What Would God Have You Do?

As I mentioned in my last blog, Alice and I recently returned from India after three months of working side by side with Indian pastors and missionaries to bring the gospel to the lost of that great country. I can’t even begin to tell you all that we have witnessed in that time. 

We covered seventeen villages and cities during that time going all the way from Tenali to Bapatla, to Vijayawada to Pithapuram, to Paralakhemundi to Hyderabad, and then to do VBS in Bangalore and Kolkata, a total of about 2469 miles. I wish I could tell you all that we saw, heard, and experienced. God has so richly blessed this work, immensely blessed it.

It was so amazing to see how God worked to change lives, setting them free from the bondage of sin,

and adding them to the family of God through the life changing power of the Holy Spirit. In it they

Please Pray for Chandrappa

found hope for both this life and the life to come. There was Chandrappa, who had lost his left leg twenty three years ago due to leprosy. As I talked with him, hugged him, and prayed for him I felt the longing in his heart for something better; to know there is someone who really cares and loves him

These past few months we saw prayers answered and over 19 people saved, even in the middle of great hardship. That is what this ministry is about—to meet people in their need and to do it with a beauty and the splendor of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its full authority. I pray that in the days ahead you will ask God what He would have you do in coming alongside us. Without you, we cannot truly fulfill this calling. 

If God has blessed you, I pray you will ask Him what He would have you do in sharing with us as we head into the second half of this year. Anything you can do to help, it all comes together and gives us that encouragement to move forward and to meet the many opportunities God has placed before us.

Thank you for being a faithful follower and we pray that you will truly be blessed and that God will direct you in all you do. And please know that we as a team will be enormously grateful. May God bless you. 

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)

If you would like to help us be the hands and feet of Jesus just go here to DONATE NOW.

—Russ Sharrock

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If you will be in the Stillwater, OK area on Thursday, August 3rd please join us for our annual "Jewels of India" Fundraising Banquet. It will be held at The Pines, 110 E. McElroy in Stillwater. UNICEF estimates there are about 11 million street children in India. Please help us provide education, medical care, food, clothing, and the love of Christ to the poor and destitute children of India. Doors are open at 6 PM and dinner begins at 6:30 PM. You can go HERE to RSVP. 

Hope to see ya there!

Living God's Word

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” 

(1 Peter 3:15)

Deepa

As followers of Christ, we want to share what God has done in our lives and the hope that we have in Him. Each of us has an amazing story of God’s deliverance from death to life that He wants us to share over and over for His glory. The question is: how is the integration of God’s Word into our own lives drawing others to ask about the hope they see in us.

For Alice and I, part of our ongoing story of God’s grace involves the joy filled opportunity to spend the three months each year traveling throughout India. Some might wonder what we do when we are in the US. Yes, we speak at churches, make phone calls, write e-newsletters, send emails, tweet, and post on Facebook, etc., but we like to focus on the ministry to India, where the ongoing challenges encourage a deeper walk with the Lord.

While holding VBS for children, offering food, clothing, and an encouraging word with Lepers and

 widows, we also share moments of laughter and joy as we connect with those in these projects. We sing songs and tell them about the hope we have in Jesus, and invite our new friends to accept Jesus

Leper Colony, Bangalore

into their hearts.

The Lord has blessed us and those who have a part in these ministries by giving us the words to speak in grace about His love. It is an exciting experience to see God’s Word come alive through stories, music, laughter, tears, and the smiles of His children.

Live out God’s Word each day so you have the opportunity to share your hope in Christ. Your own story continues; connect with a cause in a deeper way in the next year by checking out our website today and let God use you to change a life. 

If you would like to partner with AIM you can Donate Today to change a life for tomorrow. 

--Russ Sharrock

Reaching the Nations for Christ

What is the most important thing on God’s heart today?

All Christians understand that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again from the grave so that mankind might be brought back to into a right relationship with God. But that was not the end of the story and God’s plan on earth is still unfolding. And it is the reason why Jesus has still not returned.

God wants the whole world to know about the great sacrifice His Son made on the cross. And He wants everyone to have an opportunity to hear, and have a chance to accept or reject His Son’s sacrificial gift for their sins.

But there is one last sign that is rarely mentioned that must take place before Christ’s return to the earth: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)

Ganguwada, Odissa (Odisha)

This is what I believe is the most important thing on God’s heart today! God is bringing in the harvest, but only after the full numbers of Gentiles have come in will He bring an end to this world in its present form. 

We must understand how God measures the harvest. The Bible defines the task clearly where we are given a glimpse of the time when the harvest has been fully gathered in Revelation 7:9, 10, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

This is exciting news! We are told there will be worshipers of Jesus around the throne from “…every, nation, tribe, people, and language…” And just to make it clear God also mentions it in Revelation 5:6-10 and again in Revelation 14:6. 

