by Michelle Zuniga
The Crossing with Good Samaritan church members.
Less than three weeks into my year-long journey as a volunteer for ENLACE, I had the privilege to witness the impact people can have when they are willing to cross over borders as well as cultural and language differences in order to serve sacrificially. Over the past several years The Crossing, a church from Costa Mesa, CA, has been living up to its name by crossing over barriers to make an impact in the lives of thousands of people in El Salvador through ENLACE.
As soon as the team arrived in Las Delicias and spotted Pastor Miguel and his family, they jumped out of the vans eager to greet them. Not even weariness from the red-eye flight from Los Angeles could hold the team back from smothering the community members with long-awaited embraces. The joy in everyone’s face was testament to the strong relationship between the two churches, picking up right where they left off last year.
This partnership with the region has been marked by the creation of strong friendships between individuals in The Crossing Church and the local church aptly named The Good Samaritan. When asked what compels Dawn Ralph, the leader of this year’s team, to come back year after year she responded, “It’s really the family we have here.”
The team chose to break into four groups of service: women’s ministry, dental services, latrine construction and youth work. I particularly enjoyed participating in the youth activities which were geared toward listening to the youth and learning together about healthy friendships. This theme is especially important, as the neighboring city of San Martin is well-known for being an area with heavy gang activity. The choice of befriending or joining a gang is an ever-present option for most youth in this area and is all the more reason for the the local church to collaborate with visiting teams like The Crossing, to reach out and provide a better way.
The Crossing team praying for Pastor Miguel and his family.Both the Good Samaritan church and the Crossing showed me the power of the church; change is possible for everyone despite harsh circumstances. They showed me that restored relationships are crucial to bring forth transformation, reconciliation, and development, all of which only Jesus can sustain. This is part of the reason ENLACE hosts mission teams; they serve, empower, and witness firsthand the transformation that is already taking place by the thousands of community members ENLACE walks alongside. Las Delicias is just one of many communities throughout El Salvador that has shown us so much about friendship, whether it was praying together at a Bible study, having someone pull you out of a latrine, holding the hand of someone getting her tooth pulled, or enjoying some great sopa de gallina with Pastor Miguel’s family. I can’t wait to help other teams that come to visit communities in El Salvador, teams committed to crossing barriers to make friends.