Orphan Care Plan

Learn how you can bring the Orphan Care Ministry to your church and help save lives.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

At One More Child, we are thankful for each of you who believe in what God can do through our ministries. We have the privilege of serving children and families – meeting their needs and showing them the love of Christ. What brings meaning to every outreach program and ministry is the actual child whose life is being saved. It is not about numbers or statistics. Helping one more child inspires to do what we do every day.

There are so many children in our state, in our country, and in our world who need help. Some need safety and security. Others need food and clothing. Some need a warm embrace. Others need a patient friend to love them through their healing. They all need the reminders of the redeeming and transforming love of Christ. Whether it’s your time, resources or talents, please consider helping precious children in need.

Will you help by starting an Orphan Care Ministry in your church?

Dr. Jerry Haag

Jerry T. Haag, Ph.D., CFP

Start your Orphan Care Ministry today!

Orphan Care Ministry Overview

Recently one of our foster families called to tell us they would not be re-licensing their home. When pressed for a reason, all they could say was, “Lack of support.” They had experienced a crisis in their home with one of their placements and did not feel they had anyone they could turn to for prayer support or resources that would understand what they were going through.

These were one of our most committed foster parents who were in it for all the right reasons. Could their story have turned out differently had the body of Christ wrapped around them in their time of need? The Orphan Care plan we recommend for a church is one that involves insulating foster parents, adoptive families and other orphan care ministries with a three-pronged approach. When caring for children with broken stories, there is a huge need for a strong support system.

 A system that would include …

  • Prayer warriors, who will be passionate about praying for a child, by name, who doesn’t have a loved one lifting them to the Father. This is the most important way we can ensure a strong foundation.
  • Resources such as meals, transportation, furniture or diapers. Every family needs to know they will have the resources for the call God has on their lives.
  • Respite to prevent burnout and fatigue. Coming alongside a foster or adoptive family and providing much-needed rest may be just what they need to help them continue in the call to help one more child.

Get Started with Prayer

ASK OTHERS TO PRAY

Before initiating an orphan care ministry, it is important to call your church into prayer. A great time to launch your ministry is on Orphan Sunday, typically the second Sunday in November. When a church focuses on the needs of orphans both domestically and internationally, through a launch event, eyes are opened and people respond to seek the Lord and get involved. After your Orphan Sunday event, call the church into prayer. The following scripture versus will help them as they are praying about how they should be involved.

SCRIPTURE VERSES

Psalm 127:3 (CEV)
Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord.

Deuteronomy 24:19-21
When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.

Psalm 82:3-4
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

Jeremiah 49:11
But I will protect the orphans who remain among you. Your widows, too, can depend on me for help.

John 14:18
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Lay the Groundwork

Put together a team at your church that will make your Orphan Care Ministry possible.

HOST A GATHERING

Ideas:

  • Set a day and time for an initial meeting, and invite those who may be interested in starting an Orphan Care Ministry at your church.
  • Specifically ask those who you believe have a tender heart for children and issues impacting the well-being of children.
  • Make this initial meeting a dream session! Pose this question: “If we could do anything…”
  • Dream with your eyes open. Explore the answer to this question locally, domestically and internationally.

INCLUDE YOUR LEADERSHIP AND INVITE US!

Ideas:

  • At your gathering, include a church staff member (pastor, mission pastor, children’s pastor, etc.) in your meeting, but remember the pastor does not have to lead this initiative.
  • Invite a staff member or representative of One More Child to be at the meeting to answer questions and explore the possibilities alongside you. This staff member will gather resources to aid you in the planning process and help you research the needs locally and globally.

GET DOWN TO BUSINESS FOR THE NEEDS OF CHILDREN.

Ideas:

  • Determine how often your Orphan Care Team will meet.
  • Create a name for your Orphan Care Ministry.
  • Choose which area(s) of ministry your team will focus on.

Build Your Leadership Team

A good team consist of 5-7 individuals who are passionate about orphan care ministry. Each one commits to a specific role of responsibility. After your first meeting and as your Orphan Care Ministry’s vision comes to life, make sure each leadership team member has a designated role. Of course, each church’s Orphan Care Ministry team will be different as God leads your area of greatest impact, but here are a few possibilities for team member job assignments:

  • Foster Care Recruitment Coordinator – Hosts events and initiatives, creating opportunities to recruit foster parents throughout the church and community.
  • Foster Care Support Coordinator – Leads the church to support foster families through wraparound services making sure every foster family has a prayer warrior, needed resources and a respite family to help them in their foster parent journey.
  • Adoption Support Coordinator – Helps lead efforts to raise funds and pray for families seeking to adopt a child or sibling group.  Coordinates support groups for adoption families.
  • Family Preservation Leader– Leads the church to help families in crises to keep them together through feeding programs and parenting support.
  • Statewide Needs Coordinator – Leads the church in efforts to meet the needs of foster children locally and throughout the state. This could include efforts of volunteering, leading a church-wide diaper drive, or adopting a cottage on a nearby One More Child campus.
  • International Needs Coordinator – Leads the church in international orphan care projects to support with resources and mission teams through One More Child.
  • Sanctity of Human Life Coordinator – Works with One More Child staff member to explore ways your church can get involved with your local pregnancy care center. Contact our Sanctity of Human Life staff today.
  • Child Sex Trafficking Prevention Coordinator – Raises awareness and leads the effort to educate the Church on this issue. Learn more about our Anti-trafficking efforts.

The Orphan Care Ministry leadership team should determine how often they will meet to pray together, plan and report the status of their respective areas as well as their needs.

Motivate Your Church Body with a Launch Event

You can have a launch event or church service. Then, set subsequent church-wide events annually (or even monthly). For your launch event, you might consider Mother’s Day to Father’s Day for a month long emphasis or Orphan Sunday, traditionally the first Sunday in November, as your launch day!

IDEAS:

  • Meet with your church pastor and/or staff to plan for the event, and put a date on the calendar!
  • Consider having the event or church service centered on orphan care. Work to include all elements in your presentation including worship music, video presentations and sermon.
  • Consider inviting a guest speaker from One More Child. Contact us today.
  • At your launch event, present
    • The why
    • The how
    • The when
  • Consider hosting an interview panel of foster parents, adoptive parents, a foster child, an agency representative, etc. If needed, a One More Child Relations staff member can help enlist a panel for you! Include those in your church who are already serving in foster care and adoption on your panel.
  • At the close of your launch event, have a way for people to respond immediately and specifically by creating a response card. Include options for everyone in your church to be able to participate in orphan care at some level. Our Church Relations staff member can help you design the right response card for your church.
  • Have display tables set up in a high traffic area of your church. One of our staff members can provide a display and resources to answer questions about our ministry opportunities.
  • Set a date for interest meetings for specific areas that will require future training (i.e., foster care, adoption, mission trips).

Follow Through After the Big Launch

After the launch, your church will be excited and ready to impact children and bring your orphan care ministry to life. Now is the time to make sure you follow through to get your church members involved.

IDEAS:

Host a follow-up information or interest meeting for each area of focus. During the meeting you can:

  • Answer questions regarding the details of the specific orphan care ministry of interest.
  • Plan for how often each respective meeting will take place.
  • Be sure to promote your event to encourage fantastic attendance:
    • Create and distribute fliers about your meeting.
    • Contact those who signed up by personal email or phone call to invite them personally.
    • Ask if your church leadership will send an email about the meeting to all church members. Be sure to give them all the details and verbiage for the email.
    • Ask your church to share details about your meeting(s) on the church-wide Facebook page.
    • Consider reaching out to other churches in the area and invite them to be part of your ministry also.

IN ADDITION TO INTEREST MEETINGS, CONSIDER HOSTING TRAINING EVENTS AT YOUR CHURCH SPECIFIC TO THE AREAS OF ORPHAN CARE INTEREST.

  • Work with One More Child staff to provide the training.
  • Consider hosting the training as part of the regularly scheduled church program potentially on a Wednesday night/Sunday evening.
  • Work to provide free childcare for families attending the training.
  • Consider the option of having prospective foster parents attend a previously scheduled class outside the church at One More Child.

Continue to Build Your Orphan Care Ministry (Resources)

  • Pray, meet, organize and plan for the future.
  • At your next annual impact event, make sure you show the ways the church has made a difference through the Orphan Care Ministry!
  • Recognize everyone who has helped make the Orphan Care Ministry Possible – students including foster teens in ministry, children’s ministry teachers supporting foster children, those who teach, provide meals, transportation, babysit, prayer warriors, etc.
  • Contact us to find Orphan Care Ministry resources for these specific areas of need:
    • Foster Care
    • Anti-Trafficking
    • Sanctity of Human Life
    • Global
    • Child Hunger
    • Family Support Services
    • Single Mothers

Transformation Starts with Prayer

You have the opportunity to help transform lives, and it all starts with prayer. By supporting One More Child’s programs, you can help take a child’s life and make it whole. Make the greatest impact for children by focusing on three areas for every ministry.

