7^th Annual Holiday Helping Hands Project - 2011

Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc.

I met a Mom yesterday. She works full-time to take care of her children. She’s been divorced for a little over a year and has been struggling to make it on her own. Her rent and utilities are current this month, but she is worried about next month’s rent and her car is about to break down. When I asked her out of everything that is going on in her life right now, what is her biggest need…she began to cry and said, “I want my babies to have a Christmas.” 

This is the kind of family I meet day in and day out. Moms and Dads, Aunts and Uncles, Nanas and Papas who are struggling to survive but putting their needs aside in order to make sure their children’s needs and wants are met.

For those who have given a helping hand in the past, you know that we don’t have a budget for the Holiday Helping Hands Project. We say “yes” to every family or couple or individual who comes to us and asks for help for Christmas…even if we are asked the day before Christmas. We provide a special gift to each family that demonstrates the love of Jesus and the gift of salvation. We give a family bag that includes food, hygiene products, kitchen items and a gift card to Wal-mart or Quik Trip, etc. We give a Christmas card and information about Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc. so they can contact us in the future if they need assistance.  We deliver their gifts the week of Christmas and sometimes on Christmas Eve. We cover everything we give in prayer.

We have 22 families so far to care for this year. Some of their requests include paying the light bill, bikes, blankets and an Easy Bake Oven for a little one. Last year God provided for 68 families and we are humbled to be serving Him again this year.

We ask first and foremost for your prayer support.  Pray that we don’t miss anyone and that we are obedient in service to the Father. We also need your financial and tangible support.  If you would like to provide for a family, couple or individual and deliver the gifts that would be awesome! If you would like to provide for a family’s children or a widow, that would be great! If you would like to donate your time by shopping for us, wrapping gifts or making deliveries, fantastic! If you have a donation and you’re not sure if we can use it, believe me we can use it and we’ll be happy to pick it up.

Don Shank has written a book, Friendly Fireside Meditations available through him (918-747-4890) or online at Amazon.com.  Royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc.  Please don’t hesitate to call me if I can pick something up, answer a question or offer help to someone you know in need. We are officially a 501©3 ministry and your gifts are tax deductible under the IRS tax code. Thank you!

In His service,

deni A. fholer

PO Box 521063

Tulsa OK 74152

918-260-1933

i58ihs@gmail.org

www.i58ihs.blogspot.com                                We can do more, we can do better.

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.  There were no needy persons among them.” – Acts 4:32-34

Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc. :-)

Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc. :

"We are pleased to inform you that upon review of your application for tax exempt status we have determined that you are exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code." 

:-)

So, to those of you who donated to us in faith that your receipts would eventually be worth something...I am pleased as punch to tell you - they count!!

For everyone else...please feel free to make a donation and we'll send you one to see for yourself!

Thank you to so many who have been prayer warriors for us! Please continue to ask the Father to guide us and lead us as He transforms lives and provides tangible needs through us.

To God be the glory!!

deni

What in the world is an Isaiah 58???

Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc…okay, so you’re not a nonprofit…yet…so what have you been doing for the last six years?

Providing tangible needs to the poor, lonely, homeless, forgotten, marginalized, ostracized – no strings attached – in the name of Jesus and with the love of Jesus. There are no restrictions, when you have a need if God provides the funds we help, today, 3 weeks down the road, 2 months later, etc. We don’t keep count.

When can I get a tax receipt for whatever I give to you?

Prayerfully before next tax season..

So, I need help…how do I get it?

Call 918-260-1933…if we have it…we’ll deliver it…if we don’t and God provides the funds we’ll buy it for you or find what you need and deliver it.

Okay, so what’s the “it?”

Since January 2011…here’s a sampling of how we've served Jesus by serving others:

$750.00 in $10, $15 and $20 denominations in Quik Trip gas cards

We’ve purchased 3 Greyhound bus tickets

$20 in quarters so a Mom could do her laundry

We’ve paid for apartment applications and deposits on apartments

We bought an air conditioner and fan for a Mom of 4 and another one on the way…before we visited they had only ceiling fans to keep the air circulating

We’ve paid an exterminator to exterminate critters and bugs

We’ve helped men and women complete job applications and submit resumes and offered references…we’ve rejoiced when the jobs come through!

