Refuge OKC

Executive Summary:

The Refuge is a project, which involves a building in downtown Oklahoma City, a homeless culture on those streets, and a church culture from the north, the south, the east, and the west. Being located across from the city’s largest rescue mission, The Refuge is strategically located to be able to reach a people who are in need. The Refuge desires to reach the most necessary need, their spiritual need.

Before the vision of The Refuge came to be, this building had been one of Oklahoma’s largest “crack houses” where drugs, prostitution and gang activity was the norm. Now this operation has been closed, we are in the midst of transforming a 25-unit apartment complex and a 7,000 square foot commercial space into a hub for churches/missionaries/warriors to join in this effort of transforming the streets. Our first step is to move into The Refuge those who we call missionaries/disciplers. They are various individuals who see Oklahoma City as their mission field. Our primary focus as missionaries will be to live life as a neighbor on the same streets of those who live within that community. We see living amongst the community as the single most effective outlet for making disciples and a lasting impact in peoples’ lives. The Great Commission from Matthew 28 has been our passion and the Holy Spirit our fuel.

If there was one thing that appears to be a reoccurring reminder, it is that this movement of discipleship and transformation is citywide and not just happening at The Refuge. This citywide effort only encourages us even more because it reminds us that the LORD is currently underway of restoring this city and region. For that reason, we don’t urge everyone to focus their attention on The Refuge, but to seek the King and the furtherance of His Kingdom. We see The Refuge as simply a tool that the LORD is using to stir up our faith and the faith within a city.

Mission:

The Refuge exists to bring glory to God through lives changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. We do this by living out a life empowered by the Holy Spirit and engaged by the Word. The Refuge was birthed by a group of people who were obedient to the calling of the great commission which is “to go therefore”. The Refuge is a result of people who desire to see areas of a city impacted by darkness changed by living out the light of Jesus Christ. The mission is to move in, make change, and expand new territories.

Vision:

To serve Oklahoma City one block at a time to affect communities physically and spiritually. We are God-centered and want our entire lives and everything we say or do to glorify Him. We believe that this entire city can be restored because the LORD desires to restore cities. Our primary example of this would be something like Nineveh in the book of Jonah, where in 3 days; the entire city repented and was saved. We see a tremendous need here in Oklahoma City for communities and those within the community to be restored. We believe that Christ is the answer to all of it and The Church is the conduit. Therefore, our vision in overall details is as follows:

1. Locate, restore, and move into dilapidated streets, neighborhoods, and communities.  

• We will do this by seeking neighborhoods that are littered with gangs, drugs, and prostitution.
• We will find strategic areas of a neighborhood where we can have the most influence within the community.
• From there, we will seek out ways to serve the community on a very missionally-minded approach.

1. 1. Currently, we are seeing an increased interest of people getting behind this part of the vision and have offered to live within these communities.

i. Each missionary will be responsible for paying his or her own expenses

ii. These are individuals who have shared their desire to not just “go to church”, but “be the church” within communities.

1. 1. Remodel one building within a neighborhood and then come along side the neighbors and restore other areas. Restoration of other areas include, but are not limited to, the following:

i. Physically

1. Key: Teaching the neighbors how to serve each other

2. Painting neighborhoods/businesses

3. Light remodeling (windows, light fixtures)

4. Mowing and street cleaning

5. Picking up trash

6. Trimming trees

7. Putting together the gifts and talents of the community to reach out to each other

8. Initiating community meetings

9. Initiating community block parties and outings (things like: a community potluck or neighborhood workdays)

ii. Spiritually

1. Key: Being a light in darkness

2. Loving the LORD with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength

3. Loving our neighbors by serving them

a. Build relationships with the homeless and invite them to join us in cleaning up and restoring areas.

b. Build relationships with the neighbors and invite them to join us in cleaning up and restoring areas.

