Success Stories

Iglesia Cristiana Shalom Elohim is a Spanish-speaking, multiethnic church located in Rohnert Park, California. Their membership represents fifteen different nationalities. Each Sunday, 35 – 45 volunteers come together to make sure the 350 worshippers are taken care of.

Their church was instrumental in serving people during the 2017 Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa and is now an Emergency Operation Center with Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD). They are the supervising lead for district 2, designated by Sonoma county to get the word out and coordinate efforts with other faith based organizations. They consider it a blessing to have a seat at the table during emergencies and to provide valuable resources and safe harbor to those in need.

The church worked with Rollie Persson of National Covenant Properties (NCP) to find their building in 2019, then again in 2022 to purchase a vacant lot across the street to expand their parking as the church continued to grow. Iglesia Cristiana Shalom Elohim is a community that includes skilled tradespeople who have donated their expertise, time, and profits to renovate the building into a space that allows them to worship together and do greater ministry than their previous rental space. They added a picnic area outside and now Sunday worship is an all day affair.

Their building provides a space for family members of all ages to be ministered to simultaneously. They use the building seven days a week for various community ministries, including a bible institute, women’s and men’s groups, youth groups, support groups, food panty, and more. They serve 175 families a month through their food pantry and provide over 500 backpacks to children in need each school year.

The church uses the downstairs portion of the building and rents out the upstairs for supplemental income. Currently they have two renters that have connections to the congregations. Pastor Edwin Guzman said they view NCP as a godsend. Rollie Persson, vice president of real estate services for NCP, and Will Davidson, then chair of the PSWC, listened to them and believed in them from the beginning. “We would not be where we are and many lives would not have been saved were it not for their faith in us,” said Guzman. Since they purchased their building in 2019, they have tripled in size and countless people and come to know Jesus as their Savior.

Recently, they returned from a mission trip to Guatemala where they witnessed 120 people come to faith. They are a place where lost people are found and hurting people are helped.