Bus Ticket

Not too long ago, a few of us were sitting in the café in First Baptist Church Tulsa. We were talking and waiting for a meeting to start, when a young girl walked up to us. She said she was abandoned by her boyfriend and didn’t know what to do.

I walked with her to a corner table and we talked. She said she met the guy and he promised to take her “to see the world,” and she was hungry to see what was out there so she didn’t hesitate and took off with him, even though she'd only known him for a couple weeks.  During the journey she learned that he had a drug addiction, was violent and didn’t have any money.

They got to Tulsa and argued, so he crushed her cell phone and kicked her out of the car. She said she had been sitting in the bus station crying for quite a while. But, when she got up and looked outside she saw First Baptist Church. She said, “My Grandma always told me if you get into trouble, just walk into the nearest church.” 

As we talked she realized she made a terrible mistake by leaving with this guy.  She had never been very far from her home town and she just wanted to see what was out there. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “I just want to go home and start over again.”

I asked her what she wanted to be when she was a little girl and she said, “A singer.” She said people thought she could sing and so did she. I asked her if she ever pursued her dream and she said, “I didn’t think dreams were supposed to come true.”

I shared that God has a plan and a purpose for her life and that once she has a relationship with Him…He can make dreams come true!  We talked some more and we prayed and I walked her to the bus station.

I told her when she knows what God’s plan is if Isaiah 58, In His Service can help, we’d be happy to. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a hug.

Isaiah 58, In His Service bought her a bus ticket home.  The first bus was sold out and the next one was scheduled to leave at 3am.  She said she’d be alright in the bus station and I told her after I did a few things, I would return with some food and sit with her.  We tried to call her Grandma to let her know the young girl was okay and headed home, but no one answered.

I finished what I needed to do, so I went to Quik Trip and loaded up on some food and then headed back to the bus station, it was about 8pm.  I looked around before I went inside and she was nowhere to be found. Initially my heart sank for fear that the boyfriend had shown back up and she conceded to go with him.  But, I prayed against that and went inside.  The same clerk I bought the ticket from was behind the counter.  I asked her about the young girl and she said, “Oh, yeah, honey, she got on the early bus, she’s on her way.”

Praise God!  I went back to my car and called her Grandma and she answered.  I told her who I was and that her granddaughter was on her way to start over.  Grandma was relieved and thankful.

So, what was I to do with the bag of food?  I drove around looking for some of my homeless folks and couldn’t find anybody!  I kept driving and finally I saw one.  He was flying a sign and I drove up and said, “There you are, man I’ve been lookin’ all over for you!”  We talked and I gave him the food and invited him to Luke10 and gave him my card and said if he needs to talk or is ready to make a change…to give me a call.”

The next day I got a message from the young girl. She said she was home safe and sound and had learned her lesson and she was very grateful.

I have no control over outcomes. One of the coolest things our Father does is give us a free will…it is our decision to choose to follow Him.  We can say, “yes,” or “no.” But, as Christ followers we are called to be the hands and feet of Christ.  So, that means being obedient to serve when Jesus calls us into action.

I was at church for a meeting that I wasn’t thrilled about attending.  We were in the café because we were waiting for the start of that meeting.  I could have blown off the meeting and not been in the café.  When she said she was in trouble, I could have gone looking for a church staff member and passed the buck.

 

So here's the lesson...sometimes we do things that we don't really want to do...like attend meetings.  But, I wasn't supposed to be at church for the meeting, I was supposed to be there for this girl. I did make the meeting, by the way!

God could have put someone else there, but for some reason…He asked me to be there.  I am so humbled that He chose me! Look what I was blessed to do!  I got to plant seeds and am praying that they will be watered and the Kingdom will grow.  The first step is to be willing, “Here I am Lord, send me.”

In His service,

deni

Are you the same? Have you changed at all?

I went to the store the other day to get some goodies for a little lady’s birthday.  I had a cake and some decorations the usual birthday fare.  I got in line behind someone who receives correspondence from Isaiah 58, In His Service.  After the pleasantries, he looked at me and said, “I got your letter, so I suppose you were soliciting funds.”  Then he looked in my basket and wanted to know what I was buying. I told him I was gonna surprise a little lady who lives alone with some birthday treats. He nodded and turned around and said, “I guess you need money to buy stuff like that too.”