4. Loving our enemies by serving them

a. Gangs: We have a passion to reach gang members and more specifically gang leaders. We see these individuals as natural leaders who can impact more than we could on our own.

i. People who serve at The Refuge have had numerous encounters with gangs, their leaders, and also, many of the drug dealers around the area, and most of these individuals seem to be open to a changed life.

ii. We desire to focus attention on prostitution. We would really like to help these ladies get off of the streets. That is why we desire to have a location away from the city where we can send them for a 6 month to 1 year length of time to minister to them.

b. Prostitutes: We have a passion to reach prostitutes. We see them as individuals who are in desperate need of love. This love can only come from the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. As the bride of Christ, we have an opportunity to show this love by coming along side of them and assisting them in any way possible of getting out of this lifestyle.

Values:

The Refuge OKC is to be a place/hub for the greater part of the city to rally around and unite in serving others. The key to restoring a city is by unifying a city. The Refuge has the desire to see this idea become a reality by getting back to the one common denominator…Jesus. We, at The Refuge, have seen this effort begin within numerous church bodies and believers who are returning to their first love — Jesus Christ.

Our values, which are driven by our passion, are as follows:

• We serve the LORD by serving the community:
  • the widows
  • the fatherless
  • the alien
  • the poor
  • the broken. (Zech. 7)

• We serve the LORD by serving the church. (Hag. 1)
  • We will serve the church by proving a platform to serve the community
  • We will serve the church by providing a platform to disciple the community

Our values are deep with love for our neighbors and a drive to see The Church engaged in the battle. By our observation on the streets of Oklahoma City, we see that our culture has been affected by a lack of community. It seems as if the suburbs have been a place of retreat, while those within the urban areas have continued to struggle. We desire to infiltrate the urban area of this city and to be a group of people who live out the role of the church right on the streets of urban OKC. As the church community, we have the power and ability to give away everything that we have.

Our beliefs:

One God,

Three Persons,

Christ Manifest

(Death, Burial, Resurrection, Ascension to the Father)

Disciples Commissioned to declare the Gospel.

Holy Spirit given to accomplish the “Declaration of the Gospel”.

Unity of Believer’s.

Confession of Sins.

Forgiveness of Sins.

Eternity in Fellowship with Him.

What we have done so far:

Cleaned and remodeled an “old crack house” to turn into a “light house”

Starting in February 2007, by God’s grace, we were able to shut down one of the Oklahoma City’s most notorious “crack houses.” Inside this building, they (the people on the streets) estimated about one to two million dollars in sales of drugs/prostitution. Even hours before this building was closed, we were informed of a stabbing in the halls leaving a trail of blood. This building, being located directly across the street from the City Rescue Mission (CRM), created an extraordinarily violent and dangerous environment, unproductive of the services and assistance of the CRM. Some of Oklahoma’s “most wanted” lived on these streets and in that building. We have now made an extraordinarily huge effort to change that community by changing what some had stated was “Satan’s stronghold of the city.” The day that the building was shut down, a prominent judge emailed a vice president of the city rescue mission and said that “this is a historic day for Oklahoma City” in remarks to the closure of this “thorn in the city.” Since that date, we have seen this building grab the attention of many. Those taking notice are the people on the streets, the old drug dealers, gang members, community members, church goers, non church goers, city officials, city planners, pastors, community leaders, non-profits, for profits, and media outlets, to name a few. This amazes us at The Refuge because we never set out to get so much attention. We just wanted to try to make a difference in one small section of Oklahoma City.

And so what started out with just an idea to disciple people on California Avenue in what is known as The Refuge, has changed into a location for missionaries to go and make disciples by serving the homeless, the needy, the woman, the children, the alien, and the poor.

