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