We were given 60 days to vacate our location in the Admiral Place Shopping center on September 20, 2022. I went to Jesus and said if He’s accomplished all that He intended through Isaiah’s, then I was through too. But, if He chose to continue to love our neighbors through Isaiah’s I asked, “Will you please not wait until day 59 to tell us where we’re going?”
That was a Tuesday. We had an emergency Board meeting on Saturday, and I asked our Board to believe. God knows what He’s doing even when we don’t have a clue. The following week I received a message that included a picture of a building and a price tag of $200,000. The message said, “I don’t know what your finances are or what you need, but I felt led to send this to you.”
The next day Chrissy, Travis, 3 realtors and I were inside the building checking it out. I wasn’t inside long before I knew, this was God’s plan for Isaiah’s. So, the 6 of us sat at a table in the middle of a large open space and we prayed. Then Elle said to me if we wanted to seriously consider purchasing this building, I needed to sign a letter of intent.
We had about $400 in our checking account, no assets, heck I didn’t have an income but if this was where we are supposed to be, Jesus can move mountains and so – I signed.
Early the next morning I had a call from Elle. She said she had been wrestling with Jesus ever since we left the building. He had shown her promises in scripture and confirmed to her that He wanted her to buy the building for us and we pay rent until we can pay off the building!!! Hallelujah!!
She bought the building and we moved into our new location on November 17th, just 3 days shy of 60 days. We have a commercial kitchen, a sanctuary that will hold around 125 people, a family room where we are going to install a shower and it sits on 1.3 acres – in an unassuming place in the middle of Tulsa. It is perfect!! Isaiah’s Neighborhood – A Place to Belong is starting to come into focus! We dedicated the building, property and our team to the glory of Jesus. We prayed for His protection and guidance, and we are believing for plunder to pay off the building and do necessary repairs.
Isaiah’s has turned a corner. Our mission remains, “Serving those in need in the name of Jesus and to the glory of God.” Throughout the almost 6 years on Admiral we became a drop-in center. We also received donations of used items to furnish residences for our neighbors.
Our new building is designed for community not storage. We continue to serve a home cooked meal on Wednesday evenings, Bible study and prayer. We live stream BattleCreek church on Sunday mornings, eat breakfast and have a time of fellowship.
We have some repair work to do on the building, including removing and replacing the north wall. We need painting and electrical work, replacing a water heater and installing plumbing for our shower, washer and an outlet for our dryer.
We are available to the public for memorial services. If a loved one passes and the family doesn’t belong to a church and can’t afford to have a service at the funeral home, Isaiah’s will host a memorial service. Contact deni for details, 918-289-0218.
We will have Lunch and Learns to talk about community concerns and social issues and invite some of our neighbors to share their story. Our prayer is to put a face to an issue and by hearing their story it can become a united community action, based on truth and effective problem solving.
We are looking for partners to start a Life Lessons 101 class. Bringing seniors and teens together to break through stereotypes, prejudices and misconceptions. We all have value and something to offer and this intergenerational class will be an opportunity to listen, learn and love.
Our back yard is not quite Red Rock but we believe it’ll be a Green Pebble version of outside concerts and cookouts. Maybe even overnight camping and outside movies!!
We have tilled the soil for our garden, and we need master gardeners to come and show us the fine art of growing vegetables. We have planted tomatoes! We need someone with a creative flair for flower gardens too!!
We went on our Mission Trip Tulsa last August and we just had our LOVE GOES conference!!! Creative Bliss Videography is putting our videos together to post on our Isaiah 58, In His Service YouTube channel, which you can subscribe to: Isaiah 58, In His Service - YouTube . We are partnering together to tell our neighbors’ stories on video. We have some resilient, remarkable, death defying and highly favored neighbors we can’t wait to introduce you to!!
We are praying for partners to sponsor our podcast! We will be talking with some of our nonprofit leaders, neighbors and professionals about problem solving some of the obstacles and challenges we face in our community. We will provide a platform in a respectful and loving way to ask questions, come to understanding and make a positive difference.
Isaiah’s is still loving on our neighbors in as many ways as there are needs. We continue to be a gap filler ministry by providing financial and tangible assistance. However, we are no longer accepting donations of used items. We no longer have an area to hold and store furniture, household items, toys, clothes etc.
If someone needs household items and furniture when they move into their residence, we want to provide new items. What we cannot get we will partner with other agencies to help. Our prayer is to provide a welcome home bag with hygiene items and new towels, a welcome mat, a journal, Bible, bathroom rugs and shower curtain and a $100 gift card to Walmart. We would love to have you help us build these bags!
We are no longer a drop-in center and do not have lunch sacks to give on a daily basis. We are asking folks to make an appointment to meet with me (918-289-0218) or text me for assistance (918-260-1933). The overwhelming needs of our neighbors takes me outside of the ministry doing home visits, going to meetings and doctor visits, making deliveries and checking on our neighbors.
No one is staying full time in the ministry and my schedule changes based on the needs of our neighbors so we can’t have regular open hours. Which is why we are asking donors and our neighbors in need to touch base with me instead of showing up at the ministry only to find no one is there. We are praying for a Ministry Manager so we can have regular hours but until then please contact me for an appointment.
We have two outreach liaisons for our neighbor’s experiencing homelessness. Any donations of backpacks, tents, sleeping bags, socks, underwear, etc. we will share these gifts with our liaisons and partners who hit the streets regularly. We also partner with One Hope Tulsa and Tulsa Housing Solutions. We are a member of A Way Home For Tulsa coalition.
We are an approved site for county and city court community service. We also provide community service opportunities for students. We are a partner agency with the Mental Health Association Employment First Program. We also partner with Tulsa Responds to help with signing up for food stamps, Sooner Care and tax preparation. We don’t limit the ways we offer assistance to our neighbors.
The coolest thing about Isaiah’s is that we serve as Jesus guides and provides. So when He nudges you to give your time, talent and treasure we now have exciting new ways for you to walk alongside us.
Follow us on Facebook, check out our website and subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of the things Jesus is doing through Isaiah’s and find out ways you can pray for us, give to us and spend time with us!! Know that you are prayed for.
In His Service, deni
Be. The. Exception.
No. More. Excuses.