When we look at the work the LORD has done in such a short span of time, it excites us to look ahead and see what He has in store for the future. What we have done so far up to date is:

• Shut down a large drug/prostitution/gang facility

• Begun to restore peace on a dangerous street
• Mow lawns for our neighbors pro bono
• Pick up loads of trash in the neighborhood pro bono
• Edge/weed alleys, walkways, and city streets pro bono
• Painted 2 buildings (ours and our neighbor on the west) and are offering to do others within our community
• Remodeled The Refuge with paint, new flooring, new counter tops, new ceiling fans, and soon to be added carpet and interior paint.
• Mudded and textured the hallway walls
• Provided meals for numerous people
• Provided clothing
• Provided bottles of water
• Held baptisms
• Taken family photos for the homeless families and individuals
• Had times of prayer and worship around the building

What we are trying to do currently:

Changing a community from darkness to light

We believe that our primary focus is to “go therefore and make disciples.” We are working on this building so that we can move in people who we are calling “disciplers” or “missionaries.” These are people, some professionals, some who work in coffee shops, some college students, and even one person who is retired, who are saying that they want to live in these areas and make a difference in the communities. The communities that we are seeking out are those where most people would feel uncomfortable to go to or even see no point to go to at all. These are the hard areas, the areas that seem rough and tough. But it seems like the LORD is preparing the way for us to go into these areas and live out the church and come along side of the residents and disciple them in the ways of the Word of God. So the phases we are moving towards:

1. Remodel the interior/exterior of this building, which is being called The Refuge.

1. Move in the warriors/missionaries/disciplers that we may live with and love on those who are in need of relationship. By faith, we are seeking a way to show our faith by the works of Christ on the streets.
2. Search out ways to impact the businesses/homeless and everyone in between in the region we are calling The Film District. This region is from the bus station on Market St and Sheridan, to Classen and Reno. This area is only a mile or so from Bricktown, but has been a center for gangs, prostitution, and drugs.
3. Once this region has been transformed, move out some the warriors and move in a few widows and orphans. Our hope in this area is that we minister to the widows and fatherless by being their neighbor and by being an example of how one can live a life of servanthood. We see our role in teaching/discipling the women by just living our lives and modeling a life of a Christ follower who lives in a community with other followers. We also hope to reach the next generation by showing by example what a godly father might look like so we will change the pattern of fatherlessness.
4. Move out into other regions of the city with those who have been living in The Refuge and want to go duplicate this effort in other areas of the city. Future areas of interest are the 9^th and Western area as well as the Southwest side of Oklahoma City.

We plan on focusing our attention in several areas:

• Changing the homeless culture (the takers): Most of the homeless population is living a life of selfishness. We see that this has become a way of life for them and they have become what we are calling “takers.” We see through the example of Christ, to no longer be “takers” or living of the flesh, but to be “engagers” who are giving their life away. This task is not easy, but it is the strategy the LORD has used in every corner of the world to change cities. To shout through our lifestyle as neighbors that we are called to serve each other. So our plan to change the culture is to serve the homeless by showing them how to serve others. By doing this, we believe they will transform from being a taker to a giver…from being enabled to being engaged.

Action Plan for The Refuge: Serve the homeless that by example we may live a life of selflessness that may impact a heart that is abundantly selfish. We would say that it is better to teach a man to fish than hand him a fish.

• Change the religious culture (the givers): This area is the most difficult to identify, but the easier of the two to change. For the religious culture in some way has lost its way in the area of discipleship; it has been about getting people to sit in the chairs of a church.

We see The Refuge as an outlet for those within the churches to get involved in communities that need love and attention. By giving an open door for people to come hang and/or serve their community and neighbors, we see this as an opportunity to build relationships with the homeless population.

At the same time, The Refuge has been given an opportunity to see the negative side of the religious culture. We call this the “assembly line” or “drive through mentality.” We aren’t sure how to articulate this very well because although it is great to see so many people giving of their time and food, it seems to be a struggle to discern the proper way to give and the improper way to give. And for this reason, we want to change the way food is distributed and how we interact with the homeless population. We are passionate about relationships and desire to grow and learn the most effective way to give away the things we have been given.