I went to the Mighty Women of God Conference at FBCT a couple weeks ago and listened to the featured speaker, Peggy Nunnelly talk about a woman by the name of Veronica.  Veronica had a family of 5 and she lived in a country in which it was illegal to be a Christ follower. She and her whole household were arrested and imprisoned because of their beliefs, trust and faith in Jesus Christ. The guards brought Veronica’s husband into her cell.  They told her that she must renounce Christ or they would kill her husband. She refused to deny her God and so they cut off the head of her husband.  They brought in her two sons next and told her to forsake Jesus and again, she refused to deny her God and they used swords to kill her two sons.  She and her daughter were eventually freed.

I read this on Facebook, “A relationship with God that doesn’t change your life, isn’t really a relationship with God.”

Another life story Peggy shared at the conference;  a woman struggling with substance abuse most of her life, decided to kill herself so she put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger. Miraculously, she didn’t die and she had no severe brain damage. So, Peggy went to the hospital to talk with this lady.  Peggy said the woman had prayed “the sinner’s prayer” many times in her life, yet her life didn’t reflect a relationship with God. So, Peggy boldly told the woman, “You don’t know the Jesus I know because if you did, you wouldn’t be laying in a hospital bed from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Peggy said the woman was incensed and told her to get out and not come back.  However, over time God convicted the woman and she knew what Peggy said was true, she really didn’t know Jesus at all.  So, she talked with Peggy and the next time she talked to Jesus, she repented wholly and completely and asked God to save her.

And He did. The woman is now staying with Peggy and her family as she matures as a Christ follower and is learning and growing to become the woman God intended.

Change.  I am NOT the deni I used to be and I pray I am NOT the deni I’m going to be.  The old things pass away, behold all things are new.  If you drank alcohol until you puked on a regular basis, if you smoked pot or did ecstasy on the weekends, if you gossiped about people, if you looked at pornography, if you were a chronic liar, if you cheated regularly on your spouse, if you watched movies filled with sex and violence or played videogames where the goal is to kill as many people as you can,  if you were living with someone you’re not married to, if you did your job half-heartedly and stole from the company, if you flipped the bird at people regularly on the highway, if you cursed constantly…if these things were a routine part of your life BEFORE you claimed to be a Christ follower and now it’s years later and you’re STILL doing these things AFTER you say you accepted God’s salvation, then “A relationship with God that doesn’t change your life, isn’t really a relationship with God.”

If you can look at your life today and look at your life BC (before Christ) and essentially see the same person, then why are you claiming to be a Christian? If you go to church on Sundays, don’t cuss, are faithful to your spouse, limit your viewing of pornography, mow the widow’s lawn next door, pay the bills on time, have money left over for a vacation, tithe sometimes 5% and even throw a $20 in the offering plate once in a while, and allow your mother-in-law to stay for 2 whole weeks in the summer…and you’ve lived like this for as long as you can remember,“A relationship with God that doesn’t change your life, isn’t really a relationship with God.”  It's not the stuff, it's the relationship. It's not the surface, it's what's inside. It's not the giving, it's the living. It's not me, it's all Jesus.

It’s not about being “a good” person or a person that’s given up the bottle, or pornography or the affair. It’s about loving Jesus so much that you have to tell people about Him! It’s about doing whatever, I mean WHATEVER it is that He asks you to do. It means devouring His word because you have got to learn more, it’s about believing what you read in His word and asking Him to work through you like He did through His disciples in the New Testament. It means thinking, “This has GOT to be God, cause this is the most uncomfortable, crazy thing to do...and I would never think of this on my own, so I KNOW it’s Him.” I bought a ring the other day that says, "LIVE THE WORD." I wear it every day as a reminder it's not about me, it's all about Jesus!  It's a reminder that as I continue in my relationship with Jesus...I will continue to change and grow...the goal is for people to see Jesus, not deni.

