Go PreachTom Shanklin Ministries August 2008

Project WorldTSM’s missions visionSee Page 6

Go ye into all the world and preach. . . (Mark 16:15)

Pastor Craig and Barb NelsonCalvary Lutheran Church, Minong, WISee the report on our meeting on page 3

Our ScheduleSunday, August 3, 10 a.m., For His Glory Church, Log Cabin, City Park, Spring Grove, Minnesota. 507-725-2984.

Wednesday, August 6, 7 p.m., Living Word Church, Redwood Falls, Minne-sota. 507-644-5528.

Saturday-Sunday, August 9-10., Res-toration Christian Assembly Church, Pewaukee, Wisconsin. 262-691-3336

Sunday, August 24, 10 a.m., Grace Community Church, Turtle Lake, Wis-consin 715-986-4700.

August 26-29, Attending Billy Gra-ham School of Evangelism, Hender-sonville, North Carolina.

Sunday, August 31, 10 a.m., For His Glory Church, Log Cabin, City Park, Spring Grove, Minnesota. 507-725-2984.

September 4-15, Mistissini, Cree Na-tion, Quebec, Canada.

Sunday, Oct. 5, 10:30 a.m., White Earth Assembly of God, White Earth, Minnesota; 4 p.m., Rice Lake Area Fellowship, Rice Lake, Minnesota, White Earth Indian Reservation.

Contact us to schedule services in your church or community.

Our Mission Tom Shanklin Ministries is uniting with the Body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission to reach the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Our PartnersGo Preach and all the outreaches of Tom Shanklin Ministries are made possible by the prayers and financial support of our faithful partners.

For more information, messages, preaching and Gospel materials, check us out on the internet.

Tom Shanklin MinistriesTom and Susan Shanklin

PO Box 4144Mankato, MN 56002

E-mail: tom@gopreach.netWeb: www.gopreach.net

Dear Friends, This month I would like to share a report on some of our recent meetings. It is exciting to see what God will do if we are just faithful to go. This ministry is called to reach out to all people, rather than a particular age group, race or denomination. I thank God that He has opened doors for us to minister to people from all walks of life as well as different religious backgrounds. We have been able to minister to Baptists and Pentecostals, Lutherans and Methodists, old and young, Asians, Africans, Native Ameri-cans, and Europeans. I thank God He loves us all. He sent

Jesus to die for the sins of all the world. Thanks to those of your who have been praying for our meetings. You really are helping with your prayers. You are keeping us going with the great-est message the world has ever known. This month we have some more Hope and Healing Rallies in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Please agree with me that many lives will be changed. Also, please pray for my time at the Billy Graham School of Evangelism August 26-29, that the Lord would use it to open my eyes to how to reach many more people for Him. In September, I will be traveling to northern Quebec among the Cree Nation there. Many of the people I will be ministering to will be preparing then to travel out into the “bush” (wilderness) to hunt, which is their livelihood. Our meetings will be a spiritual boaster shot to prepare them for several months without the benefits of local church ministry. Our next trip to India is tentatively scheduled for January, 2009. Please pray with me. I’m desiring to take a team of ministers this time. Pray that the Lord would handpick the team and orchestrate our itinerary. Also, please pray for the resources for travel, follow up materials to be translated, Bibles, and conference and crusade expenses. Susan and I thank God for you and pray continually for you!

To every creature. . .This ministry is called to reach out to all people, rather than a particular age group, race or denomination.

Letters from our friends. . . Encouraged and inspired We both seemed to be encouraged, inspired, and received God’s blessing through the words you penned in the May newsletter. We all need His presence in our lives as the Source (or rather our Source). It’s es-sential and necessary. We thank God for those times of vistation brought by the Holy Spirit. God bless you both in these days of your ministry, and your traveling. In Christ we live and dwell. C.S., Minnesota.

