Category: Blog

Spanish for “tell me”, dígame is a new feature highlighting thoughts from the amazing local leaders we work with every day.

There was a time when people weren’t accustomed to standing and talking in front of others. They were scared and afraid to stand up. But now they have more confidence. They stand without shame and even train people. For example, I recently gave a training on preventing parasites. I did it easily because I had learned it well in one place–so easily I taught it in another place.

-Reina Margarita Villeda de Parada, Health Committee Member, Los Abelines

Caleb & Rebekah help grab tires for a retaining wallSometimes visitors wonder why ENLACE does projects that they do. Why build a retaining wall when some people’s homes don’t have proper walls? Why build a latrine when a community still lacks water or electricity? Sometimes our decision making process may seem a bit odd to the teams that come to help us.

Well, it’s all part of the process. First, ENLACE doesn’t decide what projects to do, but the communities we serve determine that for themselves. Every year the churches and communities gather together and develop and prioritize a list of opportunities. They then work with ENLACE’s Operations staff to determine how to accomplish their goals in a realistic and doable manner. When churches from the States contact us about coming to serve, ENLACE connects them with various projects on the list. This is significant because through the years this process has helped Salvadoran churches and communities organize, procure resources and implement projects—all on their own. And that is a key component of community transformation— it takes mutual work, sacrifice, respect and building each other up in order to build something truly sustainable and transformative .

Once you are here for a while, you actually learn pretty quickly why some projects take priority over others. At the beginning of July a team of 6 students and recent grads from Vanguard University came to Las Delicias and worked on a retaining wall. Mid-week, after a great deal of sweat, dirt and cement-making, the team arrived in Las Delicias to see most of their work washed away in a night-time thunder storm. They were naturally a bit demoralized. But this also proved to be a great illustration of a reality in El Salvador. It rains. A lot. And due to significant deforestation everywhere, there are a lot of mudslides and general deterioration of land. If you have a house or a school or a church below a mountainside–destruction, homelessness or worse can be literally a rainstorm away.

But not if there is a retaining wall! With retaining walls deterioration is slowed down significantly. People and buildings are protected and are the surrounding ecosystems. Additionally, retaining walls recycle old tires that often contribute only to landfills or mosquito breeding grounds. The project is also a relatively cheap and one that can allow a small visiting team when working with a community have a major impact in a short amount of time.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to a wall made of tires! It’s kind of a dream project really! Connecting to one another in Christ’s love, responding, laughing and wading through disappointments is a lot like what Paul said when he encouraged early Christians to bear each other’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Check out some great photos from Vanguard’s week of construction and fun or contact Missionary Director of Development Peter DeSoto and talk to him about your church coming down to help build a wall in El Salvador to.

Working at ENLACE we have opportunities to enter homes and lives in Christ’s name in El Salvador. This is an honor that we try to not take for granted and we often share stories of the people we meet with one another. New volunteer, Ashley Rutledge has been with ENLACE just over a month and yet she is a natural missionary with a joy and spirit that quickly has been blessing both our staff, as well as the community members that she has been getting to know. Following are some excerpts from a particularly powerful portrait she shared on her personal blog about a mother named Reina and a little girl named Heidi.

This is Reina. She lives in Pajigua with her 9 children. She is the mother of 16 children, two of whom have died and 5 of whom are older and no longer live with her. She is married, but she told me that her husband comes through as he pleases and she can go a whole year without seeing him and has never been able to depend on him. Reina is living in one of the most extreme cases of poverty in her community. She struggles to provide for her children at all.

When Reina and I began to talk I noticed a little girl lying in the hammock of the main room. Her name was Heidi…

…I then realized she had a very high fever. I asked Reina if I could help in any way and maybe give Heidi a bath. There was a water spigot outside that had clean, cold water. I had to hold Heidi in my arms while I bathed her in cold water and a half a bar of soap I had in my bag. I got drenched and it wasn’t an easy job but I just kept thinking, “Ashley, do what you know to do. That is all you can be responsible for.” After cooling her down and getting her clean I wrapped Heidi in a clean towel and held her in my arms in the sunlight and she looked up at me with those huge brown eyes and smiled. Then she breathed heavily and fell fast asleep. She slept for a good 45 minutes and when she woke up I combed her ratted hair, put it in pigtails and put her in some clean clothes. She sat in my lap all day long.

