Graduate Intern Ministers at ACC

Sampath Kumar is the new graduate intern with Arcadia Community Church. The dates of his internship are from the start of the Winter Quarter 2024 to end of the Fall Quarter 2024. His internship will average between 8-10 hours per week. Sampath is a student at International Theological Seminary (ITS), which is a mission partner of ACC. This internship is part of his theological training and is a part of our partnership with ITS as we assist them in developing an internship program with churches. He will receive credit for his ministry at ACC.

The internship is designed to expose Sampath to the various components of ministry, with focused projects which include, Preaching, Teaching, Administration, Finance, Senior Ministry, Youth Ministry, Family Ministry, Technical A/V Ministry, Outreach and Assimilation Ministry, Mission Ministry, Elders and Deacon Ministry. The emphasis will be on the principles, both biblical and strategic, that have been proven to produce healthy churches. Reflection will be on the context of the North American Church in light of the students experience in their own indigenous church.

Sampath Kumar Bandela is a native of India. He was born in 1987 to Rev. Deva Sahayam and Varamukhi. Both his parents ministered for more than 35 years. Sampath’s mother was retired as Community Health Officer. Sampath accepted Christ as his Savior and got baptized on Oct 19, 2016. He is a gifted servant of God whose ultimate desire is to do the will of God. Sampath served honorably in “Communications wing” of the Indian Navy for 15 years. His education includes a "Bachelor of Science" degree from the “Andhra University, Visakhapatnam", “Bachelor of Theology” degree from “The Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada” and is currently pursuing a Master in Divinity from International Theological Seminary, West Covina.

After release from the Navy, in 2021, with the help of his parents and brother, he became the "Founder and President" of “Happy Mother Foundation”. In 2022, he became the senior pastor of The Baptist Church, Kaza.

Pastor Sampath's desire as a church; is to be within the community proclaiming the Word of Christ, and providing good deeds whenever possible to the community. His vision is to educate and empower the young generation and then they will be good ambassadors of Christ in future. His community accomplishments have been to support widows and widowers of the community, tuition points for all the school going children, financial aid to the needy pastors.