Author: Michelle Bueno

Williams Rodriguez was just 13 when he committed his life to Christ and began to live a life of incredible desire and devotion. As the years progressed, his passion grew until he realized that God had a specific calling on his life.

As a result, Williams enrolled in the Bible Institute in Santa Ana. During those years he became an associate pastor at Cristo Vive Church where he learned about ENLACE. His church began to partner with ENLACE and every time a church coach came to visit his community, he loved learning from them but often found himself wanting to join them as they went out to other communities and churches in the Abelines region. His desire to explore other places and minister to people far and near was a passion he could not deny.

His time came in 2012 when Williams had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Nicaragua. It was there after ministering to people and then taking some time out to see the rainforest that he felt God’s presence. In the silence, surrounded by God’s creation, it became clear to him that the strong missionary call could be combined with the kind of work he experienced with ENLACE’s training. For Williams this moment was “the step God used, the last link in the chain,” that combined his “desire to serve others” with his missionary calling. “ENLACE is the place where I can apply this [passion]” said Williams.

Williams finished his studies at the Bible Institute and began studying Theology at Assemblies of God Christian University with a specialization in Missions. In April 2013, he began to serve as a church coach for ENLACE and could finally travel with other coaches throughout the Abelines and San Miguel region. After a few months of being a church coach, Williams stated, “I’m astonished at the poor conditions in which people can live…but their simplicity, their dedication, their loyalty to God and their passion to help others is incredible; to see all that in the midst of difficulties they face, in the midst of what we call poverty, they give and give from what they have.”

When Fabiola Ramírez was just a girl, God planted a seed in heart to be a missionary. But she had no idea how God was going to bring this about. As a young adult, she began to study international relations, thinking she could have a career and serve God abroad. Upon graduating from her studies, Fabiola began to look for a job, expecting God to take her on a grand global adventure. However, as the job hunt continued with no doors opening to her, she began to doubt God’s calling in her life.

Fabiola felt extreme doubt and wondered if perhaps this desire to serve God in this way had really been her own idea after all. But because of the financial needs of her family, she knew she didn’t have the luxury of waiting for her ideal employment. The pressure grew and Fabiola was compelled to consider going to the United States to look for a job. She was already fluent in English and even though she did not want to make this kind of move, it seemed the only promising option. It was then that a job opportunity came open at an English-speaking call center. While it was not her dream job, she accepted a position there. At the same time, she also found that her heart was re-awakened to the hope of doing missions someday and enrolled in a theology program with a concentration in missions.

Fabiola worked hard at the call center but at first could not fathom why God would want her there. Eventually, however, she began to see that due to this experience, God was shaping her life in ways she never expected.

After three years of moving up in the ranks while also continuing her missions studies, she heard about ENLACE seeking to hire church coaches. The desire in her heart led her to apply. And just like with the call center job, God began to teach her and mold her way of thinking in a new way.

“My way of seeing missions was to go and help people,” said Fabiola when asked about working as a Church Coach. “However, these were vague ideas. Coming here [to ENLACE] and learning the methodology and working with churches is what the Lord had been talking to me about. [Before] I did not see it clearly but it had always been in my heart. I feel like I came to the place I am meant to be.”

Evelin Marroquin de Galán grew up in a very conservative but non-Christian home. Her parents allowed her to attend Sunday school. As an adult, Evelin and her husband, Reyes Antonio Galán, would listen to Christian sermons on the radio but neither attended church. One day, however, a cousin asked Evelin to accompany her to church. Evelin decided to go and upon entering the church, all the memories from Sunday school, the words from the radio and the hopes of her yearning heart converged. On that day, she felt compelled to follow Christ, especially as a leader in her local church.

Eventually, Evelin’s desire to serve in the church brought her to consider pursuing a degree in Theology. But at the time, Evelin was a devoted mother of two boys, Luis and Caleb (who are now both teenagers) and was hoping to have a third child. But another pregnancy, said her doctors, would be dangerous due to ongoing health issues. This news was very difficult for Evelin to bear. She felt her hopes and dreams were being taken from her.

