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Missions / Outreach

Centro Hispano de Estudios Teologicos, a Covenant Seminary located in Bell Gardens, California, is committed to training Hispanic men and women for lay and pastoral ministry in Spanish-speaking areas in America and abroad.  The seminary is affiliated with North Park Seminary and graduates may apply for credentialing in the Covenant.

Covenant World Relief.  During the month of November each year our church joins with other Covenant churches across the nation to collect money for famine relief, water and food development projects, and aid to poverty-stricken areas.

Fuente de Esperanza Covenant Church is a church plant with the Evangelical Covenant Church and the Pacific Southwest Conference. The mixed name (English and Spanish) means ‘Fountain of Hope Covenant), and it has been like that purposely because our goal is to reach out the 1st , 2nd and third generation of Hispanic in Isla Vista and Goleta.

Santa Barbara Community Development Center, Inc.  is a community public service nonprofit organization whose mission goal is to help the low income families in Isla Vista, Goleta and Santa Barbara with their most fundamental daily needs. This organization intends to be God’s instrument for our local churches to reach out those that are in need and don’t know the love, grace and compassion from our Father in Heaven.

The Evangelical Covenant Church.  Funds contributed to our denomination are used for operational expenses, North Park College and Seminary, the planting of new churches, and domestic and foreign missions in twelve countries: Columbia, Congo, Ecuador, France, Germany, Japan, Laos, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and Thailand, as well as an outreach to the Fulani people in many countries of western Africa.  In addition, the Covenant owns and operates two hospitals and thirteen retirement communities, including the Samarkand in Santa Barbara.

Jim and Sue DeVries serve in Cyprus.  Jim is involved in teaching prayer workshops, Walk Thru the Bible seminars, and other opportunities to train and encourage pastors.  One of Sue's special projects is providing journalism training to local Christians and assisting in the publication of a magazine for pastors.  Jim and Sue have three grown daughters.

Carl and Karen Groot are missionaries in Thailand with Covenant World Missions.  Currently they are living in Bangkok as part of the leadership team for the Abundant Life Center, which focuses on ministering to the rural Issaan people who have migrated to the city in search of work.  The Groots have three young children: Daniel, Naomi, and Bethany. 

HELP ("Hands Extended Loving People") is an annual project in which we join with other Covenant churches in providing funds to reach out through Covenant church-related ministries to ethnic minorities, poor, homeless, and disenfranchised persons living in the United States and Canada.

Life Network is a local ministry, which offers pro-life information and training, and promotes an abstinence-based curriculum for the public schools.  Through their Shepherding Homes program, many of our families have opened their homes and hearts to pregnant young women who need a place to live during their pregnancy.

Tim and Kim Notehelfer serve with International Students, Inc. which trains local Christians to develop friendship relationships with international students studying at UCSB in order to show Christ's love through these friendships. 

The Pacific Southwest Conference is our regional branch of the Covenant Church.  Through the Conference we work with other churches in California and Arizona to help support two Covenant Conference Centers, provide funding for planting new churches, sponsor workshops and training events for lay and pastoral leaders, and in various ways encourage and support pastors and churches in our area.

Eugenio and Pia Restrepo serve in Spain with Covenant World Missions.  Eugenio coordinates Small Groups, Pia helps train Sunday School teachers, and both are involved in evangelism, church planting, and discipleship.  They have two children: Paulina and Efrain.

Gary and Mary Lou Sander and their four children, Lissa, Leslie, Leah, and Skye, serve with Covenant World Missions in Colombia.  For nine years they were involved in church planting and supporting national pastors in the city of Bogota.  Currently they are serving in Medellin. 

Mary Samuelson is serving with Covenant World Missions as a short term missionary in the Central African Republic, teaching the children of missionaries.

Santa Barbara Rescue Mission provides shelter and meals on a short-term basis, as well as a longer-term addiction recovery program.  Vocational training, counseling, medical/dental check-ups, Bible study, literacy classes, and computer instruction are available, in addition to fulfilling the immediate need for food, shower, and a bed. 

Waller and Mary Tabb, with daughters Sarah, Laura, and Gloria are linguists in Uganda with Wycliffe Bible Translators.  Waller has been involved in research and language survey.

Transition House is a local shelter which provides a wide range of assistance to families trying to overcome poverty-based homelessness.  Our church provides dinner and proctors six times a year. 

Mark and Alice Westlind, along with Nils, Natalia, and Nicole, have been serving as Christian educators in Argentina since 2005.  They also work with the Argentine Covenant Church.

Young Life is a relational-style outreach to unchurched adolescents using the vehicle of adult to student friendship through clubs, camps, and events as the bridge to communicate the love of Christ.

In addition to those listed, we frequently have the privilege of supporting members of our church family in short-term mission projects. Outreach trips are planned each year and many in our fellowship are involved in local ministries.