Sharon’s story began in exotic British Guyana where she was born into a Christian home. Her parents, of Indian descent from India, moved the family to the United States when she was the age of 7. Her father Deoram, a Bible teacher and classical singer, was offered sponsorship by a non- denominational church based in Houston, Texas. Raised as a “preacher’s kid”, Sharon had a very sheltered upbringing. She knew very little about the world. “While it is great to be sheltered, there is a flip side. When you don’t know anything about the world, you can go to the other extreme,” she recalls.For Sharon, that extreme began at the age of 18. While attending a fashion show, she was approached by a photographer who mistook her for one of the models.
“You need to be on the runway,” he told her.
Sharon took his advice and began to pursue a career in the modeling industry. After several years, she finally landed a lucrative overseas modeling contract. Her dream of fame and fortune was finally within her grasp.
Though all seemed well on the surface, Sharon admits that there was emptiness inside. Coming from a Christian home, it didn’t take long for her to realize what was missing. She knew that she had strayed from God. She knew that she did not have the type of relationship with God as in her early years.
“One night, I got down on my knees and prayed,” she says. “And it wasn’t one of those ‘911 prayers.’ It was a prayer of genuine repentance and recommitment. I told God that I realized how far away from Him I was; that my lifestyle–pursuing my own career, dating excessively–was not fulfilling me; that I wasn’t right with Him. I asked Him to forgive me and help me to know Him again.”
After that prayer, her world began to change. Sharon got sick…very sick. So sick she couldn’t get out of bed. She sought medical attention, but doctors could not find anything wrong.
Things continued to grow worse, and she returned to her home in Dallas, Texas. There were more doctors, more tests, and more negative results. “I didn’t know what was happening to me,” she sighs. “I thought I had some life-threatening illness.”
After numerous tests including CAT scans, MRIs, EKGs, EEGs, the doctors still could not make an accurate diagnosis. All of this left Sharon crying out to God in desperation. “God, why are you doing this to me when I am trying to turn my life around and come back to you?” She received no answer. She would stay in her parent’s home, too sick to be on her own, for the next 2 years.
Her health began to decline as symptoms intensified. Her heart rate would race to 140 beats per minute with no warning. She would grow faint without reason. Weakness and numbness were felt throughout her entire body. This independent, high-energy woman was reduced to a feeble individual, struggling to live.
Finally, in desperation, Sharon says she tested God’s word. “Okay, Lord,” she said, “I’ve heard your Word since I was a young child. Now I’m going to put Your promises to the test. If Your Word is really true, then it has to work for me in my condition.”
Starting in Genesis, she began memorizing every verse she could find in the Bible that dealt with healing. She would underline them, highlight them, write them, and quote them. She also began to personalize each verse. “Isaiah 54:17 says, ‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper.’ So I would say, ‘OK, no weapon…what does weapon mean? Well in this case, it is sickness. So, no sickness formed against Sharon Bolan is going to prosper. This is what God said…I just happen to slip my name in the verse.”
As Sharon began to immerse herself in the Word, she realized that all of the Bible verses that her father had encouraged her to memorize as a child finally became real to her. She would spend hours alone with God in prayer and reading the word. She began to experience a love for the Lord that she had never known. “It’s one thing to say, ‘I’m saved and I know God,’ she says. “It’s another thing to really know Him intimately.”
“I realized in going through this sickness that everything the world had to offer was so temporal. Building a relationship around physical attraction could never last. All my life I had searched for love and approval from men, and every relationship fell short. I felt as though I had to constantly prove myself by being successful or making a name for myself. Only when I came face to face with Jesus did I truly experience all that I was searching for. I realized that my problem was not external, it was internal. Outwardly, I seemed to have it all together, but inside there was a constant battle. The only One who could complete me within, was the Lord. If I had to go through this valley of the shadow of death, it was worth it. I had finally experienced the love of God and His love filled the voided areas of my heart. His love filled the place that men, money and fame could never fill.”
While Sharon was growing stronger spiritually, physically she was getting weaker by the day. She remembers the night when she was awakened by a sense of her impending death. Fighting to get out of bed, she crawled to her parents’ room and woke them. They carried her back to her bed, sat on either side of their daughter, and began crying out to the Lord. They knew that Sharon was fighting for her life as she swayed in and out of consciousness.
“I knew it was the end of my life”, Sharon says. “I could barely sit up on the bed. I was fighting to stay alive. All of my energy was gone. I did not even have enough strength to utter a word. So I began talking to God with my mind. “I know that it’s my time to go, but what will I do when I face you? I have not done anything with my life for your kingdom. I have only lived for myself. Lord, please let me live. Please let me do something for you with the life you have given me here on earth. I promise, if you let me live, I will do anything you ask. I will totally surrender everything to you.”
It was at that moment that Sharon heard the voice of God, “Speak the Word and you will live.” “Speak the Word? What Word?” Sharon asked. After 2 years of memorizing healing scriptures, the only “word” that came to mind was “The Lord is my strength.” Fighting for breath, Sharon gasped out the Scripture. Instantly, the sense of impending doom left. Sharon regained her strength and within a month was totally recovered.
Grateful for a second chance, she kept the promise she had made to God. She abandoned the modeling industry and answered the call of God to preach His Gospel to the world.
“I told the Lord that I would do anything He asked of me. Preaching is the last thing I would ever imagine that He would call me to do. However, I made a promise to Him and I must keep it. I did say I would do anything!”
Sharon began Fullness of Glory Ministries, a non-profit, 501(c) 3 organization. She presides as President with a full functioning Board of Directors.
As an Evangelist, she travels and preaches the saving and healing Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her call to preach and her walk with God are both unique. She considers herself an ordinary girl with an extraordinary calling and parallels her life to 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.