Reyes saw his wife’s sadness and encouraged Evelin to go back to school by registering her at the Assemblies of God University, taking a leap of faith. Even though she worried about their family’s finances and was daunted by the time a degree would imply as a very busy mother, Evelin plunged in with gusto.

After graduating, Evelin joined the ENLACE team. “I never imagined,” said Evelin soon after she began her work as a Church Coach, “that my third child would be my university studies. It is a blessing to have a degree in Theology, do ministry and participate in the redemptive work of Christ as a part of ENLACE.”

Evelin believes strongly that God’s hand has been on her life ever since she was a young child attending Sunday school. The expenses of school that Evelin was worried about were partially covered by members of her extended family. This support has ministered to her and her family incredibly. Just another way, says Evelin, that God has confirmed his purpose for her life.

Maybe we were seeing through a blindfold…We managed to distinguish some needs, but it was not clear at all. ENLACE helped us remove this. Now we can see. -Pastor Juan Ramírez

Chantusnene, a village located in San Juan Bautista in the department of La Libertad, was founded in 1996 by a group of 64 families fleeing the devastation of war and seeking a new life. Juan Ramírez was just a boy when he came as part of these families, but he and his new community worked together to build Chantusnene from the ground up.

As Juan grew to adulthood, he became a respected leader in this community even though he wasn’t a Christian at the time. Once Juan met his wife, Yanira, and they began a family that would eventually grow to include seven children, her prayers that he would begin to follow Christ were answered. In 2006 he became the lead pastor of the Casa del Alfarero Church, Chantusnene.

Even though Juan was taught that his ministry did not include community service, his good relationship with the mayor and strong relationships with the community that had been built over 16 years, made his community involvement a given. It was not uncommon for Pastor Juan to be asked to intercede during conflicts or help with charity projects. In this way, Pastor Juan believed he was well aware of the needs, desires and challenges within his community.

In 2011 Pastor Juan attended a conference in which he learned of ENLACE from an inspiring presentation given by Pastor Rafael González from the Nueva Jerusalén Church. Pastor Rafael spoke about what his church had been doing in the city of Comecayo. After Pastor Juan began to partner with ENLACE he said, “I thought I knew enough about my community to help them. But ENLACE taught me and my leaders techniques that opened our eyes the real needs and our church’s potential.”

As their vision of service changed, Juan, his leaders, and the community identified more than 30 needs. Of these needs, the church prioritized five projects that would enable them to significantly connect to their neighbors. No longer would the church simply provide chairs for wakes or financial help to mourners as they had in the past. They were excited to discover that they as a church offered much more than that.

This new vision of transformation began when the church surprised the students and teachers of a local public school by repaving their dilapidated courtyard in a weekend. The church managed the project from start to finish which included masons, materials, volunteers and a tight schedule. This experience brought both the church and students so much joy that the church has moved on with gusto to their next projects. These projects include securing and distributing wheelchairs from an international company and providing the space for workshops that help single mothers acquire new, marketable skills like sewing and baking.

Gerson DeLeon was only 19 years old when his pastor noted his hard work ethic and asked him to lead a small congregation. During that time, he found that his heart was most burdened for young children and youth. That burden led him to an opportunity to work for one year with a project with The Samaritan’s Purse. After that work concluded, he joined the staff of Compassion International where he worked for the next seven years. According to Gerson, both experiences were very rewarding and allowed him to learn much about working in rural communities.

When the contract with Compassion International ended, Gerson began looking for a job that would support both his wife of three years, Ada, and their year-old son, Esteban. Even though he had a degree in International Relations, Gerson found work as a school teacher. Soon, however, the opportunity to join the ENLACE staff as a Church Coach appeared. Gerson believed it was God’s leading and said, “God has led me on this path for years.”

Over ten years have gone by since Gerson pastored a small group of believers. Now he serves as a Church Coach to five churches in the Santa Ana Region. Explaining his experience he says, “I believe the role of a Church Coach is vital because he spends a lot of time in the community and can see not only the community’s needs but also the opportunities that exist for the church to collaborate with its community to bring about solutions…And I like to be where there is need.”