History

How can more children in foster care know the love of Jesus?

Robin & Dave realized they could care for a limited number of children. They asked themselves, "How can more children in foster care know the love of Jesus?"

Through much research and pray, they realized the need was to train more families with a Biblical foundation and support those families in their journey.

One Heart began in January 2004 because of the vision and passion the Lord gave to Robin and Dave Kruse to reach out to children struggling in the foster care system. The Kruse's became a foster family in 1990 and over the years have had the opportunity to adopt five of their foster sons. The adoption and foster care experience has been such a blessing for 4 biological children as well as their 5 adopted sons that they wanted to let others know how they could be a part of making a difference in the life of a hurting child.

As foster parents for many years, Robin and Dave witnessed firsthand the negative effects moving from one home to another has on a child in the foster care system. This motivated them to start One Heart. They wanted to recruit, train and support more families to nurture these hurting children. Children in the system feel unloved and they struggle with their identity and self-worth. One Heart seeks to give children in state care a home that will provide healing and hope for the future. One Heart Family Ministries, Inc. is a 501c (3) organization. All of One Heart’s services and training are offered free of charge and are conducted at the One Heart office located in Parkway Baptist Church in Creve Coeur, MO.

The staff at One Heart are committed to the mission. Emily Nienhuis, Executive Director, has been with the ministry since the beginning. She is a single adoptive mom of 6 beautiful girls and was an active foster parent for 16 years, caring for 26 children over the years. Theresa Williams, Director of Operations, has been with One Heart since 2008. She, along with her husband, have 5 children, two of them whom are adopted. Her family actively fostered children for 9 years, caring for 22 children over the years.