The Doak’s Story

In 2018, the Lord called Daniel and Candace Doak towards foster care. They believed there is a calling on the church to care for the orphans and that includes children displaced from their parents through foster care. In 2018, their first placement as foster parents was a set of brothers that had been bounced around to multiple homes and were dealing with a lot of uncertainty and instability. It was clear that the types of trauma that the boys were facing was impeding on their daily lives. Candace and Daniel worked hard to help the boys feel safe and secure over the next six months. In March 2019, the boys had a baby sister born and placed into foster care immediately. The Doak’s were not planning to go from zero to three children in six months, but it became evident that the baby needed to be in their home. The baby had her own set of challenges to overcome, but she was a joy to the family and like a twin to the youngest brother. The case began to close when it looked like the Doak’s would be able to adopt the children in 2020. Although, the case was surprisingly overturned in 2021 due to challenges from COVID. At that point, there wasn’t a lot of precedence for this type of situation in their county and there wasn’t guidance on how to move forward without the children being separated and displaced once again. There was a lot of anxiety that came up in the children and the Doak’s realized they needed to advocate for the children and their family. It was a very uncertain time but the Lord gave multiple people the same verse during one week. They all shared this verse with the Doak’s. The verse was Joshua 1:9. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”” ‭‭Joshua‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬ It was so clear that God was doing something big enough to need to overturn the case and cause the kids to be back in foster care.

That week, the Doak’s got a call that there was another baby girl born. There was a 4th sibling that needed a home! This was not something that was expected at all, but it was evident that the baby was supposed to join their case and be with the siblings. So, the Doak’s gladly made room in their home and hearts for another baby. This was a hard time but they believed that God was calling them to be courageous and obedient and He would come with them. He would meet their every need. He would make a way. The Doak’s decided to hire an attorney to help advocate for their family. The cost was more than $3,000 a month for a year. This was not a price that a minister and an educator could afford, but through the grace of God there was never a payment missed. The help of Oath Fund also provided some support to their adoption journey. More than financial support, the advice and prayers of the Oath Fund team were encouraging and uplifting in such challenging times. In 2023 and 2024, all the children were adopted and officially named Doak.

Through adoption, the family learned that adoption isn’t a magical switch to erase trauma. Adoption is a promise of love, protection, inheritance, and forever family. Adoption is a true picture of the Gospel. One day we are on our own and the next day we have the full inheritance of Jesus Christ to share with Him. He has made a way for us who believe! Jesus promises to come with us if we come to Him. He calls us to be courageous and obedient. We can have confidence that He knows what the future holds and He does care for us more than we could ever hope...