God always completes things perfectly. He created the first divisions among the human race at the Tower of Babel by splitting people into, “…clans and languages, in their territories and nations. These are the clans of Noah's sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.” (Genesis 10:31, 32)

The whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation carries two themes. The first is the redemptive story of Jesus, and the second, which seems to have been lost on so many people today, is God’s plan to reach the nations.

Without understanding this, a Christian’s life will lack a key ingredient and sense of purpose. Jesus didn’t die on the cross just so you can have salvation; He died on the cross to save the nations. God doesn’t bless you and me just so we can be happy. He blesses us so we can reach the nations! And not just every country, but “…nation, tribe, people and language.” Only when this happens will Jesus return; “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)

Let’s not deceive ourselves into thinking the work of reaching all the ethnic groups, tribes, languages, and people groups have been done. It has not! There are Christians that have sat on their backside for decades while they waited for the Lord’s return. Tragically, their lives have been wasted and they have done nothing for the Lord.

After 2000 years since Jesus gave us the Great Commission how much progress do you think we have made? One of the best sources of information is the Joshua Project. They have classified an unreached people group as having less that 2% Christian. Using this definition, how many of the 16,586 people groups do you think remain to be properly “reached” with the gospel of Jesus?

The answer may shock you: After 2000 years there are still 7,165 unreached people groups in the world today!   

From this point of view, the church is just past the halfway point toward the goal, no wonder Jesus has not returned yet. We are grateful to God that He has called us to Asia, because 72% of all remaining unreached people groups are found there.

Hundreds of millions of Asians are still waiting to hear the good news of Jesus Christ for the first time in their lives. Not only individuals, but whole tribes and ethnic groups remain totally unevangelized.

India remains the greatest challenge to the gospel in the world today. It is the home to 2,599 distinct

Lombadi Tribal Lady

groups. Of that number, 2,365 (91%) of them remain unreached by the gospel. Who will reach the Bhattra of Orissa (Odisha) or the tiny Muriya tribe who number less than 100 people?

Does God care if anyone reaches the Muriya? Are they too small to worry about? Not at all! Jesus died for the Muriya. They are a distinct nation who will one day have believers worshiping the Lamb around His throne.

The Lord Jesus is waiting for His full inheritance to come in, and it is a great privilege to be able to play a part in seeing this happens as we serve the Church in Asia together.

If you would like to join us in reaching the unreached for Christ you can click here to Donate Now. 

--Russ Sharrock

Gospel Risk-takers

In the time it takes to read this page, another Christian will be killed because of his or her faith in Jesus Christ. 160,000 believers around the world will be slaughtered this year alone…simply because they love Jesus.

This is not a news flash. The physical risk of going public for the glory of God among satanically dominated peoples is obvious.In Odisha (Orissa) state, three months of intimidation and assaults in two villages in eastern India has left four Christians hospitalized and others injured, two houses damaged, and the entire Christian community unable to do business or draw water from the town well.

The boycott of the Christians of Dangarguda village, led by some Hindu nationalist residents, began in April. The Christians were prohibited from buying and selling, and from fetching drinking water from the public well because of their faith in Christ. In many regions nationalist Hindus enjoy popular and bureaucratic support in their campaign to make India a purely Hindu society.

Jesus predicted that you will probably be disposed of quickly and without pause like a lion eats a lamb: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8). That‘s the risk of identifying with Jesus in this world; and too many are frightened at the thought.

Scripture describes the killing of God’s people as horrible, yet beautiful. Horrible because of the indescribable torment endured by so many; but beautiful in their humble Christ-likeness as they are afflicted, persecuted, struck down; but not destroyed (2 Cor. 4). When believers are crushed by suffering, the aroma of Christ stretches out even more widely and rapidly among the peoples. 

This is biblical boldness: to plow through hostile resistance with the gentleness of Christ and loving the hate out of those enemies of the cross. However, I dread a greater danger than death. I dread the consequences of not taking a risk for the gospel. What will I suffer if I refuse to suffer for Christ? What will I lose if I refuse to lose my life for Jesus for the nations? What glory (Paul‘s word – Romans 8:18) will I miss out on if I avoid suffering for the gospel?

There is something in suffering for the gospel that produces supernatural affection and compassion 

Puttasingh Village, Odisha

within you towards those who are harming you. At the same time, when one can praise God instead of denying him in the midst of suffering, unbelievers take notice. Some will be saved, which causes more persecution, which will fuel even more passionate and bold sharing of the gospel.

The result is that whole new regions are quickly populated with believers and churches. This is how suffering and persecution nearly always advance both personal sanctification in the sufferer and the more rapid, wide-ranging growth of the gospel among the persecutors.

There is nothing more powerful in evangelism than a life humbly laid down for Christ and the gospel. Gospel risk-takers are missionary madmen (2 Cor. 11:23). But God is glorified by them; and the world‘s unharvested fields need many more like them.

--Russ Sharrock 

Seek First the Kingdom

All around us today we hear Christians bemoaning the world’s descent into the dark hole of moral and ethical decay.  Listen to what these men have to say about the situation,

“When I look at the younger generation, I despair for the future of civilization.”

