“You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.” Isaiah 58:12 Message

Greetings!!!                                                         

I was contacted by a maintenance man and property manager – again. One of our ‘senior support squad’ ladies has bed bugs – again. This is the third time she’s had them. The problem is that she is invited into other tenants’ apartments, and they give her clothes, shoes, jackets and junk that she takes to her apartment, along with the bed bugs.

She has a brain injury that has impaired her ability to understand some things, like connecting the dots as to why bugs are crawling on a hoodie that a lady in the complex gave to her. We made signs and posted them in her apartment. “Just say no to gifts from your neighbors.” Her memory is poor and she loves to receive gifts, so in come the bed bugs.

We have walked with her for 8 years. We have been there through cancer surgery; her teeth were rotten, and our dentist pulled them all for her, we stayed in Isaiah’s after cataract surgery. She calls us every day, sometimes 4 or 5 times, usually starting at 6am, “Are we having Bible study on Wednesday? I would like to go if you’ll come get me.” She walks everywhere to help calm her nerves as she is a professional fretter. Isaiah’s is the only family who cares for her.

This lovely 70-year-old lady needs a safe place to live, surrounded by support in love. We want to provide a cottage for her in Isaiah’s Neighborhood – A Place to Belong. The reality is there are hundreds of people just like her living close to you.

At Isaiah’s we continue upgrading our building, but construction cannot start until we pay off our 4600 square foot building and 1.3 acres of property. To do that we are asking for your help. Something we’ve never done before, but we are stepping out in faith and giving ourselves a deadline of June 01, 2026 to raise $250,000!

We are asking 250 donors, supporters, prayer partners, businesses, ministries, churches, strangers, friends, YOU, nonprofits to provide a gift of $1,000. As a thank you we’ll send you a copy of LOVE GOES: Stories of Stirring the Pot, Sitting in the Mess, and Loving Like Jesus.  Our book is full of stories of hope, resilience, despair, heartache, lessons, denial and transformation! LOVE GOES is a guide to loving our neighbors like Jesus taught us. In the back of the book are systems and terms you hear often and may have no clue what they are or how they work, so we’ve explained them.

Join Isaiah’s and International Gospel Center Homeless and Native American Outreach as we partner to pay for our property in full! As we go, He is with us! Each of us (below) has donated $1,000 towards our building fund, will you?

You can write a check (yep, we’re old school), scan the QR code (Isaiah’s smacks), visit our website isaiah58ihs.org, use Venmo, Deni Fholer@Deni-Fholer or come in person to Isaiah’s with cash! Please be sure to designate ‘building fund,’ with your gift. May your heart be stirred with compassion to action!! THANK YOU!!!!

We can do more. We can do better. Together.

LOVE GOES

Isaiah 58, In His service

Deni Fholer

Isaiah’s was chosen by Kenric Miller, to be the beneficiary of his final Eagle Scout Project! I’ve known Kenric since I was taller than him so it’s been a minute! We met back in January with his scoutmaster (Aric, his Dad) and project coach (Jim Funderburgh) to discuss our request to have our Gathering Room painted, which is the largest room in our building.

During these past months Kenric was tasked to find volunteers to move furniture, clean and paint, request donations for supplies and paint, complete a 32-page workbook, document every step of the process – without guidance from others.

Aric and Tara, Kenric’s parents are a dynamic duo who love Jesus and this love is exemplified in their son (and daughter Lilly Jane). Kenric and his family, his fellow scouts and lots of volunteers (including a few folks doing community service in Isaiah’s) served Isaiah’s well over three days last weekend!

We are incredibly thankful to Kenric and his team for turning a drab and well-worn room into an inviting and vibrant gathering place!! You rock!!

“Preventing the conflicts of tomorrow means changing the mindset of youth today.” Graca Mache

“Young people need models, not critics.” John Wooden

“I would so much like young people to have a sense of the gift that they are.” John Denver

“The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible, and achieve it, generation after generation.” Pearl S. Buck

We can do more. We can do better. Together.

LOVE GOES

Isaiah 58, In His service

Deni Fholer

I was blessed to stay in a cabin by Table Rock Lake for a week. Upon arrival as I headed down the stairs I was greeted by a family of deer. Sweet. Once inside I thumbed through the guest book and found my entry from August 2021, wow it’s been 4 years since I took some time off. No wonder I was tuckered.

God’s creation

Upon arrival as I headed down the stairs I was greeted by a family of deer. Sweet.

It took a few days of sleep, tears and prayer to feel ‘normal’ whatever that means. Lots of prayer walking, coffee drinking and being present too. I went to see David at the Sight and Sound Theatre and sat in the 2nd row from the stage. Incredibly impressed with the talent and the biblical story of David unfolding before me.

Trying to make my $8 cup of amaretto ice cream last, I received notice that one of my guys had passed. We have been walking with him for over 8 years. As I sat in my reminiscence, I couldn’t remember a time I saw him completely sober. He was kind, funny and tortured by the life he remained chained to.

January 2023, we moved him into a subsidized apartment. He finally had a bed, a couch, a kitchen, a TV and a shower he could call his own. He had been denied social security disability more than once, so we have been paying his rent every month for the last two years. We were by no means the only agency walking with him, there are four I can think of easily. Everyone loved him.