Remember, Beth Moore’s “faith story” about being in the airport and being nudged to comb the long, straggly hair of an old man in a wheelchair?  Remember the man was hard of hearing and she’s overwhelmed and trying to convince God not to make her do this, and trying to be discreet but he can’t hear her so she yells, “CAN I COMB YOUR HAIR?” Then the God moment happened, the old man told her that he had open heart surgery and his wife was ill and he hasn’t seen her in months. He was thinking what a mess he must look like as he is about to see his bride after all this time. Beth says, “I learned something about God that day. He knows if you’re exhausted or hungry, you’re serving in the wrong place or it’s time to move on but you’re too responsible to budge, He knows if you’re hurting or feel rejected. He knows if you’re sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an individual.  Tell Him your need! I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like this I had missed along the way…all because I didn’t want people to think I’m strange. God didn’t send me to that old man. He sent the old man to me.” (From an Internet post by Beth Moore)

I didn’t send out the long letter to ask for funds...but to ask you to ask God to show you how you can be more like HIm and do more for Him. My prayer is that folks will be convicted and not walk away like the rich young ruler when God calls us into action. My prayer is that folks will be convicted and do like Zacchaeus and open the door wide to Jesus and let Him in every area of our lives; no matter how crazy or scary or weird His calling may be.

There is a middle aged couple who are applying for disability, they have no income, no vehicle, no money and they need a place to live…

There are special needs kids who will most likely go into the foster care system because their only caregiver can't take care of them anymore…

There are women who struggle with mental illness or uncontrolled diabetes or other health issues, estranged from their families and cannot live alone anymore...

There are senior adults living in nursing homes without a family and are wasting away because they have a story to tell and there is no one there to listen…

There are teenagers who have no male role models and their Moms are working all the time or doing drugs or absent from their lives and these kids are wasting away in the projects…

There are young adults who have been sexually, physically and emotionally abused and desperately need mentors to help them heal and become self-sufficient…

There are single Moms who work two jobs to feed their numerous children but they continue to make bad choices in parenting and the men they date…

There are Dads who are disabled and can't work anymore and can't pay their bills....

There are homeless men and women who sleep on sidewalks and in abandoned buildings who are very sick and dying and need a place to die…

There are folks looking for work but can’t get to the interviews by relying on the city bus…

There are families with grandparents, siblings, grandchildren and significant others who live together and only one or two people work for a variety of reasons…they can’t pay their bills, their rent and they don’t have enough to eat…

This is just a drop in the bucket of the many people I see regularly who need Jesus and support from Christ followers willing to jump off of the pews and dive into the gutter…

There is someone in your neighborhood, in your office, on your team, in your child’s school, or in your church who is suffering and sinking and screaming for help and you know it and God is tugging at your heart but you are fighting Him, “I won’t know what to say,” “What if they take advantage of me,” “I don’t want to make the offer to help because what if helping them takes a long time,” “But, what if I have to give up my favorite TV shows, or cut back on my shopping, or go without something that I want, or be inconvenienced, or feel weird,” "What if it changes the way I like to live..." 

If we’re bargaining with Jesus about being His hands and feet only, “when we have the time,” then we don’t believe that the Gospel “costs” something…and we don’t believe it’s worth very much and we are denying that He is worth any effort, so why are we claiming to know Him? Are we living the way we’ve always lived? Where is the New Creation? Because if this is how we've always felt and this is how we've always lived...then we don’t know Him at all.

I can tell you that God has never called me to do something – no matter how far out of my comfort zone it is – that He hasn't given me every single thing I need to do His will. We sometimes find it very easy to tell God that we love Him…but do we trust Him? Veronica trusted Him with the lives of her family…

what will you trust Him with?

“A relationship with God that doesn’t change your life, isn’t really a relationship with God.” - Facebook

In His service,

deni A. fholer

Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc.
PO Box 521063
Tulsa OK 74152
918-260-1933
I58ihs@gmail.com
www.i58ihs.blogspot.com
501©3 nonprofit ministry

We HAVE to do more. We HAVE to do better.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

 and sinners will turn back to you.” Psalms 51: 10-13

Our life group, LUKE 10 is based on the chapter in the Bible. Jesus says in verse 2, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.” In verse 27 we find God’s greatest commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, `Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

We believe if we live out these two verses in the Bible we will have a relationship with Christ that will forever be growing, changing, getting harder and be the most meaningful relationship in our lives.  Dr. Shea Bowling is our teacher, “a recovering Pharisee” and Deni Fholer is our Director. Shea is a pediatrician and Deni is a licensed social worker.  The life experiences that God takes them into reflect in Shea’s teaching and Deni’s direction for missions. We begin gathering at 9:30am on Sunday mornings in room 316 south in First Baptist Church Tulsa, 403 S. Cincinnati - enter through the east door (Detroit Ave) and ask the greeter to get you to Luke 10.