This three-pronged focus is based on the concept that no matter the ministry, there are three essential needs before transformation can begin:

Prayer

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7 (NLT)

Respite

Rest in the shade of the tree while water is brought to wash your feet. Genesis 18:4 (NLT)

Resources

Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Luke 16:9 (NLT)

Wrap around the needs of children and the ministries of One More Child.

One More Child

From the opening of our first orphanage in 1904 to our present day ministries that have expanded to provide safe, stable, Christian homes and services to children and families in need across the state and around the globe, we are honored to be helping children in tangible ways. Whether it’s providing clean diapers to a newborn baby, food for a hungry child, safety for an abused child, or foster or adoptive homes to children in crisis, we work to share the healing love of Jesus Christ with children who have been abused, neglected and abandoned. We approach every day motivated by the thought to help one more child!

Learn More

GLOBAL

One More Child is proud to answer God’s call to provide help for the physical and spiritual needs of orphans and vulnerable children throughout the developing world. Our Global ministry is bringing the hope of Christ to children in developing nations through diverse ministries. We mobilize missions teams and work with established national partners in 13 countries to feed hungry children, build homes for impoverished families, establish schools, work in orphanages and provide medical care. We are ultimately focused on meeting the needs of children and families by sharing the hope and restorative love of Jesus Christ.

Learn More

ANTI-TRAFFICKING

One More Child is proud to offer shelter, unconditional love and a safe place to begin a new life for survivors of sex trafficking. One More Child strategically partners with community organizations including law enforcement, local task forces, DCF and Community Based Care Agencies to educate in schools, churches and community groups in order to prevent more women from this tragedy.

Learn More

Meet our passionate and empowering staff.

Jerry T. Haag, Ph.D., CFP®

President/CEO

Dr. Jerry Haag is the president/CEO of One More Child. During his tenure as president, he has guided the expansion of ministry sites from nine locations in Florida to more than 50 locations around the globe. Under his presidency, One More Child has launched its Anti-Trafficking, Child Hunger, Single Moms, Family Support (prevention) and Global programs to meet immediate and long-term needs of children and families. Under Dr. Haag’s leadership, One More Child has increased from serving 3,351 children and individuals in 2007 to more than 473,993 in 2022.

Dr. Haag earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance from Baylor University and earned a Ph.D. in finance and real estate in 1995 from the University of Texas at Arlington. He has led and participated in humanitarian aid, emergency relief, childcare and ministry to children and families in countries around the world.

Dr. Haag was appointed to serve on the Florida Faith-based and Community-based Advisory Council by 3 governors and served as the chair. He also serves on the board of directors of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), where he has chaired its Faith and Foster Care Research Team and served on the President’s Advisory Council. In addition, Dr. Haag has served on the board for Hines Ugandan Ministry since 2018.

Because of Dr. Haag’s experience and leadership in launching global, prevention, and anti-trafficking programs, he has been invited on numerous occasions to share our organization’s expertise with national and world leaders – to include the United States Health and Human Services, the White House, the President’s Office of the Dominican Republic (in coordination with President Danilo Medina) and the Office of the First Lady of Guatemala (in coordination with First Lady Patricia Marroquin de Morales).

Dr. Haag is passionate about long-term policy change to impact vulnerable children, and he had the pleasure of participating in a distinguished seminar on Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy, sponsored by the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs at Boston University.

He preaches regularly in churches throughout the nation, and he and his wife, Christi, also enjoy speaking together. Additionally, he has authored, presented and published academic articles relating to his business expertise and has been honored several times for his business, professional and civic achievements.

In 2018, Dr. Haag was awarded the 2018 George W. Truett Distinguished Service Award by the Baylor Line Foundation and was honored at its Hall of Fame Gala for his exceptional leadership in meeting the needs of children around the world.

Dr. Haag has served on the faculty and administration of both public and private universities, and he was named Baylor University’s Vice President for University Development in 2011, where he served before returning as president of One More Child.

From 2000-2007, Dr. Haag served as president and CEO of the South Texas Children’s Home in Beeville. He also has corporate work experience with AT&T and is a Certified Financial Planner.

Dr. Haag and Christi have been married for more than 3 decades and live in Lakeland, FL. Christi is a renowned speaker, thought influencer and spokewoman for One More Child.  Their eldest son, Ben and his wife Maddie live and work in Dallas, TX and their youngest son, Brady and his wife Katie reside and work in Denver, CO.

Do you need a brief bio for Dr. Haag for an upcoming speaking or preaching engagement he is participating in? We have you covered — find it here.
Contact Jerry

Phone: 863.687.8811

Stephen Robert

Chief Operating Officer

Stephen Robert serves as Chief Operating Officer for One More Child.