We helped a couple of brothers who came to Tulsa for a family reunion…one was attacked and hospitalized with a head injury for 2+ weeks…we made sure the devoted brother had food to eat and necessary medications and a place to sleep

We support the folks we serve by visiting them in their homes, going to graduations, funerals and hospitals to their camp

Over $300 in Wal-Mart gift cards

We paid for an estimate on a washing machine repair

Over 20 cases of diapers, size newborn to size 6

Almost $1,000 towards bills; Water, Gas, Electric, Cricket and Cox

We provided sandwiches, sodas and winter warmer bags and summer sacks, bed mats, breakfast, lunch and dinner to our city’s homeless, lost and transient

Court costs - $230.00

Over 170 bus tokens, 15 – 1 day bus passes and 6 – 7 day bus passes

We’ve paid over $600 in rent

We’ve given away used and new coats, clothes, shoes, bras, watches, panties,

     hats, bandannas, steel toe boots, etc.

We’ve given away over 10 Angel Food boxes

We have provided assistive devices; shower chairs, toilet risers, bedside commodes, grab bars, walkers, tub rails, wheelchair ramp, blood pressure monitor and pulse ox, and the ever needed “reacher grabber”

We’ve paid for car repairs and purchased car parts

We’ve given colostomy bags, Ensure, Pediasure, Depends, safety-first playpen, infant sling, formula, hygiene items, etc.

We’ve paid for medications for those without insurance or funds

We’ve given cargo furniture, lamps, queen and full size mattresses, books, box springs, frames, headboards, dressers, cedar chest, nightstands, TV stands, TV’s, toys, vacuum cleaners, toys, stuffed animals, toys, did I mention toys???

We’ve given 5 Trac Phones and minutes

Backpacks, suitcases, diaper bags, and kidlet books

We’ve also purchased books for individuals struggling with grief and loss, suicide, self-esteem; we’ve given Bibles and books about getting to know Jesus, like Jesus Loves Me this I know, Have a Little Faith, Bible book of facts, New Testament, New Believer’s Bible

We paid for a hotel room for a night so a woman could hide from her batterer husband

We’ve paid for taxis and provided transportation

We bought Mother’s Day gifts for the Mom of a daughter who has a traumatic brain injury. She had mentioned that she had never received a Mother’s Day gift…so we changed all that!

We ordered birth certificates, CDIB cards, amendment forms, housing applications; for folks who are trying to get their lives restarted

We surprised some little ones with Easter baskets…

We’ve bought birthday presents for adults and kidlets who thought no one cared or forgot

We have a greeting card ministry…we send cards of hope, remembrance, encouragement….

We have bought jewelry and art from individuals who needed to pay a bill and didn’t want a “hand out” – so we made the purchase and shared the art with a few “someone’s” who needed to know someone cared about them…

We have paid for schoolbooks and phone bills for a young woman going to college…the first person in her family to go to college!

We have provided a number of door prizes for the Nurturing Families program through Indian Health Care Resource Center

Again, the above items have been given since January 2011.  However, for the last 6 years we have done our Holiday Helping Hands Project in which we gave a helping hand to 307 families at Christmas.

Is that it? What else do you do?

We helped a young woman attend her mother’s funeral. The last time she saw her mother was when she was 2 years old…she is 19 today.

We visit the sick in the hospital; we visit the isolated, alone and seemingly forgotten in nursing homes, abandoned houses and in their own homes.

We pray for folks and give them encouragement and we remind them that the only reason they came in contact with Isaiah 58, In His Service is so we can provide them with some basic needs, but more than that to remind them Jesus cares that they’re hurting and He loves them and He has a purpose and a plan for their life.

We invite folks to church and we connect them with Christ followers who can mentor them…

We provide a safe haven to those who’ve lost their way and need someone to share with and cry with; we give resources and direct them to services that will meet their need

A book called Fireside Meditations is about to be printed. The author has committed any and all revenues to Isaiah 58, In His Service.

What do you want to do?

Whatever God wants. This is His ministry to grow us or use us to serve or lead us into other directions.

What can I do?

Offer to make deliveries, keep an eye on our Maslow’s Musts list and donate when you have something someone else can use. Donate a gift card or send us a check once in awhile. We’ll say “thank you” by letting you know what we do with your gift. We’ll even send you a receipt and pray it’ll count by next tax season. J

Pray. We are a ministry that provides tangible needs only when God provides the funding.  There are times when a need is looming but the funds are not in view. Pray that we will be obedient to the Father and help those in need through prayer and mentoring and spiritual support as God sees fit. Sometimes He brings folks to us for guidance and not for the tangible…

Still have a question? I’m all ears…

In His service,

deni

Maslow's Musts

Maslow's Musts



Okay, everyone else has a "needs list" or a "wish list" so since we're radically trying to change the rules to helping people, Abraham Maslow came to mind.