I decided to head back to Tulsa 4 days earlier than my planned departure and headed out on Thursday morning. His funeral was at 10am and I got there with 10 minutes to spare. The service was in the cemetery and as I headed up the hill, I saw familiar faces. So many of his friends and family we have been walking with on and off for years.

He spoke often of his love for Jesus, so we were celebrating that he is with Jesus whole and sober for forever. I sprinkled red dirt on the casket and turned to meet his daughter for the first time. She was lovely and her smile reminded me of her dad.

I have taken many pictures of her dad over the years, and I put a collage together and mailed it to her. He used to say I wasn’t old enough for him to call Mom, wouldn’t call me Grandma out of respect and so he settled with Aunt deni.

So many stories, so many derailed lives. So many who need a neighbor to love them back on track.

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This correspondence is long overdue. First, I am extremely thankful to The Mitchell’s for offering Bless Inn to me once again for respite and renewal. I savored my time there. Also, thank you to everyone who pitched in at Isaiah’s. Thank you to everyone who attended our Evening of Gratitude!

We moved into our building in November 2022 paying $1250/month. The price tag is $214,000 for us to own it. We have been paying rent which has not gone to the principle of $214,000. We must no longer be in debt and are raising funds in order to write one check, PAID IN FULL!

We have been blessed with incredible partners who have donated thousands of dollars’ worth of materials, man hours and expertise to make considerable improvements to the property.

New LED lighting throughout the building, a walk in shower, demolition and reconstruction of our north wall and Celebration Station ceiling, lots of electrical work, painting the lobby and outside of the building, getting an original painting of our logo on the east end of the building, lots and lots of landscaping and yard work, all of the outside siding and gutters were replaced, tilling, planting and watering our garden and raised flower/herb beds, a new water heater and ice machine, a row of freezers and refrigerators, plumbing work, a riding lawn mower, mounted TV monitors, a koi pond in the making and of course our first cottage! We have renderings for Isaiah’s Neighborhood – A Place to Belong.

At the end of this month Kenric will complete his final Eagle Scout project and paint the Gathering room! We have another TV monitor to install as well as a surround sound system, we will install a new security system and extend our WIFI service to the entire property. We will add a 550-gallon potable water tank to water the garden. It is exciting to see so much accomplished and to continue to walk in obedience with God’s direction.

The first phase of our vision is to purchase our property. The second phase is to purchase a lot to the south of Isaiah’s and .3 acres to the north and then put a fence around the property. The third phase is to put 10 cottages on the property!

For the last two years I have been working with Storia Publishing to gather blogs, emails and letters I have written beginning as far back as 2007.  I went through hundreds of writings to design a book that is more than a memoir but a call to action. We have placed the stories in chronological order, inserted ‘Points to Ponder’ and included an extensive glossary in the back that we call ‘Deniisms, Definitions, and Did-Ya-Know-Discoveries’.

The book is titled: LOVE GOES: Stories of Stirring the Pot, Sitting in the Mess, and Loving Like Jesus. It is 'live' and the paperback and Kindle versions can be purchased on Amazon!! I've ordered a number of paperbacks to sell and should receive the first shipment later this week!

Love Goes: Stories of Stirring the Pot, Sitting in the Mess, and Loving Like Jesus: Fholer, Deni: 9798991202640: Amazon.com: Books

Love Goes

Love Goes: Stories of Stirring the Pot, Sitting in the Mess, and Loving Like Jesus: Fholer, Deni: 9798991202640: Amazon.com: Books

Because we don’t own the property we are limited to how much more we can do towards making Isaiah’s Neighborhood a dream come true. It is time for Isaiah’s to own 5903 E. 9th Street and we are asking for your prayers and support to make it happen!

Isaiah’s has been the recipient time and time again of God’s miraculous action! We were given a seed offering of $2100 to open our building account! We believe and are praying in agreement that we can raise $250,000 by June 1st of next year!!!

$250,000 by June 01, 2026!!!!!

We are reaching out to 250 donors, supporters, partners, strangers, friends, churches, ministries, and even family to donate $1,000 and designate the donation to our building fund!

As a thank you, we will forward a copy of LOVE GOES: Stories of Stirring the Pot, Sitting in the Mess, and Loving Like Jesus to you!!

YES! We will accept gifts smaller than $1000 and gifts larger than $1000!!! We just ask that you include a designation ‘building fund’ with your donation and let us know if you’d like a copy of our book!

Major Announcement: To request services, resources and assistance, we ask that you reach us at 918-289-0218. This is a landline, so call and leave a message.

EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 08, 2025 THE 918-260-1933 number will be shut off.

More news to come…please read above again. I really did say the 918-260-1933 number will be inaccessible beginning on 09/08/25.

“Over and over Jesus placed us right where we needed to be – to sit in the loss, to bless in the need, and to listen with hope.” LOVE GOES

We can do more. We can do better. Together.

LOVE GOES

Know that you are prayed for.

In His Service,

deni A. fholer, LMSW, CCFP