Stephen’s leadership in areas throughout the organization has been critical to increasing our impact for children in need. Stephen’s expertise in program leadership, strategic operations, church engagement, business partnerships and more have grown our ministry exponentially. Stephen has also been an important voice for our organization, whether it is leading an expert workshop at Christian Alliance for Orphans, hosting our Dream Big for One More Child events or welcoming the governor to our campus. 

Stephen previously served as the Executive Vice President and Vice President of Church Engagement and Strategic Operations.

Prior to that, Stephen served as One More Child’s Area Administrator for Central and South Florida and he also held the title of Central Florida’s Director of Development when he was first hired to One More Child.

Prior to joining One More Child in 2010, Stephen worked in the furniture industry for 10 years. He was the general manager for a retail furniture franchise overseeing multiple retail store locations.

Stephen graduated from Florida State University with a degree in economics and earned a master’s degree in Christian studies from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Stephen is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in Christian Leadership from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Stephen has been ordained into the Gospel Ministry by his home church, First Baptist Church of Plant City.

He and his wife, Laura, reside in Lakeland with their four children, Rileigh, Landen, Hannah and Micah.

Contact Stephen

Phone: 863.687.8811

Leon Battle

Vice President of Strategic Partnerships

Leon Battle serves as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships. He leads our efforts to connect people, businesses and churches with unique opportunities to do what they do best and are passionate to help us serve more children and families. 

Previously, he was the Executive Director of Child Hunger and Family Support Services at One More Child.

Leon graduated from Southeastern University with a bachelor’s degree in theology and a minor in business, he continued on to earn his master’s degree in human services, and completed his doctorate in 2022 with a dissertation on Gospel-centered feeding programs. 

Leon served as a youth pastor throughout college and soon after accepted a pastoral job in Albany, New York. During his time in ministry, Leon saw the immense trauma that families were being confronted with and desired to get a deeper look into the dependency system. He changed career paths and started working for the Department of Children and Families (DCF). During his time with the department, he investigated abuse within families and institutions, and he later became a human trafficking specialist. Leon helped children get out of abusive homes and helped rescue children from human trafficking rings. He received multiple recognitions from Governor Rick Scott during his time with DCF.

Leon is very involved in his community. He recently graduated from Leadership Lakeland and has been named the chair for human services for the program. He serves as the vice chair of the board of Tri-County Human Services which provides in-patient, outpatient, and residential care for individuals getting help with addiction and mental health issues. Leon also serves on the advisory board of the social work department at Southeastern University.

Leon helped Aaron Burke launch Radiant Church in South Tampa. In five years, the church has reached more than 5,000 people and is consistently growing and impacting the city of Tampa.

Leon has a deep passion for intervention. He desires to see Christ’s love and restoration brought to families during their times of hurt and crisis. Leon believes the local church is the greatest asset for families in need and desires to empower the local church to step into the call of Christ, which is to help the widow, the orphan and hurting families in their time of need.

Contact Leon

Phone: 863.687.8811

Sundy Goodnight

Director of Church Engagement

Originally from Central Oklahoma, Sundy Goodnight graduated college with a degree in communications and served as a director for that institute.  Sundy has dedicated her life’s work to helping hurting and vulnerable children.

In 2005, Sundy joined Mercy Ministries in St. Louis, Missouri, a nonprofit organization committed to helping young women with life-controlling problems such as eating disorders, drug addiction, self-harm and child abuse.

During her time as a counselor at Mercy, she also became involved in orphan ministry. She has served short-term missions in the Philippines, South Africa, Ukraine, Colombia, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, as well as volunteered for numerous humanitarian organizations.

Her passion for the broken and hurting children of the world brought her to the New York City basedanti-trafficking organization, Stop Child Trafficking Now, where she served five years as the National Director.

Today Sundy serves as Director of Church Engagement, where she enjoys traveling and speaking and encouraging others to care for children in need.

Sundy is passionate about Jesus and loves sharing His heart for children everywhere she goes.  She is an active foster parent and mommy to her adopted daughter, Emmerson.

Contact Sundy

Phone: 904.721.2711

Philip Whitten

Director of Engagement

Philip Whitten serves as the Director of Engagement for One More Child Hope Street. He graduated from the University of Tampa with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport Management. While sports was a passion for him early in life, impacting people quickly became his focus.

Having been brought up in a faith-based home it was clear there were needs to be met. Early in his career he worked for a private Christian school in Tampa. From there he went on to sales and Globally

Contact Philip

Phone: 863.252.9763

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