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.

________________________________________________________

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

They walked the streets in Las Vegas handing out Bibles with a cover that said, “Jesus loves porn stars” and an invitation for a bite to eat and a listening ear. They were ordinary radicals bringing Jesus’ word in the red letters of the Bible to life on earth.

They were ordinary radicals who bought a house on Potter Street and moved into the neighborhood. They have been bringing the book of Acts to life, sharing all their possessions and giving to anyone in need amid gun violence, prostitution, and poverty, while sharing meals together.

Working in the largest pediatric clinic in Oklahoma for kids on Medicaid a mom needed a breast pump. The barriers in getting one from another agency was asinine, so she bought one for the mom and gave it to her. For 21 years easy access in meeting needs to reduce stress, no ID or proof of residence required, providing the tangible in order to build relationships and introduce people to Jesus. Ordinary radicals loving on our neighbors in ways that other nonprofits and churches won’t.

XXX Church, The Simple Way and Isaiah 58, In His Service have something in common. These ministries step outside the norm and in faith to witness lives transformed in sometimes very unorthodox ways. “Radical faith lies at the intersection of shocking honesty and glorious hope. We believe Jesus meant what He said in the red letters of the Bible.” Tony Campolo

Loving our neighbors as Jesus did, costs something.

Irresistible Revolution, The Gutter and Jesus Loves Me This I Know have been my social work guides to loving like Jesus for over a decade. “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.” Acts 4: 32-35

Travis

Taking care of orphans, widows, children, mentally ill, the working poor, was never supposed to be the responsibility of the government. It is clear in scripture that it was -and is - the responsibility of the church and to be honest we’ve failed. Christ followers as described in scripture are called to the uncomfortable, the hard, the messy and the dangerous. If you have any doubt just look at the lives of Jesus and His disciples – almost all tortured and murdered by “stiff neck pharisees” the ‘religious’ people. So why do we offer limited assistance to our neighbors in need only when it is convenient for the church?

It used to be that we made time for what was important but now we seem to make time for what makes us feel good. Part of that stems from a lulling of the church. Churches are staged like a realtor sets up a house to sell. Everything is designed to make the church goer as comfortable as possible, hot coffee, smiling greeters, fresh pastries, everything from cushy seats all the way to the music, sermon, and length of service – a perfect experience. The intent of corporate worship, however, is to equip followers of Jesus to go out and make disciples.

Jesus sent the 12 disciples out two by two and, “He charged them to take nothing for the journey except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money in their belts.” Mark 6:8

There aren’t many of us who would make it around our block. No wonder so many pew sitters choose only to go on sanctioned mission trips to another country. Going overseas for a week, you get to go to another country, teach vacation Bible school, stay in a hotel and for the last couple of days you get to sight see and buy souvenirs before you fly back home to your comfortable pew.

Why is it that we’ll go overseas but we can’t cross the street? Because it’s easier to go on ‘mission’ overseas than it is to do ministry here. Walking with our neighbors here takes a lot of time, it is often exasperating and inconvenient. The outcomes aren’t always what we pray for so we can get disappointed and feel taken advantage of. For many, they call it quits and never help again. But if we have Jesus as our example for the way we live our lives then right there in the midst of suffering is where He called us to be.

We had An Evening of Gratitude at Isaiah’s last night. We didn’t offer sponsorship levels or charge thousands of dollars to attend. We didn’t have a silent auction, pay a venue and entertainment organizer hundreds of thousands of dollars to offer our guests a good time. Our delicious homecooked dinner, dessert and Isaiah’s merch were offered as gifts to say ‘thank you’ for our donor’s support for the last 15+ years. In fact, Isaiah’s Home Team, Travis, Alice and Craig cleaned the toilets, mopped, hung pictures and painted to get ready for our celebration last night AND Kathy and Jeff prepared a delicious and amazing meal, all out of the goodness of their hearts.

Our prayer every day is to be more like Jesus. Jesus doesn’t charge a fee for us to follow Him. No, He paid the price because He loves us and wants a relationship with us. He could have decreed us all Stepford wives without any choice in the matter. Instead, He gave us this amazing opportunity to live on earth and make our own decision of whether we live for Him or for ourselves.

If you say you have a relationship with Jesus but haven’t gotten out of the pew and into the neighborhoods of the poor, then you really don’t know Him at all. The system to lift people out of poverty wasn’t originally designed to become bureaucratic red tape mired in oppression. It was started because the church was neglecting, even ignoring its mandate by Jesus to care for our neighbors next door and across the street. Why are churches budgeting thousands of dollars for overseas mission trips and a very small budget for the neighbors in the church’s backyard? Isaiah 58, In His service is listed on a local church's website as a partner, but we've never received any support from them. But they have referred people in need to us.

State and federal governments, systems that have programs to aid the poor are not compassionate and knowledgeable of the people they were set up to help. Systems aren’t designed to be compassionate or caring or kind. But the church is.

Isaiah’s doesn’t have a budget. We can’t give you the numbers of how many of our neighbors we’ve served or how many pounds of groceries were delivered last month or how many miles we’ve driven taking people to pick up prescriptions, to doctor’s appointments or to church. The transformed lives who spoke last night, Travis, Cheryl, Alice, Craig and Charley – they are our testimony, our annual report if you will, to how we spend our time, tithes and talent.

I serve our neighbors in need pro bono. In fact, Isaiah’s doesn’t have anyone on payroll, we are all volunteers. There are Executive Directors of non-profits in Tulsa that receive over $500,000 a year in salary. We could pay off our building, build cottages, and completely finish Isaiah’s Neighborhood – A Place to Belong, AND pay rent and utilities to keep families in their homes with that amount of money!!

We walk with people for the long term. Loving the irritating, accident prone, sensitive, frustrating, dangerous, angry neighbor until they can see themselves as the person God created them to be. Discipleship is hard and honestly, more often than not, there is no happy ending. We have hundreds of photos hanging in Isaiah’s. Each one a life made in the image of God and most of them are not living the life God designed for them. Abuse, drugs, alcohol, mental illness, domestic violence, cognitive disabilities prevent them from seeing themselves as Jesus sees them. We continue our walk with them, through it all, because transformation can happen on a death bed.

Shane Claiborne said, “I grew tired of the version of Christianity that’s just about escaping this world. We can’t promise people heaven and then ignore the hells that they’re living through right now.” Now is not the time to cut the budget for those in need in our city. Now is the time for the Church to step out in faith, even when it’s uncomfortable, inconvenient, difficult, contrary to ‘the way we’ve always done it’ and apart from other churches. This is a call for action because we are in crisis.

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

LOVE GOES