… I don’t have all the answers and I can’t save the whole world, but I can be Jesus to the people that I come into contact with and that is all He is asking of me anyway. That way I can be used and not get caught up in myself or my own abilities. I can pray with and provide comfort to those that need it the most

To see more photos and read the full blog entry visit Ashley’s blog.

Spanish for “tell me”, dígame is a new feature highlighting thoughts from the amazing local leaders we work with every day.

“ Our vision is to learn more together everyday about the word of the Lord, improve the work of the church and, with our community , be involved in all the initiatives that we can— knowing that we are contributing to resolving the needs of the community .” 

-Pastor Giovanni Rivas

Click this photo to see more of Glad Tiding’s TripOne of the biggest sacrifices for any missionary is saying good bye to family & friends.  Yet, as God calls, we follow—trusting that He will provide new friends and create a new family from his vast body of believers.  And God is always faithful to provide. Yet, it is a truly special gift when family & friends actually come to El Salvador, see the work we are doing and sometimes even work alongside us!  

 Shane Wimberly has been a missionary volunteer with ENLACE for almost a year and has been assisting with teams and project construction. In June, Shane’s parents Dueward & Sharon Wimberly brought down a small group from Glad Tidings Church in Texas to work in the community of San Antonio near San Jose El Naranjo.  Pastor Dueward shared a message with the community on Sunday and the entire team of 7 worked on 3 latrines. One of the team members, Sophie, also offered a hair cutting workshop to train some locals on some simple haircutting techniques, as well as offered free haircuts to anyone that wanted one.

 The team was a double blessing—offering encouragement and hope to the members of the San Antonio community that they served through their sweat and shoveling, but Shane was also blessed to have the opportunity to show family and friends how God is transforming impoverished communities in El Salvador through the daily efforts of the local churches that partner with ENLACE.  And sharing with people the truth about how God is providing hope, better health and better communities in El Salvador is one of our very favorite things to do!  Thanks to everyone at Glad Tidings!

Pastor Chris CoffmanTravelling hundreds of miles and sleeping in 4 different locations in 7 days, a group of 7 men from River West Church and other Portland, Oregon churches visited all of the communities that ENLACE works with in the beginning of May. That can be a pretty overwhelming journey—and half the team was missing their luggage the first half of the week! And yet this team came with hearts eager to see God working in El Salvador and brought a sense of joy, spirits of humility and a whole lot of prayer.  The River West team came to El Salvador to be an encouragement to local community leaders & members, but River West Associate Pastor, Chris Coffman, shares below what can happen whenever you carve out time to be with God and want to see what great things He is doing in His world

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I flew out last week. I knew going into this that folks back home were asking God to open new doors of opportunity. So I asked God to speak to me and allow me to see how he is working in El Salvador.
 
Having never carved out a week to travel to a country for the purpose of prayer, learning, and listening to God, I was a bit anxious about this trip. With each day that passed the dissonance of my own thoughts was replaced with the unmistakable presence of Christ’s voice—Everywhere I turned Christ was speaking. Through stacks of papusas and stories of unimaginable suffering. Through the beatitudes and the “numb-buttocks” feeling that comes from four hours expeditions in the back Land Rover. In the most unexpected places I found Christ at play in the people of El Salvador.

All in all, this last week was one of the best weeks of my life. By God’s mercy, I was given a front row seat to the kingdom of God in El Salvador. I will never forget what it’s like to meet people that believe that a life of justice
(justicia) is inseparable from the life of Jesus.

We are often amazed to see God work week in and week out, but we never put those exact words to it. “A front row seat to the kingdom of God!” That is a good seat to be in!