It is difficult for us to throw away 1-week old sleeping bags picked up in the back of alleyways. There are numerous reasons why they would leave a new sleeping bag, but some ideas we have are that they don’t want to pay to clean it, it was wet, and ultimately, because they know that they can get a new one. For you see, as a culture in general, we are very giving. Unfortunately, that generosity is to the demise of many. Therefore, we desire to change this culture of “drive thru” and “assembly line” to relationship and discipleship.

Action Plan for The Refuge: Serve the church community that by example we may live a life full of faith with works as we live the life of discipleship in practical ways. We would say that we are opening up the doors for the church to engage with the homeless and create an environment for relationships to be built.

• Changing the government culture (the enablers): This area of culture is the largest and most influential culture. To give you an example of government behavior, here is the pattern I have observed. On the first of each month, a check is given to an individual who lives at the City Rescue Mission. One individual that I spoke with is given a check for $1500. I know this because on the first of the month he came up to me with smiles and told me that he had good news. I thought he was going to suggest to me that he had gotten a full time job. Instead he shared with me that finally, he was approved for social security. The only problem is that he was spending it on women, drugs, and alcohol. In the mean time, he had free lodging and food. This is just one of the hundreds of people on our street who are continued to be enabled. My first statement to this man was “congratulations, you are officially a slave.” For you see, this person was a guy who I had been working with for about 6 months. What I mean by “working with” is building a relationship and talking to him about the number of jobs that had held down as a means of providing. This man was awesome because he was digging his way out. But, now that he was given disability, he no longer needs to work and has told me that they would take away the money if he began to work. The system seems broken and as I have recently noticed so does my friend who has now been given a large monthly check. This is just one small piece of the giant task ahead of us in changing the culture of enablers. We are championing the cause for work. We believe working develops character within a person that takes them from the mindset of taking to giving. I want to share with you too that I am not anti-government. I think that it is absolutely a special country that looks for ways to take care of people. First off though, I think that the primary place for this effort is within the churches. For you see, it is there in the churches that you find a community of people and a great source of accountability. Within the current system of the government, it is actually opposite. There is no community and no accountability.

Action Plan for The Refuge: Serve the city and business community that by example we may live a life that speaks louder than words. That the church has the ability to change cities…to change cultures…to change hearts…that the city would miss the church if it left. We would say that we want to be an example of living out the life of Christ as a servant that the impact would transform a whole culture and nation.

What we are planning to do in the near future:

Move disciplers into The Refuge, train them, and send them out to the next community.

As we continue to learn and grow in understanding, it is hard to forecast our steps. We, at The Refuge, have taken notice of works in the past. It seems that significant works go from being a work of God and turn into a work of man. It is our desire to not predict the future, but plan for the possibilities that appear to be the direction we are headed currently. One of our greatest assets to preventing The Refuge to becoming a work of man is to stay on the offensive. What we mean by that is resist the temptation of getting comfortable and look for ways for our faith to continue to grow.

As it stands, our direction is as follows:

1. Move disciplers into The Refuge located in urban/inner city
   1. Learn to do community as believers in Christ
   2. Learn to serve the community as a light in darkness
   3. Learn to lead the community as a servant in the community
2. Move into the next area of the city where the city is in most need
   1. 9^th Street and Western area of Oklahoma City.

i. The 9^th and Western area of the city appears to be a hot spot for drugs and prostitution and gang related activity.

ii. We have had numerous encounters with both as we have spent time looking for future areas of the city.

iii. Our efforts here include moving into the community and developing relationships with the residents.

iv. We will begin offering our help with them and at the same time loving them as our neighbor. We believe that we will bring Christ into these neighborhoods as we practically put love into action.

1. 1. 29^th SW area between the Dell Computers office and Airport Rd.

i. Our efforts here include sending churches/organizations into these neighborhoods to start a community alliance.

ii. This alliance will work to unite neighbors and neighborhoods to work together in fixing their areas.

iii. We will also have once month BBQ/pot lucks to bring about fellowship and community.

iv. We will send reinforcements into to assist in these efforts.

v. These reinforcements will come from other communities that want to be a part of transformation. It will also come from those who are in “rehab centers” such as the Salvation Army and The City Rescue Mission.

