For information on how you can serve with the One Child Initiative, click the button below and make a selection under “One Child Initiative.” Someone will be in contact with you.

Pregnancy Resource Centers

We cannot talk about caring for vulnerable children without recognizing the unborn. All life is precious to God, as he is the Creator of life and created man in his own image. We have been blessed to connect with gospel-centered pregnancy and medical resource centers in our area that serve women, men, and children during the pivotal time of an unplanned pregnancy. We support these organizations and their staff because they firmly believe that if the heart of the mother and father truly grasp the reality of Christ and his work on the cross for us, then they will deeply desire to care for life as preciously as Jesus did.

Area Pregnancy Centers We Serve

• A Women’s Pregnancy Center

• The Pregnancy Center of Gadsden County

• Wakulla Pregnancy Center

Strengthening and Supporting Families

In the Psalms David describes God as a “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows – this is out God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.” (Psalm 68:5-6)

We were once lonely and fatherless but now experience the incredible blessing of being cared for within the family of believers. As a result, we know that the Church body is uniquely created, called, and equipped to meet the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of those who find themselves facing hopelessness in our broken world. We have the privilege of living out the Gospel when we extend biblical hospitality to families within our community who are experiencing difficulties and crisis.

Ministries to Serve and Strengthen Families

• Safe Families for Children Tallahassee: Safe Families for Children is a ministry fueled by compassion to keep children safe and families intact. As part of a citywide partnership of churches, our mission is to create extended family-like supports for parents facing crisis and social isolation. Volunteers form a Circle of Support around families that acts much like a Community Group- offering encouragement, prayer, mentorship, and support. Sometimes parents need a safe place for their child to live temporarily while they get back on their feet and Host Families open their homes to fill this role. Safe Families for Children is voluntary, separate from the foster care system, and allows parents to reunify at any time without ever losing custody of their children.

• Boys Town North Florida: Boys Town North Florida provides an array of life-changing youth care and health care services that meet each child and family exactly where they are so they get the right kind of care, at the right time, in the right way. Whether caring for a child in crisis, treating complex health care conditions or helping families find the parenting resources they need, Boys Town provides compassionate care and a proven track record of helping children and families heal and grow in mind, body and spirit.

Foster Care

Although Foster Care is different from adoption in that it is not designed to be permanent, it is, however, still an active response to the Gospel. A Foster Parent is given the opportunity to display the love of Jesus as they feed, clothe, care for, and welcome the vulnerable into their home and heart.

Similar to adoption, foster care is not an easy road. The foster care system is primarily designed to reunify children with their biological families, however there are instances when children become available for adoption. Foster care is an incredible opportunity to share the love of Jesus with foster children, their parents, and the foster care system.

Many families within our church have chosen to adopt, and many of them have gone through different area agencies. Our desire is to come alongside families who are fostering or are considering fostering to offer the support and resources needed in order to pursue this wonderful calling.

Foster Care Ministries We Serve:

• Guardian Ad Litem: Another way to serve vulnerable children in the foster care system is through the Guardian ad Litem program. A Guardian ad Litem plays a vital role in the life of the child whom they represent. Guardians gather information about the child’s life. They meet with the child they represent, the biological family, teachers, and other important people in the child’s life. Based on the information gathered, a Guardian ad Litem speaks on behalf of the child in court and shares their opinion on what is in the child’s best interest.

Adoption

Adoption is first and foremost a response to the Gospel: the loving Father who sought us, adopted us, and invites us to live as his sons and daughters. When you choose to adopt, you choose to emulate the heart of the Father.

The decision to adopt, the adoption process, and post-adoption life are not simple or easy. It must be a calling from the Lord. Often times adoptive children have been wounded deeply. Therefore adoptive families must be willing to support, care for, and provide continued care to their adoptive child so that they may experience the wholeness and healing available to them in Christ.

Many families within our church have chosen to adopt, and many of them have gone through different area agencies. Our desire is to come alongside families who have adopted or are considering adoption to offer the support and resources needed in order to pursue this wonderful calling.

Wrap-Around Care

As people continue to step out in faith and participate in foster care and adoption, some significant needs have arisen. Foster and adoptive families are in need of resources and strong support systems. These needs present opportunities for the rest of the church to participate in helping to care for vulnerable children. The Wrap-Around ministry of Four Oaks Church exists to equip and empower God’s people to come along side of adoptive and foster families through prayer, care and service.

Wrap-Around care provides tangible ways of coming alongside foster and adoptive families. The hope of wrap-around care is that as the church comes around these families with support and care, the community will be strengthened and the calling on the adoptive and foster families will be sustainable.

We know that not every Christian is called to become a foster or adoptive parent, but we do believe that every Christian is called to care for the plight of the orphan.

The Wrap-Around Ministry provides various avenues for any individual or family to be able to participate in the Every Child Initiative. But more than anything, the Wrap-Around Ministry is a clear example of the members of the body coming together to carry out God’s redemptive mission.

International Partners

While we firmly believe that God has placed Four Oaks Church in Northwest Florida with the purpose of making disciples that represent the gospel to every man, woman and child in this area, we also recognize his call on us to be involved in his mission throughout our state, our nation and our world. So we joyfully partner with the following organizations to care for vulnerable children.

• Cabaret Haiti Mission: 700 miles off the coast of Florida is a place of beauty and a place of hope. A place where children learn and grow and where families beat the odds stacked against them. A place of hard work and full bellies. Of learning, love, and joy. Through locally-led programs and strategic partnerships with other organizations, Cabaret Haiti Mission is able to provide health care, education for children and adults, employment, orphan care, and share the hope of a life in Christ. For the past ten years, Mike & Bonnie Snider, have served as full time CHM missionaries, bringing wisdom, leadership, & love to children and families across the region.