples provide one-on-one marriage mentorship, lead weekly small groups and are a steady presence at the ministry’s monthly Couples Night Out, where couples gather around tables, discipling one another. The night is filled with worship, teaching on the five rhythms, table talk, snacks and games.
In addition to Couples Night Out, the marriage ministry offers individual marriage support, a mentor certification track, relationship discipleship classes, premarital counseling and more. And yet, a quick conversation with them will easily reveal their passion to grow.
“It still feels like the ministry is young, and I’m excited as more people link arms with and dream of what can come about,” Matthew said.
The pair have been married for 17 years and have two teenage children, Blakely and Levi.
