Note: This is an online course. Students do not have to move to Austin to take it. All our courses are now available online!
About the Instructor
Dr. Kenneth Acha has ten years of experience in orphan care and management. His experience with orphan care is both personal and vocational. He grew up with a father who,  being a complete orphan from birth, had suffered abuse and bore the scars of rearing himself. After his father died, when Dr. Acha was only nine years old, he grew up as an underprivileged child himself in Cameroon, Africa, without access to basic needs like medical care, education, and adequate nutrition.
After moving to the U.S. in December 2000, Dr. Acha founded an orphanage in Cameroon and an orphan care ministry called Shaping Destiny that has served over one thousand children in Africa. He has also started several other nonprofits and for-profit businesses in addition to being the founder of Servants University. One of his passions is to equip people to serve the poor and make disciples. He obtained his MD degree from Texas A & M College of Medicine. Prior to that, he studied Biochemistry at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Acha lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, Ellen, an RN, BSN nurse, and their two children.
How to think about Orphan Care
When many people think about helping orphans, they think about starting an orphanage because that’s what they know. An orphanage is one tool in the toolbox. The goal of effective orphan care training is to offer students more than just one tool in the toolbox, it is to introduce students to all the tools in the toolbox and teach them how to choose the right tool for the right orphan care situation. There are times when starting an orphanage is a good idea. But there are also many other times when starting an orphanage is a bad idea. Learning to choose the right tool to solve the orphan care problem a specific community is facing is key. It’s a little like being a doctor. One cannot have one medicine for every sick person. A good doctor knows all the drugs in her medicine box and knows what specific patients would benefit from one medicine but not the other. Great orphan care is like that.
About the Course
MINS 204 Starting an Orphanage, 3 credits.
This introductory course is designed to be a first step in equipping students who feel called to serve orphans, start an orphan care organization or orphanage. They are taught how to discover and write their purpose, mission and vision statements, establish core values, develop strategies, set initial goals, write a business plan, select initial board members, choose a name for the organization and incorporate or register with their state government. The course will cover everything that a student needs to go from their dream to launching their new organization. In addition to that, it will introduce students to other recommended courses at Servants University that they can take to further prepare themselves to achieve their goal of running an orphan care organization effectively. With exegesis of biblical passages, students are challenged to personally examine motives and confirm their call to serve orphans. The focus of this course will be on starting an orphan care ministry, not running it. Students will be directed to other courses at Servants University that will prepare them to effectively run the organization that this course teaches them how to start.
Other names for this course include: Starting an Orphan Care Ministry;Â Starting a Nonprofit; Starting a Christian Ministry
Course Delivery
This course is delivered online. Students don’t have to move to Austin to take it. Servants University now offers all its courses online so that students everywhere in the world can take them.
Recommended Background
No particular background is required. All are welcome to apply.
Why? Jesus had no requirements for inviting his disciples (Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 10:17-21) to come and learn from him. This course invites people to come and learn. I have no requirements for people to come and learn.
Note: There is an application procedure SU requires all new students to go through regardless of their program of study.
Fees for the Course
This course is a 3 credit hour course and the fees follow the normal Servants University’s part-time fee schedule which can be found on our tuition and fees page.
Course Format
This online course is divided into eight modules, over eight weeks. Modules typically consist of videos, PowerPoint lectures, articles, and assignments that support the material covered in the week.
What Students are Saying
Servants University students are saying many great things about our courses, read here.
Requirements and Application
This course is a part of our orphan care ministry certificates and degrees at SU. To take the course, please apply to be admitted into one of our programs.