Luke 10 is an incredible mix of people! Our prayer is that anyone in any station in life can come into Luke 10 and be welcomed with open arms. If they don’t know Jesus, we will introduce them. If they know Jesus and want to know Him better, great!  If they realize that there is too much “me” in their lives and they crave more of Him…we try to provide opportunities for everyone to get into the gutter (be it a mansion or an office or the streets) and truly “love our neighbor as yourself.” 

Shea doesn’t use a quarterly. Her teaching is scripturally based and prayerfully considered. Her examples are from daily life which makes the Bible come alive and be relevant to the challenges we face each day. We have Faith Story Sundays. After we practice Priority Prayer we turn the teaching time over to individuals in our community who are willing to come and tell their stories of being lost and then being found by Christ. They could be a Mom who had an abortion and was addicted to drugs or a Dad who has been stabbed and spent time in prison or they could be missionaries who have returned from around the world telling what God has done. On Faith Story Sundays we bring food and share a meal and listen to the activity of our Father in the lives of those we invite. 

Deni is the Executive Director of Isaiah 58, In His Service, a nonprofit ministry that provides the tangible in order to build relationships and introduce people to Jesus. I58IHS does a Holiday Helping Hands Project in which we adopt families in the community and provide gifts for Christmas, meals for Thanksgiving and support during the two week hiatus when most ministries and agencies are closed for the holidays. Luke 10 responded with an incredible outpouring of love and support. We bought, wrapped, sorted and delivered gifts all in the name of Jesus.  Last year we took a Mission Trip to Tulsa and we gathered in a member’s home for a meal and fellowship.

In 2013 so far, we had an Extreme Clean on January 19^th. We emptied and cleaned a lady’s home who is in mourning over the loss of a close friend. Luke 10, FBCT, First Baptist Jenks and I58IHS did this as a collaborative effort. Now that the house has been emptied, the woman can make the house her home. We are continuing to support this woman in however God leads us. Our heart’s desire is to be flexible and willing to say, “Here I am Lord, send me.”

We will be taking a group of kidlets to Winter Jam 2013 at the BOK Center on March 9^th and a “Blessing Bag” day is in the works.  Our service projects are not something we plan, they are opportunities that God reveals to us in His timing. We don’t want to be restrictive and routine in our service to Christ. When serving Christ means that He calls us to follow Him in traffic, on the way to the karate class, in the office, as we walk past a homeless person, as we sit at a ballgame; those times when we least expect Him to call…but He does…we want to be like Matthew.  When Jesus said to Matthew, “Follow me,” Matthew immediately got up and followed. 

Join us! When you leave you'll say, "Awesome...that's NOT what I expected in a Baptist church!!"

                                             We can do more. We can do better.

8^th Annual Holiday Helping Hands Project

Dear __________________________________!

I've talked to over 100 people in the last few weeks telling me how hard life is right now. They are worried about Christmas and how they are going to provide gifts to their kidlets or grandkids or nieces or nephews. They are concerned if they will have electricity or water or gas on Christmas. They have no idea what their "Christmas meal" will look like. One woman told me she had scrambled eggs last year because that's all she and her husband had in the house. 

 

Isaiah 58, In His Service was blessed to give some Thanksgiving meals yesterday. Mr. Smith lives alone and is a diabetic and has literally no furniture in his home - his only wish was to have a "good meal." Mrs. Smith lives alone but when her meal was delivered yesterday she was taking care of her young granddaughter who is mentally ill. She lives in a one bedroom apartment with her little dog she got from a rescue shelter. Although she worked all of her life she gets around in a wheelchair because of her health. She is so frustrated because she can't give to others and because she has to ask for help.  Then there's Ms. Smith who is a single Mom, working part-time because she can't find a full-time job. She has one child at home and a slew of grandchildren that she wants to give Christmas to.  When I asked her what she was going to do for Thanksgiving she said she and her Mom would spend the day together but they couldn't afford a turkey. She has grown kids who are married and are struggling. So, we gave a meal large enough for them all to get together and fellowship.   