Thank God for another day I thank the Lord and praise Him everyday for giving me another day. Thank you so very much for praying for me. I don’t feel so depressed anymore. I’m so very thankful for you and Susan. We need more people like you. I pray every day for your ministry. Thank you! A.S, South Dakota

My knee is still well Thank God for you combined ministries and the far-reaching op-portunities and for your farm, which provides sustenance and health to the physical. This is wise preparation for the future. Your articles supply food for the soul and humor. My knee is still well. It will be two years since you prayed for it, Tom. B.S., Illinois

I had a great time with Pastor Jack Moore of Christian Life Fellowship at Mission, South Dakota, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in late June. I also was able to meet his brother Robert, who is associate pastor, and his mother and father, Pastor and Mrs. Marrles Moore, who are founders of the church. About a half a dozen people came forward to make decisions for the Lord. Several of those were first time decisions. We prayed for many others for healing and other problems. It was wonderful to see the people open up to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I believe lives were touched, hearts were changed and the church was encouraged. Thank you for being a part of this through your prayers! The reservation has faced tremendous problems concerning suicide, especially among the young people. Literally, hundreds of young people have attempted to take their own lives in recent years. It is said that the reservation has the highest suicide rate in the world. Poverty, hopelessness, gang violence, drugs, alcohol and incest are all cited as reasons for the epidemic, but at its root, all of this is spiritual. And spiritual problems require spiritual solutions. It’s only as people learn who they are in Christ, and their authority in Jesus name, that they can remain free. I am impressed that we need to continue sow the Gospel Seed at Rosebud, and elsewhere, if we are go-ing to see lasting results. Through prayer we can prepare the ground for the sowing of the Word. Then, we need to follow through with the preaching of the Gospel. Pray that the Lord would send laborers into His harvest field at Rosebud and around the world.

Calvary Lutheran Church, Minong, Wisconsin I was with Pastor Craig and Barb Nelson at Cal-vary Lutheran Church in Minong, Wisconsin in July. Pastor Craig and the congregation had worked hard to promote

the meetings. Members of the congregation are praying and inviting friends. Pastor Craig went around the town, putting up posters and inviting people, including three lo-cal bars. He shared that in each of the three bars he had special encounters with people who need Jesus in their lives. He shared God’s love with them and invited them to the meetings. Statistics show that over 90 percent of the people who come to the Lord, come as the result of the personal witness of a friend or relative. That is why when we go into a church or community, we do our best to try and mobilize the Christians as a soul-winning army to reach out to their circle of friends and relatives. In this way our meetings are more productive in reaching un-churched people. There was a wonderful sense of the presence of God as members of the Calvary Lutheran Church, along with people from other churches in the area, gathered in the name of Jesus. Mark and Majel Utyro of Northwoods Community Church in Solon Springs led us into the pres-ence of God in worship. I was impressed to share briefly on Friday night from Psalm 133 on “how good and pleas-ant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” I then spoke on “Knowing God” on Friday night. On Saturday, I spoke on “The Presence of God.” There was great freedom to minister God’s Word and we all received a great refreshing. I led the people in prayer for a closer walk with the Lord or for restoration of fellowship with Him. We had prayer for the sick and for other needs. It was great to see that! On Sunday morning I had planned to share a dif-ferent message, but when I arrived at the church, I had a sense that I was to preach on “The Prodigal Son.” It was confirmed when I heard Barb Nelson playing the song “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling” on the piano. At the end of the message several people expressed the need for restoration with their heavenly Father and prayed a prayer of salvation.

Thanks for heeding God’s CallDear Tom, Thank you for coming here. We were blessed by your messages during the three-day weekend. Just as a word of confirmation on your message on Sunday, “Softly and Tenderly” was not originally in the works to be a hymn for Sunday. But when play-ing it, Barb felt the urge to put it in and then second guessed herself thinking this didn’t tie into the theme of the weekend. You mentioned that it was when it was played that you felt the Lord speaking to you to speak on the Prodigal Son. So this is a word of con-firmation that your message on Sunday hit the mark and the messages for Friday and Saturday were also great teaching moments. Thank you for communion with God and listening to His call to go to all places. You reminded us of our call and your words from Scripture were of encouragement to reach back to the basics and win (through the Holy Spirit) lives for Christ and to nurture them in the Word, and also to grow in the giftings as one nurtures one’s personal relationship with Jesus through spending time in His presence. Thanks for heeding God’s call and being His obedient servant! I thank my God in all my re-membrance of you! Pastor Craig Nelson Calvary Lutheran Church, Minong, Wisconsin

Pastor Jack Moore

On the Road. . .

