When Noé Canales was just a teenager he already had a strong passion to serve Christ. He devoted much of his time as a volunteer with the Royal Rangers, a Christian wilderness program for boys. After High School he took on many odd jobs while he began to study theology. Three years into his studies, Noé was hired by World Vision as a Christian Commitment Coordinator, and began a career in Christian community development. Through this experience, Noé saw a glimpse of what rural churches can accomplish when they work with their communities. When the World Vision program concluded, Noé encountered ENLACE and joined its staff in June 2011.
Being involved with ENLACE has provided Noé a way to continue his passion to serve Christ. He says, “I’m excited to be part of this process…[I love] walking with the pastors…walking down the streets of their communities, meeting with them, talking about the challenges in their communities and coming up with solutions…[I love] discussing how God helps [to] bring development and change.”
Over the last three years, Noé helped to foment an amazing growth in the number of churches in the region of San Jose El Naranjo, going from two to nine! These churches now form a regional network that meets on an ongoing basis to share experiences and coordinate efforts. This region’s cohesiveness was displayed in an amazing way during a thanksgiving service late in 2013. More than 500 community members from all over the region and the mayor celebrated the year’s successes with representatives of all nine churches and ENLACE. Noé’s hard work and vision has made these successes possible.
Noé and his wife, Mirna Quiñonez, have one five-year-old son, Ricardo Ernesto.