There are hundreds of Mr. Smiths and Ms. Smiths in and around Tulsa. Senior adults living alone, grandparents raising grandkids, single Moms and kidlets, homeless families living in their cars, sons and daughters who are caregivers for chronically ill parent(s), working parents who can’t catch up. Every year the Holiday Helping Hands Project continues because of people like these. We don’t have a budget, we don’t put a cap on what we give, we don’t ask for ID’s, or check stubs; we don’t determine worthiness. We give in the name of Jesus and to the glory of God. Everyone needs Jesus! People are hurting and need to know God cares about them and hurting comes in all forms. We give to all members in the household.

If God brings a Mom, or a Dad, or a Grandma, or a widower or a family to Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc., I know that He brought them to us because He loves them. He wants us to love on them and tell them we care because He first loved us. We start building relationships and trust.

My pastor, Deron Spoo defined evangelism this morning: ”Getting close to God, getting close to people and getting people close to God.” It makes sense and it doesn’t feel as daunting as “witnessing.”

You have an opportunity to shine for Jesus this Christmas and in doing so, you’ll be evangelizing. How cool is that? As every year in the past God has given me “His gift.” A gift for our families, individuals and homeless folks that the Holiday Helping Hands Project adopts. This year we are giving the Jesus Film and a bookmark with the plan of salvation. We also will include a brochure about Isaiah 58, In His Service and a card of invitation to First Baptist Church Tulsa!

If God leads you to dive in and join us…we need toys, clothes, gift cards, food and funds, etc. or you can adopt a family or senior or if God nudges you to make some deliveries, great! Everything will be covered in prayer and given to the glory of God. We don’t say “no” to those who ask for help even if it’s the day before Christmas. So, we will need you up to and including Christmas day.

Most importantly, please PRAY with us and for us. Pray in agreement that God will use the Jesus Film and the bookmark to soften hearts and change lives. Pray for salvation. Pray for God to bring every single person to us that needs Him and will listen to the song of Hope, Repentance, Forgiveness, and Salvation and say “YES” to Jesus. YOU ARE NEEDED! You are appreciated. You are loved. You are blessed. Help us bless others.

Are you in?

If you know someone who needs to be loved on this Christmas, please give them my cell phone number 918-260-1933.

In His service,

deni A. fholer

Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc.
PO Box 521063
Tulsa OK 74152
918-260-1933
I58ihs@gmail.com
www.i58ihs.blogspot.org
501©3 nonprofit ministry

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. 

                                              And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
                                                                       Matthew 28:18-20

Pray and take action:

Poverty in Oklahoma reached a six-year high in 2011, according to data released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau.  The data revealed that more than one in six Oklahomans – and almost one in four children – now live in poverty. (OKPolicy.org)

About 29% (11.3 million) of non-institutionalized older persons live alone (8.1 million women, 3.2 million men)  (AOA)

Almost half of older women (47%) age 75+ live alone. (AOA)

About 485,000 grandparents aged 65 or more had the primary responsibility for their grandchildren who lived with them. (AOA)

The national rate of homelessness was 21 homeless people per 10,000 people in the general population.  The rate for veterans was 31 homeless veterans per 10,000 veterans in the general population in 2009. (MSNMedia.MSN.com)

In the United States, 1 in 3 people 65 years and older falls each year. (CDC)

Of those who fall, 20-30% suffer moderate to severe injuries that reduce mobility and independence, and increase the risk of premature death.  (CDC)

An estimated 800,000 individuals with Alzheimer’s (more than one in seven) live alone. (Alz. Assoc.)

Of those who live alone, up to half of them do not have an identifiable caregiver. (Alz. Assoc.)

In 2011, 15.2 million family and friends provided 17.4 billion hours of unpaid care to those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias – care valued at $210.5 billion. (Alzheimer’s Assoc.)

Oklahoma ranks first in the nation, tied with Arkansas, in the number of people who are “very low food insecure,” or hungry, at 7.5%.  Of households experiencing hunger, less than 20% are classified as unemployed.  More than 1/3 are disabled and/or retired, while the remaining 46% have at least one working member.  (CFBEO)

48% of households served at food pantries in Eastern Oklahoma report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities. (CFBEO)

45% of seniors report having to choose between paying for food and paying for medical care or medicine. (CFBEO)

36% had to choose between paying for food and paying rent or mortgage. (CFBEO)

34% had to choose between paying for food and paying for transportation. (CFBEO)

WE HAVE TO DO MORE.  WE HAVE TO DO BETTER.