Dr. Maslow was the chair of the psychology dept. of Brandeis University for about 18 years. He noticed (while working with monkeys) that some needs take precedence over others.  For example, if you are hungry and thirsty you will quench your thirst first. Thirst is a stronger need than food. If you are suffocating, hungry and thirsty your stronger need will be air! Got it?

He took the basics of the above and created his famous "hierarchy of needs." Think of a pyramid and the first 1/5th is Physiological Needs (air, water, food, sleep, etc.) Then up one level and you have Safety Needs (Safety, security, shelter, etc.) then you have Belonging Needs (Intimate relationships, friends) then Esteem Needs (prestige, self-esteem, confidence, feeling of accomplishment) and then at the top Self-Actualization (achieving one's potential , including creative ideas). (Go to http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html to learn more)

So we start at the bottom and work our way up. In a perfect world an individual will start with a good foundation and work their way up to self-actualization (or in Jesus' world becoming the Christ follower God called you to be). But, most of the people I58IHS serves are people who rarely if ever leave level one and two.

Who can think about being creative or philosophical or brainy if you live in a shack with no food, no electricity, no water, no job AND you're worried that you'll get evicted from this dump?

People cannot become all they are created to be when they go from crisis to crisis.  Think about the basics of your life that you take for granted. When you turn the faucet you have hot and cold running water, your kids have every toy imaginable, you can put your baby to bed and not worry about the ceiling leaking or a rat chewing on your baby's toes or your mate coming in drunk and beating the crap out of you. You get in a car that you own (or are buying), you can afford the gas, your tags are current and you have a valid driver's license. You go to work because you don't have any felonies on your record or a history of drug abuse. You have a stove to cook dinner on and a fridge to keep your food cold and ice cubes coming out of your icebox door. There are no gaping holes in your floors or walls where the heat or cold comes blowing inside. You go to a movie and out to eat once in awhile and it's not a choice between not paying for meds or rent. You take vacations. You don't have to use your income tax refund to catch up on bills. You don't have to make 3 transfers on the public bus only to miss one and lose your job or get an Incomplete for missing another class.  

I could go on and you know that I could...but I want us to see how much we really have and how much we take it all for granted. Take time to thank Jesus tonite and catch up on your thankfulness journal.

So the items we list on our Maslow's Musts are gonna be unique and sometimes expensive. Our goal is to meet a tangible need, alleviate some stress, elminate some crisis and make sure the folks we're helping know that Jesus cares and He loves them very much...which is why we're offering a helping hand. We try to offer suggestions on how they can keep from falling into crisis over and over, we invite them to church and we share with them the hope that is ONLY in Jesus. We stick with them and we tell them even if they go into crisis again, if God provides the funds we'll help them again. No time frames, no limits, no worthiness checks, no judgment, no strings.

So check out our Maslow's Musts and if you can make a difference by donating something listed...just give me a call and we'll figure out a way to get it.

Take good care.

In His service,

deni

Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc.

918-260-1933

I58IHS

Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc. began in the early 1980's. I didn't know it then. All I knew was when I read the chapter of Isaiah 58 my heart leapt with promise and hope. In my heart I sensed God whispering that I would one day be involved in ministry. I thot I was ready then..ha...I had so much to learn! The neat thing is I'm still learning...I will never "arrive" at following Christ...I just know I want to continue growing and learning and serving.
So, here it is around 30 years later...and Isaiah 58, In His Service is incorporated and working on becoming a non-profit.  We have been giving people a helping hand for 6 years now. Wow. We can do more, we can do better.
Since this is the beginning...a blog seems fitting and the chapter is our foundation...so read and absorb Isaiah, chapter 58 from the New American Standard Bible.
"Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to my people their transgression, And to the house of Jacob their sins.  Yet they seek Me day by day, an delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness, And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.  They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God.  Why have we fasted and Thou does not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and Thou dost not notice? Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers.  Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.  You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.  Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?  Is it for bowing one's head like a reed, And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?  Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?  Is this not the fast which I chose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free, And break every yoke?  Is it not to divide your bread wit the hungry, And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your rightewousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.  Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, Here I am.  If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, And if you give yourself to the hungry, And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness, And your gloom will become like midday.  And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.  And those from among you will rebuild teh ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.  If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure, And speaking your own word, Then you will take delight in the Lord, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."