Donna S. Thomas

January 18, 1928 - August 24, 2023

Donna Anne Stanley Thomas, 95, of Indianapolis, Indiana died peacefully on August 24, 2023, after a lifetime faithfully serving her Lord. She was a courageous woman of faith all her life who went to great lengths to share the good news of Jesus Christ with tens of thousands of people around the world.

Donna was born on the Bynum family farm in Tulsa, Oklahoma on January 18, 1928, to Hazel Bynum Stanley and Charles Roy Stanley, lifetime residents of the city. She left Tulsa after high school to attend Anderson College, Anderson, Indiana where she married Charles Franklin “Chuck” Thomas of Dayton, Ohio in 1948. At the invitation of her uncle and aunt, Elmer and Vera Kardatzke, they moved to Wichita, Kansas and in 1950 founded Pawnee Avenue Church of God where they made lifelong friends, she played the piano and organ, and they served together as pastors for over 25 years.

In 1964 Donna and Chuck made a trip to Saltillo, Mexico to visit with missionary friends. Passionate to share what they saw with others, they began a series of eyewitness missions trips by bus inspiring others to see and support missions around the world. In 1968 they purchased a 40 passenger Convair 240 commercial aircraft to extend the ministry and established Project Partner with Christ, a faith-based, innovative, global mission organization focused on challenging U.S. Christians to see, engage, and support missions with a global perspective. In 1973 a gift to Project Partner of the forty-seven-foot yacht Sea Angel was fitted for medical and mission work and launched into the remote rivers of Latin America. In 1976 Project Partner sold the Convair and purchased a faster 27 passenger Fairchild F27 turbo prop aircraft. They also began chartering cruise ships for annual Eyewitness Missions Tours, as well as adding child education and medical mission services. (www.ProjectPartner.org)

Her beloved Chuck passed away April 1, 1992, and Donna assumed leadership of Project Partner. She retired from Project Partner in 1999 and later founded Christian Vision Mission to further her speaking and writing.

Over her lifetime Donna, an ordained minister of the Church of God (Anderson, IN) for 45 years, traveled to over 100 countries across 6 continents, taking thousands of people to see missions first-hand, and actively supporting countless national leaders, missionaries, pastors, churches, schools, hospitals, and medical centers. She was a frequent speaker and author, writing about her adventures of faith wrote seven books that cover her life with Chuck and her enthusiasm to be a “world-changing Christian.” She has an honorary Ph.D from Mid-America Christian University where Donna and Charles are honored with The Thomas School of International Studies. Her published works include Climb Another Mountain, 2000, First Look, Then Start Talking 2007, Faces in the Crowd, 2008, Becoming a World-Changing Family, 2008, The Why Not Factor, 2010, Hope For Today and Tomorrow, 2013, and How to Retire From Ministry, 2015.

Donna will always be remembered for her beaming smile, quick wit, and passion to share the gospel. She was always quick to engage wait staff at a restaurant, strike up a conversation with a stranger, and give generously to those in need.

“If I live to be eighty-five years old and am sitting in a rocking chair on my porch, what will I see as harvest for the Kingdom of God? What will this entire effort amount to? Certainly, I will be able to see people brought to the Lord, workers challenged and trained to carry on, an attitude of celebration and satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. What, however, will give me the greatest joy? I believe it is knowing my life made a difference in the world for Christ. Investing in other people, enabling thousands to see the world and choose how they can make a difference for Christ, and working with national leaders; these things bring me joy and fulfillment.” – Donna Thomas, Climb Another Mountain

She was a devoted to her family, taking her children and grandchildren on trips across the globe to mentor, challenge and inspire them to see how God is working around the world. Her family will always remember her gold shoes, her red coat, her big smile and hearing her say “Glory!” with both thumbs up before meals. We will miss her, but she now resides in eternity with her husband, Chuck, her mother, father, brother, and great granddaughter. Her memory will live on in the hearts of tens of thousands who she loved and touched.

Donna was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Franklin Thomas, her parents, Hazel Bynum Stanley and Charles Roy Stanley, her brother Charles Roy Stanley II, and her great granddaughter, Olivia Peterson. She is survived by three sons, Charles Mark (m. Susan), Paul Stanley (m. Dawn), and John David, (m. Nancy) with nine grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

Memorial Services:

Ohio - Friday, October 27, 2023,

• Visitation 11:00am-1:00pm EST, Memorial Service at 1:00pm

• Breitenbach/Anderson Funeral Home, 517 South Sutphin Street, Middletown, Ohio, 513-423-9443; www.breitenbach-anderson.com

Indiana - Saturday, October 28, 2023

• Visitation 9:30am to 11:00am EST, Memorial Service at 11:00am

• Church At The Crossing, 9111 Haverstick Road, Indianapolis, Indiana, 513-423-9443,

www.golove.org

• October 28 Memorial Service Live video streaming at 11:00am EST via this link:

o https://boxcast.tv/view/memorial-service-xao1fswlstnqlywmmntl

The Donna Thomas Memorial Fund

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate your honoring Donna with a memorial contribution to Project Partner. For more information on the Memorial Fund and the history of the ministry, visit www.projectpartner.org