By Tom Shanklin Jesus was motivated by the needs of those around Him. He looked for ways to help them, to heal them, to comfort them, to mend them. Jesus was all about people, and bringing the love of His Father to them. As He ministered to the people, he saw the great needs. They fainted and were scattered abroad, like sheep without a shepherd. Things have not changed all that much in 2,000 years. Today, the multitudes also are fainting and scattered. They are scattered about by all the philosophies of this world. . . humanism, idolatry, perversion. They are scattered about by every demon-inspired religion, by New Age spirituality, by sensuality and the pursuit of money. Many are just scattered about by their owns needs and problems, such as poverty, sick-ness, and emotional bankruptcy. When Jesus saw the great needs around Him, He realized that He could not touch all the people. Help was needed, laborers, Gospel workers, to take the message of the kingdom to the people and to heal them. His re-sponse was first of all to call His disciples to prayer. “Pray

the Lord of the harvest, to send forth laborers to the

harvest.”

I find this very enlightening. Every God-intiated plan begins with prayer. There are many good scriptural prayers that we could pray, but when Jesus saw the needs of a sighing, dying, crying humanity, he called for one prayer. He said, “Pray for laborers!” He did not tell them to pray for psychologists. He did not say to pray for social justice. He did not say to pray for an overthrow of the political system. He did not say to pray for the economy or the health care system. He did not even tell them to pray against the devil or against the spiritual forces in that region. He did not even tell them to pray for the scattered fainting sheep. No, He said to pray for somebody that’s willing to do some work, somebody who will preach some Gospel. Pray for somebody that’s got some get-up-and-go to get with the program and bring the Gospel to the world. This is the great need. Workers! Workers! Work-ers! Workers to go! It is estimated that 1.2 billion people in our world have not yet heard the Gospel. In India, over 40 percent of the people have not yet heard. Workers! Workers! Workers! Workers are needed! He said pray the Lord of the harvest that He would send laborers. You see, this is something that God must initiate. God must speak to your heart, and you must listen and respond. When this happens, you will be

changed. He will empower you. Lives will be changed. Nations will be changed.

When you hear and obey the

Pray that somebody

calling voice of God, there will be miraculous results. “Pray the Lord of the harvest, that He would send. . .” Moses’ ministry began in the presence of God at the burning bush when he was sent by God to deliver the people. Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up. He heard his voice saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” Isaiah 6:8, KJV. The Apostle Paul was sent to the Gentiles “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light.” Acts 26:18, KJV. “Pray the Lord of the har-vest.” Pray for somebody to hear and go. You see, God’s plan is always a man or a woman. He uses people to help people. It’s not about programs, or organizations. These are just tools. It’s about somebody who knows God telling someone else about Him. Freely you have received, freely give. The answer to the needs and problems of this world is not just political action or social justice. The answer ultimately is Jesus. Only the Gospel can truly set men free. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is

the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to

the Greek.” Romans 1:16, KJV.

Jesus called His disciples to prayer. Then He gave them power to cast out devils and heal the sick. He sent them forth with a message of the Kingdom of God. “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at

hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:7, 8, KJV. You may not be called to preach the Gospel in a distant land, but you are called to take the Gospel to your world. Your mission field may be your own neighborhood, your own town, your work place, to reach your family or friends. Jesus will en-due you with power through the baptism of the Holy Spirit to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils. Yes, you can exercise authority and set the captives free. You can let them know that the Kingdom of God is near them. You can let them know about the Savior, about the Good Shepherd, who will guide them to green pas-tures. . . pastures of peace, joy,

healing and freedom from sin. You can make a difference in this world through your prayers, through your witness, and through your giving. God will empower you to be bring Good News to the fainting, scattered sheep of this world. You can tell them about the love of the Father and a Savior who died

on Calvary. and Who calls them to repent and receive the forgiveness of sins. You

can, in Jesus name!