August 19, 2012

Maslow's Musts

MIssion Trip to Tulsa!!

We will be backpacking up and heading to Tulsa on September 07, 08 and 09, 2012 - that's a Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  PLUS - we've added a bonus - Thursday evening from 5:30pm until 8pm we're going to the Indian Health Care Resource Center.  Our tentative agenda is posted below. Please be in prayer for those of us on this journey that we hear and obey as God leads...

AND

If God has been nudging you to go and you're ready to take the dive...IT'S NOT TOO LATE! Just call me at 918-260-1933 and I'll fill you in. A backpack, a Bible, and $200 to cover the cost of food and supplies as we minister to those in our community is all that you need!!!

  Mission Trip to Tulsa

Tentative Agenda 

Bonus!

Thursday, September 06, 2012 – Indian Health Care Resource Center
                                              Tour
                                             Dr. Shea Bowling – Native American Kidlets
                                             Authentic Indian Tacos for dinner
                                               (Go home and we'll meet at headquarters in AM) 

Day 1

Friday, September 07, 2012 –      Welcome!
                                                Meet at Headquarters
                                                Breakfast
                                                             Prayer, Housekeeping, Answer Questions
                                                 Glory House –
                                                          Tour
                                          Real Life Story of young woman I58IHS
                                                           is sponsoring
                                                          Lunch
                                                              Service Project – Repairs and donations
                                                Dinner – Search and Rescue Mission
                                                Prayer Driving
                                 Headquarters – Recap of day/Sharing solutions

Day 2

Saturday, September 08, 2012 - Rise and shine – Breakfast
                                                Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc.
                                                Ministering / Service Projects –
                                                          2 or 3 home visits
                                                Headquarters – Lunch
                                                3 Real Life Stories
                                  Preparation for Community Outreach tomorrow
                                 The System – What’s right/What’s wrong/What
                                                          is it? What we can do!
                                                              Dinner
                                   Headquarters – Recap of day/Sharing solutions

Day 3

Sunday, September 09, 2012 -     Morning! Breakfast
                                   Full Gospel Family Outreach Ministries-Church!
                                                Finalizing Community Outreach Preparation
                                                Outreach to Community!!
                                                Father, what do we do now?
                                                Closing / Prayer / Commission

We will seek God's guidance for how each one of us can do more to bring this scripture to life, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." Luke 10:27. 

The only other thing we ask is that you come with an open mind, a willing heart and the courage to say, "Here I am Father, send me."

Call or email me 918-260-1933, i58ihs@gmail.com with questions or comments.


Priority Prayer...The way to change the world is to pray for those in the world!

We are meeting at First Baptist Church Tulsa on Wednesday evenings beginning at 6:00pm to pray. FBCT is located at 403 S. Cincinnati Avenue. Park in the east parking lot on the Detroit street side. Enter the church through the Detroit entrance. Walk as far as you can and turn left, walk behind the sanctuary and go down the stairs. Keep going and you'll turn to the left. Across from the library you'll see the Caring Connections classroom and a sign that reads "Priority Prayer - Father meet me here." Once inside there is a chalkboard with prayer requests and praises...add what is on your heart and pray. The door (should) always be unlocked so come on Wednesdays and pray with us...or go in on a Sunday afternoon...whenever the church is open. We truly believe time with God in repentance, praise, worship, reverance and silence is esssential in our growth and service to Jesus.
Join us!!!

Special Musts...We are still praying and we know God is faithful!

We continue to believe God will provide us with a warehouse to hold donations before we provide them to those in need. We also want to use the warehouse as a drop off location to care for our neighbors in times of disasters...tornadoes, fires, etc. As well as a meeting place for Bible studies and prayer meetings.

A Mom needs a lift chair. This Mom has been in the hospital and is trying to get healthier and we want to help. We are still in need of this lift chair.

A Dad needs a 10 x 6 trailer. He mows lawns for a living and needs the trailer to carry his equipment. This is still a need.

Special Praise!! We have become a partner with Cornerstone Ministries so we can help meet furniture needs of those in our community more readily!!! Thanks to Perry for guiding us and encouraging us!

MIssion Trip to Tulsa Musts...

Groceries - perishable and shelf stable foods
$5 Fast Food Gift Cards
Bottles of water

Everyday Musts...