1. Once each area has been restored
   1. Move in widows and orphans

i. We intend to be a transitional element for woman and children who are working their way up and we would do that as follows:

1. Learn to live life next door and be a Christ-like neighbor

2. We see this as an absolute win win situation for all of those involved. There is no better place or way to disciple than by living right next door.

3. Learn to love our neighbor

1. By serving them

2. By building relationship with them

ii. Invite churches to adopt the family that they may follow the woman and children after they leave The Refuge.

1. This creates long lasting accountability

2. This creates long lasting discipleship

3. This creates long lasting friendship

4. This creates long last fruit

1. 1. Continue to invest in the lives of those on the streets
   2. Continue to invest in the restoration of businesses and neighborhoods

i. Create neighborhood and community masterplans

ii. Implement neighborhood and community development

iii. Maintain neighborhood and community development

1. Other areas of interest
   1. Creating avenues for work

i. We have already developed relationships with some large companies who would like to provide work opportunities for those who want to change.

1. 1. Developing and creating a rehabilitation area out of the city.

i. Currently, we have a 40 acre parcel being given to us to use

ii. The purpose behind this facility would be to take extra care and attention on those who are in scenarios that a place of this nature would provide stability.

1. 1. Long term goal would be to take this idea of community restoration into other cities of the nation and world.

i. Our immediate desire would be to focus our attention on the United States.

ii. Recently, we have been informed that a group desires to learn of The Refuge model to take over to Africa and live out the same practice and principles.

Strategy/Philosophy in Oklahoma City and the Region:

Unifying the city, by unifying the churches

Practically:

1. Serve the community that we live in

1. Impact that area with change of heart and mind
   1. We have adopted the trait of “teaching a man to fish rather than give him a fish”
   2. Our ultimate goal is to live out a fruitful life of work/serving
   3. Invite people/homeless/needy to help us by joining us in serving others
   4. Instill a work ethic
2. Expand our areas by going into other areas/communities that are difficult to reach by living within that community. We will seek out ways to develop relationships by serving that community that we live in.

Spiritually:

1. Set up a church within a house right in the midst of the community or assist current churches with serving their community that it might be a light on a dark street.

1. 1. The concept of a house church or church model provides a location for those in the neighborhood to find a community network. There, they would find accountability, guidance, and encouragement within their neighborhood.
   2. It would be ideal to have number of house churches within each neighborhood of the city.
2. Love our neighbor by serving them with unconditional love
3. Teach them and disciple them in the Word of God
   1. The Word of God is the only thing that can grow a person spiritually.
   2. The Word of God is the key to transform the heart and mind.

Our Current Partners:

Serving together unifies each other

This is just a narrowed list of the primary partners who are or have contributed in one or more ways financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically.

Organizations/Churches

• Bridgeway Church
• Life Church
• New Covenant Church
• Mars Hill Church
• Frontline Church
• Skyline Church
• City Rescue Mission
• Cherokee Baptist Church
• Crossroads Church
• Grace Vineyard Church
• Church of the Harvest
• K-Life
• Young Life
• Public and Christian Jr. High and High Schools
• Boy Scout troops
• Outside mission teams from other cities
• Providence Church Edmond
• Harrah Church
• First Presbyterian Church Edmond
• Oklahoma Baptist University students
• Oklahoma University students
• Mid America University students
• Oklahoma State University students
• University Central Oklahoma students
• Vision 360 (a church unifying initiative that is unifying and planting churches within the city)

Businesses

• Home builders (Ellis Homes)
• Carpeting
• Flooring
• Roofing
• Heat/Air (Amcor)
• Electrical (Welco Electric)

To read more of our journey please go to www.refugeokc.com.

If you would like to be a financial contributor into this cause, we would fully appreciate the assistance in this effort.

The Refuge OKC

PO Box 1401

Oklahoma City, OK 73101