Keep on truckin’While traveling across Wisconsin for a meeting recently, I saw this semi-trailer with John 3:16 painted on it. As I passed the truck, I gave the driver a thumbs up. Later, I pulled into a rest stop and shortly afterwards, the truck pulled up. I went over and visited with the driver, Wayne Jenson of Winona, Minnesota. He owns the truck and drives

all over the nation. He said the scripture and paint-ing draw a lot of favorable attention wherever he goes. After 9/11, he said, many people, especially on the east coast, seemed to be very sensitive and open. Many, he said, have come up to him and ask for prayer and for advice for problems in their lives. Thank God for this bold witness for Jesus on the highways and byways of our nation.

“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his har-vest.” Matthew 9:35-38, KJV.

will hear and go!

“Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel” has been the operative imperative on this ministry since we began in 1983. Our missions vision was birthed out of an intense desire to see men and women, boys and girls come to the knowledge of the truth and find Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

We began with outreaches in the United States. Through Gospel literature, radio ministry, Gospel tent meetings, evangelism at county fairs and parks, we began sharing the Good News that Jesus saves, heals and delivers. Our inter-national ministry began with trips to Haiti and Mexico back

in the ‘80s, holding open air crusades, tent meetings, church meetings and training leaders. We learned both the challenges and joys of ministry on the foreign mission field. We have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. Once when we were ministering in Haiti, as we began to worship in a local church, many of the people began to slither like snakes on the floor. Susan stooped down and began casting the devil out of them.

The more we have gone, the more we have longed to reach out more and go to the uttermost parts of the earth with the Gospel. We have traveled many places in the U.S. and Canada, as well as to Mexico, Haiti, Kenya, China, Ukraine and India. We minister on Native American reser-vations both in the U.S. and Canada. Oftentimes, this min-istry has gone to small, out of the way places where few if any ministers ever go. Like Jesus’ parable of the shepherd, this ministry has been willing to leave the 99 and go after even one lost sheep. This, we believe is the heart of God.

Since 2005, our ministry has had a major focus on the nation of India, which has 1.2 billion people. Less than 3 percent of them are Christian. India has more unreached people groups than any country in the world. Our ministry in India has been highly fruitful. We have seen many come to the Lord, many people healed, min-isters encouraged and trained the church built. We have been privileged to work with a strong missionary min-istry in that nation, with over 300 churches and 4 Bible Schools, Calvary Commission India. Besides working

with this organization, we have also been supporting their work financially. In this way, we are able to be a part of reaching souls, training ministers and building churches on an ongoing basis.

Our primary emphasis is evangelism, encouraging believ-ers and strengthening churches. These are the ways that we feel we can have the greatest effect upon eternity, and fulfill the mis-sion given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. Our vision is to continue to travel, especially to the unevangelized and under-evangelized nations, especially in those places where the harvest is ripe. We are also using Gospel literature to reach out, and are having follow