Tulsa Transit - $60 for 50 bus tokens
1 Day Bus Passes are $3.25/each
10 Day Bus Passes are $12.00/each

Quik Trip Gas Cards - $15 or $20

$5 Sonic and $5 McDonald's Gift Cards

$25 Wal-Mart Gift Cards
$10 Wal-Mart Gift Cards for milk and eggs, so many Moms need milk. Many ministries and agencies give only shelf stable foods but fresh milk, eggs, produce and meats are essential!

Unique Musts

Straight Talk Phone Minutes ($30.00 or $45.00)

Gift cards to Amazon or Mardels - We give Bibles, grief books, devotionals, What on Earth am I Here For by Rick Warren, etc.

Prayer Musts

* Please pray for a 23 year old female. She was in a car crash last night and was life-flighted to a hospital. There is minimal swelling on the brain so there is no need for surgery currently. However, there will need to be cosmetic surgery down the road. Please pray for healing and God's will to be done. She is doing remarkably well! The sight in one eye is impaired and we are believing for God to transform her life!

*Please pray for Andrew. He is a young man going to Ethiopia and Uganda with Visiting Orphans on a mission trip. He will be leaving on June 20th and returning on July 4th. Please be in prayer that God will use each and every one on this trip to bring people to Him. They will be ministering in a children's prison and in orphanages so please ask God to be an ever present comfort as they see children hurting. Pray that God will do amazing things and lives will be transformed!!  Andrew came to share about his mission trip with our LUKE 10 class!!! He brought lots of photos and it was so humbling to see how Andrew was impacted...needless to say, he wants to go back and prayerfully LUKE 10 will be there for him in the future!

* Please pray for Dana. She is one of those people that the more you pray for her, the worse her life gets. She has been to the ER 4 times recently, she is drinking even more, she is getting into fights and has been arrested. I believe God is going to save her. Please pray in agreement with me...I know He is and I can't wait to see her sharing her testimony as God will work through her to bring others to Him! She was rushed into surgery due to pressure caused by a subdural hematoma.  She told me, "they drained my brain." She has lots of staples and her face is swollen. Please pray in agreement that this is her bottom and she will give her life to Jesus. We're going to give her someone's testimony on CD that she will be able to relate to...believing great things!

* Please continue to pray for Matt and his salvation. He fell a week ago and broke his leg. We need a wheelchair for him. - We're reaching out to another ministry to ask for help for Matt. Didn't need the wheelchair...leg is much better. However, we need help with his car payments...he has 9 left and the car is his. This is the only possession he has left; it represents something he's worked for and allows him to get out and not remain isolated. Matt is receiving disability and has moved into a safer apartment.  He is close to crossing the threshold of the church door...but hasn't made it yet...keep believing for him! He is making the last few payments on his car!!

Please pray for Jack.  A couple graciously opened their home to this man who was living in his vehicle. He is working but is extremely depressed. Please pray for him to trust Jesus and allow Him to change his negative thought processes. His future is bright but he is so depressed he can't see that far ahead. He is seeking medical help and we pray he will be in compliance with his diabetes and meds will help.

* Please pray for Rachel. Rachel will be sharing some of her life story with us during the Mssion Trip to Tulsa...she's a little nervous...please pray for her peace.

* Luke 10 is a life group for anyone and everyone. We pray to be a welcoming class to whoever God sends our way. YOU are invited. Shea Bowling, MD is our teacher and she teaches out of the Word of God whatever Jesus places on her heart. We are learning, growing and praying to be obedient servants of Jesus Christ.

We meet at 9:45am in room 316 South, in First Baptist Church Tulsa at 4th and Cincinnati downtown. YOU are invited. If you need transportation please call me at 918-260-1933 and we'll get you there and home again. Please join us in an amazing journey with Jesus!

Must Musts

Your prayer support!! Pray for us to be obedient to the Father, that we won't miss anyone, and to be consistent in our radical faith to serve God by serving others. It's not our ministry, it's HIS!

If you have something you would like to give...we'll take it! If we don't need it now, I know God has a plan for it down the road...918-260-1933.

In His service,

deni A. fholer
PO Box 521063
Tulsa OK 74152
918-260-1933i58ihs@gmail.com

Easter

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Hallelujah!!!



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