See photos of the River West Vision Trip.

Due to a severe wind storm in January 2008, many houses in the western part of El Salvador lost part or all of their roofs.

The churches in San Jose El Naranjo, Los Laureles, El Paraiso and San Antonio sought a way to provide help. The San Jose church, which has partnered with ENLACE the later 90’s lead the way in resolving the problem. They also saw this moment as an opportunity to walk alongside the churches working more recently with ENLACE, helping them to indentify the families most affected by the storm and work together with their community to resolve the situation.

After soliciting corrugated roofing material from ENLACE, the churches organized work teams from a variety of sources within their communities—including community associations, general volunteers and church volunteers. Together they installed 140 new roofs, providing 980 people with shelter.

The timing couldn’t be better. The first major tropical storm depression of the season brought five days of consistent rainfall two weeks after the roof installations were completed. Additionally, because of the way in which the churches walked with their communities to solve the problems they were facing, the project not only ended up filling a specific need but also strengthened the links of friendship between the churches and their communities.

pastor marcos with recipient 
recipient family
recipient family

As I talk with those interested in international development, I’m often asked why ENLACE is different. While I believe that there are many great organizations out there doing God’s work, ENLACE has a distinct church-focused, community-transformational approach. This approach understands that poverty and injustice are relational before material. In other words, broken relationships are at the root of poverty. If poverty was simply a lack of material resources, then the obvious answer would be to input significant resources. The majority of the time, introducing resources without working towards relational change, doesn’t work. ENLACE’s community transformation approach understands that relationships must be restored for lasting change to occur. In Abelines, a community we have walked with since 1999, ENLACE has seen that it is only God’s power that has transformed people’s hearts, enabling them to respond effectively to their neighbors, their community’s resources, and outside donations. I recently visited a church meeting there. Here are some of the things I heard.

 
Pastor Victorio Paz

Victorio Paz, pastor of Abelines church, said, “Many churches have a doctrine that separates them from the world. And before we didn’t have to and weren’t supposed to communicate with non-Christians. Through our trainings with ENLACE, we began to wake up to a deeper meaning of the Word. We now know it is our calling to show love to others. I have become a better friend to the community…We now feel the needs of others. Now, if there is a need in the community and I ask people to help, I can have 50 people ready to help within minutes… The community trusts in us and has confidence in what we preach and say. Before, when we preached it was a message that split people apart, but now we build people up.”

Reina with her son Gerson

Reina de Membreno, church leader and health committee member said, “Part of the way we preach the gospel is simply by paying for the medical care of people who can’t afford it…We are now more united as a community.”

Umberto Martinez , church leader, when asked about what changes he has seen in the community, he responded emphatically. “First of all, there is so much less illness! It seemed that people used to line up for kilometers to see the doctor because they were always sick… Now there is improved health in the area, and the church has been a part of it all. The people see the response of the church and they understand the leadership the church has gained through service.

“We’ve had experience with other organizations. [They] meet with us, promote their projects, and they leave. ENLACE has stayed with us.”

When asked what they would do if ENLACE were to leave, Victorio Paz responded, “We would continue on the path in front of us. The way one is taught is the way one continues forward. As long as our church is here, the progress won’t come to an end.”

Peter DeSoto recently spearheaded a new website project dedicated to raising funds for and reporting on the water initiative in the communities of Las Delicias, El Rosario and Las Animas. The local water board has named the project "El Milagro" or "the miracle."

"We are excited to launch this website to help support the efforts of the heroes in Las Delicas, Las Animas, and El Rosario as they continue to strive towards achieving clean water in their communities.  Having worked alongside many of the leaders for the last few years, I am continually blown away by their commitment and their will to see this miracle happen.  In the coming months, and even years, we all have an amazing opportunity to walk alongside them and experience this miracle together. We have created this website as a way to bring you into the story, and to ask for your help.  Please check back regularly as we will be tracking the progress of the project and updating the site often." 

Check out the site and tell your friends about it: www.projectmilagro.com