The Story Behind Our Name
In January 2024, All Things Ministries became The Oaks Collaborative!
Although we changed our organization’s name, our focus remains the same - exalting Christ and cultivating Christ centered community. After lengthy discussion, the ministry’s Board of Directors and Staff determined this is the right thing to do for future clarity and effectiveness, so now we want to share the reasons for this change with you!
Why the Change?
As you are likely aware, though we have multiple types of ministries within our nonprofit, we have experienced significant growth and impact of our retreats for incoming freshmen which has led us to focus more intently on strengthening and expanding these retreats. This is in response to the growth of existing retreats and the growing requests by students and campus ministers to start freshmen retreats on other college campuses. In collaboration with churches and campus ministries, and thanks to the generosity of our donors, we will facilitate freshmen retreats on twelve college campuses in 2024 and prayerfully continue to expand in the future!
We believe this new name, The Oaks Collaborative, more accurately reflects our vision and mission as well as how we can best serve these college campuses. “The Oaks” because we desire to see students grow as oaks of righteousness for God’s glory (Isaiah 61:3), vibrantly rooted in and bearing fruit for Christ (Jer 17:7-8). And “Collaborative” because all our ministries happen through collaboration with churches and campus ministries to cultivate relationships with others and Christ. Through retreats, The Oaks Collaborative sets the table for incoming freshmen to transition to college life well and live for Christ throughout college. Our desire is to help change the statistic that tells us that 66% of high school graduates who profess Christ will fall away from their faith while in college (Lifeway, 2017).
With the ministry’s updated name, we will continue to strive to see students rooted in Christ, branching out through Christ-centered community, and bearing fruit for Jesus’ name on their campus and beyond, just as we have since 2014. Along with that, all financial support graciously given will continue to go towards making a meaningful difference in the lives of freshmen, upperclassmen leaders, campus ministries, college campuses and local churches.
As we become The Oaks Collaborative, we trust our relationship with you all will remain as vibrant and strong as ever. We look forward to continuing to impact many lives together!
We would love to hear from you, to answer your questions and tell you more about our vision for the future. Please reach out to me at trace@oakscolab.com.
Sincerely,
Trace Hamiter
Executive Director