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Welcome!
We hope you find the information on
this site informative and inspirational. It is our intent to
motivate individuals, organizations, churches and communities to
respond to the challenge of James 1:27 by meeting the needs of
foster children and their families in the love, character and
grace of Jesus Christ! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the
site.
For more information about our
staff visit our Board & Staff Bio page.
Visit our Sponsors page to view
our church, pastoral, individual and business supporters.
For corporate information including financial information, visit
our Corporate Information
page.
For King and Kingdom,
Randy Martin, CEO
**You can listen to audio messages from
Randy Martin, Founder and CEO, by clicking on the titles below.
Hope Lives Here
The Last Supper
The Last Breakfast
Beyond the Veil 1.mp3
Beyond the Veil 2.mp3
Beyond the Veil 3.mp3
Statement of Faith
1. We
believe the Bible to be the inspired and the only infallible,
authoritative Word of God.
2. We
believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three
persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
3. We
believe in the deity of Christ, in His virgin birth, in His
sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning
death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His
ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His present rule
as Head of the Church, and in His personal return in power and
glory.
4. We
believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful men,
regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
5. We
believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose
indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
6. We
believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost: that
the saved are saved unto the resurrection of life, and that the
lost are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
7. We
believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus
Christ, with equality across racial, gender, and class
difference.
Overview
Covenant Community Services, Inc. (CCSI) is a nonprofit 501 (c)
(3) social service organization serving foster children and
their families in Kern County and through replication efforts,
the United States and the world. CCSI serves foster children and
their families through a variety of programs and services. CCSI
is meeting the needs of “hurting and hopeless” children/youth
and families through partnerships with local churches,
community-based organizations, individuals and businesses. CCSI
exists to transform our community with the love of Jesus Christ
one child at a time!
We
chose the name Covenant as we believe it reflects our attitude
in our relationship with those we serve and those we serve
alongside. The word Covenant is defined as “a solemn agreement
that is binding on all parties; a promise or pledge”. We
consider it an honor to be in “covenant relationships” with the
social service community, the private sector, the faith
community, our staff, and the individuals, families and children
we serve. We know that true transformation can only occur as we,
together, work towards solutions and hope.
Why we serve
The Need for CCSI Programs & Services
CCSI believes in community restoration and transformation. We
understand that transformation cannot occur without the
encouragement and development of systems for service and
partnership. CCSI serves to develop systems and partnerships
that meet the needs of the hurting and hopeless in Kern County.
Our service include directly providing services or indirectly by
capacity building for other organizations and collaboratives.
Whatever the vehicle might be, CCSI is ready to educate,
encourage and enlist for transformation. Isaiah 58:10-12 from
the Message Bible explains our call to serve:
“If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves
to the down--and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the
darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will
always show you where to go. I'll give you a full life in the
emptiest of places- firm muscles, strong bones. You'll be like a
well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild
the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those
who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.”
History
CCSI
was birthed out of a weeklong summer camp serving children
living in out-of-home placement due to abuse and neglect. The
camp, Royal Family Kids Camp, is a partnership between the
“faith community” and the local Child Protective Services
system. Established as a ministry of Canyon Hills Church, the
original program became an effective multi-service ministry
committed to serving some of California’s most troubled young
people. What began in 1995 as a small endeavor to serve foster
children with love and acceptance, eventually led its directors,
Randy and Kim Martin, to develop a Foster Family Agency.
In the spring
of 1998, a team of Christian leaders from Canyon Hills Church in
Kern County explored the opportunity to partner with the Family
Care Network, Inc., a licensed Foster Family Agency in San Luis
Obispo County. Through that partnership, a thriving Foster
Family Agency sub-office was established in Kern County to
recruit, train and certify foster families for the placement of
special needs children. Eventually, the two programs felt the
need for more local control and influence and Covenant was
formed.
CCSI was established in 2001
as a California Non-Profit Corporation and was developed out of
existing services provided to foster children through a weeklong
summer camp. The agency was incorporated by a group of local
Christian leaders to provide strength-based therapeutic foster
care services as an alternative to group home care, shelter
care, and out-of-county placements for children and teens. CCSI
went on to apply for licensure as a Foster Family Agency (FFA)
in February of 2003. CCSI and the Covenant Foster Care program
(CFC) now provide foster care services, mental health services,
consulting, emancipated youth housing, mentoring, and family
preservation services in Kern County.
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