Radical Discipleship and Passionate Mission: the Tulsa Boiler Room storyRachel Wegner - 22 Jun 2012

Very simply, we seek to make disciples, focusing on the lost and the marginalized, what we mean when we say that is the poor and the homeless, the cynical and the burned out and those that have been given up on by the church and others.

Tim Way, one of the founding members of the Tulsa Boiler Room, said "That’s at the heart of what we do—to make disciples and to do it through prayer, expressions of simple church, creating a spiritual family and inviting people into that."

The Tulsa Boiler Room is a simple community centered on Jesus. Founded in 2009, they have made their home Tulsa, Oklahoma. Officially commissioned as a Boiler Room community by 24-7 Prayer in May 2011, they are on a quest for genuine relationships, radical discipleship and passionate mission.

It all began simply enough for the Tulsa Boiler Room (TBR). A vastly varied group of young people gathered to participate in two cycles of a 24-7 Prayer internship known as Transit from 2007-2009. They planted seeds of prayer, dreamed big dreams and forged community by living together in the rundown neighborhoods of West Tulsa. During those years invested in West Tulsa, they laid groundwork for the eventual launch of their simple church and community of prayer.

 “It was a lot of different pieces of what was very obviously one puzzle,” Seth Kittinger said. Seth interned in 2008-2009 and now helps lead the TBR. “We’re not naturally attracted to each other and we’re not necessarily like-minded people, but we’re like-hearted people. That really helped define the culture of the Boiler Room.”

As the TBR developed, several members of their community built relationship with the greater 24-7 Prayer and Boiler Room network. They went on pilgrimages to visit other Boiler Rooms, joined in national 24-7 gatherings and kept close ties with national and international leaders of 24-7 Prayer.

“This is our family,” Seth said. “A really big part of our heart is to foster that family relationship.”

From week-to-week, the TBR meets in three separate house churches fondly dubbed as “Spuds." They also meet each Tuesday to share a meal together, along with hosting monthly seasons of prayer. Every Thursday night, they host a cookout at Owen Park in downtown Tulsa, providing a hot meal and a good measure of love for the homeless, lonely, needy and anyone else who happens by.

“I don’t know who the special people are.”

One winter night at Owen Park, a young girl came along with her family to help serve the Thursday night meal. Baffled at what she saw, she approached Karissa Coltman, one of the original leaders of the Owen Park outreach.

“She came to me and said, ‘I don’t know who the special people are,’” Karissa said, explaining that everyone was bundled up against the cold that night. “During the winter, it’s almost impossible to tell who are those who have come to be served and those who have come to serve. We like to empower people that this is not a soup kitchen, this is not a hand out line, this is a family dinner.”

Oftentimes, the people who come to Owen Park to be fed will in turn help cook, serve the food and clean up afterward. Jesse McIntyre, who helps lead the Owen Park outreach alongside his wife, Rachel, and another married couple, said he has been deeply moved by the opportunity to build relationships with the people they see from week to week. During his internship with Transit from 2008-2009, Jesse said he learned what unconditional love and family were like in God’s Kingdom.

“Thursday night dinners have been an avenue for me to meet marginalized people and show them what it means to be loved,” Jesse said. “It’s similar to what my Transit family did for me, showing me what love really is, what it means to be fathered and to have a brother in Christ. I see what discipleship really is. It’s about pouring the love of Christ into somebody and walking with them through a dirty, messy world.”

During the summer months the TBR can host 100 people or more on any given Thursday. One of the biggest days of the year for them falls on Thanksgiving. Since the outreach began in 2009, the TBR crew has been out in full force each Thanksgiving. They’ve come armed with turkey fryers, commercial-sized space heaters, a smorgasbord of food and a small army of volunteers. But no matter how many people turn up for Thursday nights each week, the TBR crew is there faithfully serving meals and loving people.

“If you’re out there, there’s obviously a need there, and it’s not always the meal,” Karissa said. “Sometimes it is a hug. Sometimes it’s just being encouraged in what you’re doing or what God has you walking through that week.”

“A Kingdom lesson we’ve all learned from Karissa is hot dogs and hugs are legitimate needs,” Seth added with a laugh.

You can continue this story from the Tulsa Boiler Room on the 24-7 USA site

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Photos are deratives taken from [email protected] photostream on flickr