“The world is passing through troublesome times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or of old age. They are impatient of all restraint and they talk as though they know everything, and what passes as wisdom to us is foolishness to them. As for the girls they are immodest and unwomanly in speech, behavior, and dress.”

Can you guess who made the above quotes? Was it a church leader unhappy with the direction of society today, or someone on one of the nightly talk shows? It may surprise you to know the first quote was made by Aristotle in about 300 BC, and the second was made by Peter the Monk in 1274 AD. 

The point is that as followers of Jesus Christ we need to be careful to not allow ourselves to slide into fear and inactivity. For thousands of years God’s people have been saddened by the decay of the societies they lived in. Every generation thinks they have it worse than the one before. Even Solomon stated, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9, 10)

We are told that 4000 years ago Lot was, “…distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)…” (1Peter 2:7, 8)

It should not surprise us that the world is falling apart around us. It has been every since sin first came into “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life…”  

Children of the Nile Project in Bangalore

the world. As believers we are told to,

(Philippians 2:14-16)

Most Christians we have spoken to from different countries and backgrounds are concerned about the state of their nations, the economy, corrupt governments, and most of all the moral decay spreading through their society. Many believers seem obsessed on the problems around them. And while these problems are real, they can easily be used by Satan to distract a Christian’s focus away from where it should be.

As Disciples of Christ it is imperative that we look upward and beyond the troubles of everyday life and society.  If we become isolated we will die. There is a great lesson for us in the Dead Sea. Did you know there are 153 different streams and rivers of fresh water that flow into the Dead Sea, yet nothing can live and grow in it except a few bacteria and other organisms. That is because there is not a single outlet for all that water, so everything that flows into it dies because it has nowhere to go. The Dead Sea does not have a single outlet.

This is a lesson for every denomination, church, and Christian; without an active and effective outlet for your faith you too will become stagnant and die. 

Even though the world appears to be a frightening place, it’s not the time for Christians to bury their heads in the sand, or run for the hills. Doing this plays into the hands of the devil, who wants all of Jesus’ followers to think the job is completed and that their own needs and self-preservation are important. The opposite is true. Jesus tells us, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

Remember that Jesus did not say we take care of our needs first, but that we should, “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

Our focus as believers should never change. First, we should be totally committed to know, love, and obey God and His Word. Second, we must always focus on what God is focused on—reaching the unreached nations of the world.

Only then will Jesus return for His bride, and only then will the seventh angel sound his trumpet in heaven and proclaim, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)

--Russ Sharrock 

Sharing Your Heart

Prayer is the foundation of who we are and all that we do. The outpouring of love for our family, and for our ministry, that we receive from prayers by our brothers and sisters in Christ is truly humbling.

Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the prayers of his children, we are encouraged and carried through the spiritual warfare that we encounter as follower of Christ.

Alice and I continue to pray for God’s direction in our lives as we wait upon the Lord to make His plans clear. It’s been a blessing and a challenge for both of us. When we became missionary disciples, we did so with the confidence that God would be with us as we went forward in our call.

We invite each of you to join us as we go through seven days of continuous prayer for God’s leading, both for us and for AIM, as we seek the desire of His heart.

We all go through ups and downs in this life. And we need each other as the body of Christ to support and encourage one another. It’s also our joy to pray for our fellow global Christians, and sharing life and ministry together.

We invite you to join us on Facebook or send us an email at aimission@hotmail.com to connect with us. Be praying how you can reach out to others in your church or small group, coworkers, neighbors, and around the world, to encourage one another in prayer.

As followers of Christ, we all travel on the path where He has put us as the hands and feet of Christ, sharing the truth and hope of the gospel. We have the great privilege to communicate with the Creator of the universe, our heavenly Father, at any time.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 we are told to, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Take the time today to share your heart with the Father.

--Russ Sharrock

Let's Discover the "Now" of God

One of the greatest promises of God is found in 1 Corinthians 2:9, "...No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." The problem is we don't accept these promises as for "now" and miss out on discovering the "now" of God.

We do this with power and presence of sin in our lives, thinking that "someday we will know freedom, but not as long as we are in this body." And then along comes the apostle Paul who keeps going because he has discovered that "...you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:22-23)

Also, we do this in the presence and power of sin in the lives of other people, giving in to the life-killing thinking that we can't change anything, so why try. But then along comes an army of Spirit-filled people who are charging forward because they have discovered how the power of the Holy Spirit can help them  defeat the storms of this world with the light of the gospel that can change lives, now!

What if the world experienced a true life-changing revival? What if we surrendered ourselves toGod's promises and allowed Him to in us and through us? What would you and I discover? Think of the power that would be unleashed. Think of the impact we could have on the world.

By the way, in 1 Corinthians 2:9 Paul is paraphrasing Isaiah 64:4 that says, "Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him."

Are you ready? Let's discover the NOW of God!

--Russ Sharrock