Get ready for
Spring Semester!
January | April 2024
Application deadline: December 1, 2023
Classes begin: January 8, 2024
Orphan Care Certification
The School of Orphan Care is a unique, pioneering program, changing the way missionaries and international social workers prepare for the field, do community together, and find their landing place.
What.
Orphan Care Certification
Semester Part One: Certification Courses
Our 2-month intensive coursework program is designed to prepare you for international orphan care. Your schedule will include both classroom sessions and field practice in select orphanages.
Semester Part Two: Advanced Internship
An additional 2-month internship puts what you've learned into practice. Graduates of the Advanced Internship program will qualify to become Oak Life Caregivers and connected with our network of partnering orphanages for international work placement.
Certification Program Courses
Learn to care for children of abandonment and trauma, and ultimately help them heal from their past.
This course delves into the impact of trauma on the developing brain, and gives you the tools to empower children to find their voice again, attach holistically to parental figures and reshape their futures.
Oak Life uses a therapeutic model of child care known as Trust-Based Relational Intervention, built by the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development.
We believe understanding the impact of traumatic events on children to be an essential part of working in alternative care. You will learn TBRI principles in the classroom, and then practice engagement techniques in guided interactions with children in shelters.
A mission born from your heart requires a solid foundation. Your calling cannot live by emotion alone.
The Sustainable Missions course will help you turn your dreams into the powerful, long-lasting, impactful forces on the world that God intended them to be.
You will learn skills in fundraising, cross-cultural integration, organization building, setting appropriate missional boundaries, avoiding burn-out, and much more.
The world of orphan care, and missions in general, is in desperate need of individuals who are firmly set, prepared, and eager to love people well. Build your missional life in a way that will last.
Working in a shelter is not all hugs and games. Wisdom and strategy are required to give children a good home where they can thrive.
In this course, you will explore the various structures and methods used to build a successful shelter. Learn the importance of every staff member, and how to write policies and procedures that keep everyone safe.
A key part of this curriculum will take you through the pros and cons of institutional living on children, and how an institution can instead become a "family."
Whether you want to work as a caregiver, volunteer or director, the Orphanage Administration course will prepare you to assess, assist and empower children's shelters to fulfill their highest goals and afford children the greatest opportunities for successful lives.
You cannot guide children who have experienced extreme trauma if you have not first been fathered by God yourself.
This course explores God as the "Father of Orphans," a title first used by King David, who knew God's heart intimately. Identify places in your heart where you have been 'orphaned,' and come to know God as the ultimate, adoptive Father. At the end of the day, orphan care and adoption is the Father's only work.
Once you understand how God cares for orphans, and how to stand firmly as His daughter or son, you will know how to reflect the same love onto the world's forgotten children.
Regardless of your Spanish-speaking abilities, you are welcome in our program. From beginners to advanced students, our Spanish teachers will challenge you and assist you on your language journey.
This course will enable you to engage with the children in deeper ways, communicate with the local community and enhance your cross-cultural experience.
Where.
Welcome to Chapala, Mexico! We are situated in Jalisco, a high, desert State of the mid-west, along the country’s largest freshwater lake, “Lake Chapala". Here, Mexican and American cultures are mixing, creating a colorful and bilingual society.
"Spend your free time exploring local markets, cultural festivals, skate parks and art exhibits! Discover the very best of Mexico."
When.
Next Semester: Spring 2024
January 8 – April 20, 2024
The Orphan Care Certification includes 2 months of courses and 2 months of internship.
After the full 4 months, qualifying students will have the opportunity to apply for available positions at select orphanages around the world and become Oak Life Caregivers.
We are now accepting application submissions for the Spring term of 2024. Application and references must be submitted by December 1, 2023.
Who.
So, do you qualify?
If you are 18 years of age or older, have a personal relationship with Jesus, and want to know more about a life serving in orphan care...then yes! We are looking for students who are adaptable, energetic and eager to show love to abandoned children.
Got more questions?
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