Our vision to see Christian artwork in every home

Sharmila and Matt Bain attend Elim’s Wave House church in Newquay, and told Chris Rolfe how Gospel Entrepreneurs coaching has given their art business a boost

Sharmila and Matt Bain have a clear vision for their art business: they want to see Christian artwork in every home in the UK.

It’s a mission birthed initially through their own faith, but that’s been developed through a mentoring project from Gospel Entrepreneurs to support Christian businesses in Cornwall.

“Our art business, ‘Sharmila Joy’, sells Christian artwork and gifts which bring life into people’s homes,” says Sharmila.

“I started it six years ago because I love how I can encourage people through my artwork. People would ask for specific quotes or Bible verses, then I’d do hand-lettered prints for them.”

Their vision of Christian art in every home, adds Matt, is also evangelistic.

“It’s artwork that can be bought for non-Christian friends and family as a way to speak life and hope into someone’s situation, even if they don’t know Jesus.”

The mentoring that is helping develop Sharmila Joy began two years ago when the couple joined a Gospel Entrepreneurs networking group for Christian businesses in their area.

“We were asked if we wanted to be among the first people to join the Cornwall Gospel Entrepreneurs group,” says Matt.

“As it’s developed, we’ve been to various events and are journeying with other Christian companies in what God’s called us to do.

“It encourages us to keep pursuing business in a godly way, as well as helping us to succeed financially.”

One-to-one mentoring has been especially helpful for Matt and Sharmila, with regular meet-ups providing business and spiritual advice.

“We’ve had some good conversations around the balance we’re trying to strike between work and family life,” says Matt.

“That’s quite tough when you’re running a small business, and it became even more important when we had our daughter 18 months ago.”

The couple had been attending events around the UK to drum up awareness of their business. Gospel Entrepreneurs helped them evaluate each one, whether the sales generated justified the time and cost of attending.

“We identified a few where it didn’t make sense to keep going. Looking at the financials, we realised it didn’t work out.”

One of Gospel Entrepreneurs’ priorities with mentoring is to help business owners understand where God is leading them. That’s been especially important for Matt and Sharmila as they’ve adjusted to life as parents.

“There was a moment a few months ago where we were asking ourselves whether we should close the business,” says Matt.

“We were wondering whether Sharmila had the capacity to keep running it alongside being a mum.

“It’s safe to say we’ve both felt a prompting that she has a gift and talent that God’s given her and that we should keep going.”

Mentoring will help them navigate how to grow their business while prioritising quality family time, and recent confirmation from God has been reassuring.

“Sharmila has had different people share testimonies of how her artwork has made a difference to them,” says Matt, “and that’s encouraged us to keep going.”

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.