Project WorldThe missions vision of Tom Shanklin Ministries

By Charlotte Gerdes, Caledonia, Minnesota I grew up in a home where my mother, father, grandmother and grandfather all loved and trusted in Christ as their Savior. I came to know Je-sus for myself at church camp. At 19, I married a man who was 32. My husband was very critical. Once he told me that he never could love me and said he had asked me to marry him only because he didn’t think he would find anybody else. My husband was full of pride and placed a lot of importance on making money and having a good reputation. Even though he wasn’t really interested in Jesus and the Bible, he went to church. He said he wanted to be good and do good. But at home, he sometimes went into a rage. In those times, I was afraid of him. Then, at a Lowell Lundstrom crusade, he be-came a Christian—at 50 years old. After that, Jesus helped him grow in love. He wanted to tell everyone about Jesus. Soon after, I asked the Lord to change me. I felt I had been selfish, and I didn’t want to be that way anymore. When I prayed, God flooded me with His love to overflowing. The experience lasted for hours. I was amazed that He could love me so much! In the years that followed, my husband and I served as counselors at church camp. We went on a short-term missions trip to Haiti. And we participated on teams that went on lay and discipleship missions to various churches. A few years before my husband died, he told me that he loved me very much. We were married for 49 years. We had four children, and today each one trusts Jesus as their Savior. I am so grateful for God’s love. It has the power to change lives. My heart’s desire is to share that love with others.

up material translated into other language to help with evangelism and discipleship in other nations.

Besides supporting national ministries in foreign lands and other missionaries in evangelism and church planting, we also have a special burden for work-ing with those ministries which are reaching young people, particularly orphans, street kids, the throw-away children of society.

Through a partnership with Rich and Marilyn Apfel of Love Never Fails Ministry, we have been regularly supporting the work of getting drug-addicted, abused kidsoff the streets of Acapulco, Mexico. “The Refuge” has seen many transformed lives, children with no apparent future are being given the love of God, food, housing, education and a future and a hope.

Your partnership, friendship, prayers, and en-couragement are vital

part of this vision. Through monthly support, financial

gifts large and small, and

through sincere prayer, you can unite with

us to impact this world. We invite you to pray and ask the Lord what your part may be in His number one job, reaching the world with the message of His love through Jesus Christ.

God bless you!

Tom and Susan Shanklin

The Power of God’s Love

Needing some time to contemplate the universe I promised myself, that today, which is Sunday, I would take the day off. You know—do nothing, relax and, as Tom would say, “contemplate the universe.” Yesterday, I started out tired from working late at my nursing job and waking up with the birds that sing so nicely in my flower garden. But their whistles and calls seemed louder than usual. I began puttering around with my cup of coffee and making mental notes of the things to do. Tom was off to

help our son, Nathan, who was moving out of a house into another. Tom was put-ting in a toilet, repairing light fixtures and switches so Nathan can

rent the house out. I was left

alone to pick the garden, feed and water the chickens and steer, can the sauerkraut and pickles, do laundry, bake cookies (now that’s a must!), do some shopping and research art deco on the internet for, hopefully, a future glass client. Now, the Lord says we can do all things for He strengthens us. I must confess, however, sometimes I get tried of doing ALL things. Don’t you? Ha!

Yes, yes, I’m joking around here, but I do enjoy when it rains so I get a day off from the garden! Today, I came home from church to quickly pick the garden before it rained! So, I guess I cheated. I have cucumbers soaking in cold water to pickle. Lettuce and cabbage soak-ing in vinegar water. I rinsed off the eggplant, pole beans and zucchini al-ready and they are in the refrigerator. There’s ONE rippening tomato and one green tomato to fry for Tom. Oh, I forgot (Not really), I was supposed to take the day off. When Tom came home yes-terday, I said, “ You know, we are not lazy people. But you know, there are a lot of people that work a lot harder than we do.” I bet you are one of them and my hat is off to you. If I were you, I would pray for help, a better job, a more helpful spouse, or a day to sit back and contem-plate the universe. Change something in your life to make it easier for YOU. You can, just do it! Yesterday, I fed the steer cucumbers and this morning I ripped out three cucumber plants. Just don’t mention this to Tom. Be a slave to no man or vegetable! Relax and enjoy the rest of YOUR day. I will........... just as soon as I figure out what to do with all the cukes in my sink!

One of our gardens from front to back: Zucchini, Gladiolus, Watermelon, Cucumbers, Asparagus, Winter Squash, Rhubarb, Spaghetti Squash, and Sweet Corn. It’s been a great year for gardening!