Category: Blog

Ali’s (left) warm heart and solidarity were an inspiration to many people like Gloria (right) from AbelinesIn 2004 ENLACE was delighted to welcome Ali Yarosevich, now Ali Hunt, as a volunteer. Due to her incredible willingness, simplicity and humility, we had the opportunity to walk with her as God transformed her heart and life. We are now blessed to celebrate how God has honored and moved her life forward to other transformational places.

In the mountainous region of Abelines, Ali worked hard and opened her heart to help the community, participating in their health committees, medical teams and community health training. In the midst of all this God spoke into her life.

“I have experienced firsthand the transformation that affects the giver-receiver. I have seen women who never spoke before in public become powerful community leaders. I have watched myself become transformed from a cowering mess of self-pity into an intrepid medical student. This is the kind of change that comes out of ENLACE’s focus on relationships and collaboration with communities, seeing them as people who have much to give. This is the kind of lasting internal, spiritual change that allows individuals and communities to be transformed for generations rather than just-as-long-as-the pipes on-the-new-water-project-don’t-break [kind of unity]. This is the kind of spiritual change that is passed on to friends, children, and ultimately survives earthquakes, war, the ravages of time, and death.” -Ali Hunt

We give glory to God and celebrate with her parents, Joseph and Katya Yarosevich, her husband, Ben, and her family and friends, as the “intrepid medical student” graduated as a doctor from the University of Washington School of Medicine this spring. She will soon begin her residency at the Sutter Health in Sacramento, California. We at ENLACE know that Ali gave us an example of how to live a God-inspired, stunning life. No doubt we will continue to see more blessings come to pass due to her commitment and love. Congratulations Ali, with love!

Click here to read Ali’s complete entry from 2008…

Bill Hybels (second from right) with ENLACE Church Coaches, Gerson Ramirez, Felix Orellana and Marvin SanchezDuring the month of May, Willow Creek Community Church Senior Pastor, Bill Hybels, sat with eight Salvadoran pastors partnering with ENLACE in San Salvador. Their excitement was palpable because after reading Pastor Hybels’ books and hearing him speak at the Global Leadership Summit over the past two years, they had the opportunity to share their stories and experiences with him over lunch. Willow Creek Community Church has been a part of ENLACE’s Church Partnership Program for three years. Throughout that time Willow Creek has worked with 12 churches and communities in the Santa Ana region.  

After lunch, these pastors joined other pastors, church leaders and some ENLACE staff at a seminar. Pastor Hybels answered questions about leadership, covering such topics as how to cast a vision, hiring the right people for your staff, and the importance of growing as a leader. Hybels said, “Don’t expect someone else to make you better. It’s not someone else’s job to develop you; it’s your job to develop you.”

The event was sponsored by the Willow Creek Association which has as its mission “to inspire and equip Christian leaders to lead transformation-minded churches.” Each year the Association’s biggest event, The Global Leadership Summit, invites a world-class faculty, from various fields, to speak for two days. Hybels says, “We give big challenges to big leaders to change this big broken world.” Since 2011, ENLACE has helped host the event in El Salvador. This year, approximately 150,000 people are expected to attend the Summit worldwide.

For Mauricio Rodolfo Reyes, Pastor of Cristo Vive Church in the Santa Ana region, the event was deeply inspiring. He recounted a story of a musician who met U2 and the musician’s excitement and awe of meeting such a legend. Pastor Rodolfo called meeting Pastor Hybels his “U2 moment.”  

Both Willow Creek Association and ENLACE strongly believe in equipping and training pastors and leaders. Pastor Hybels said, “I love this country and everytime I come here, there’s a little part of me that gets ignited.”

by Pat Okker

Pat fills bags of organic compost with Julia Parcell (left) during her trip to El SalvadorLast month I had the wonderful opportunity to visit El Salvador as part of an ENLACE team from Missouri, and I feel fortunate to have met so many wonderful people there: people like Nuria, an absolutely courageous church coach; or Veronica, whose cooking and work are filled with an incredible passion for others; or Christian, a boy who talks fast and plans to become a pastor. As much as these people filled me with a vision of God at work—and they did—I also found God that week in some surprising places.

And the first is a cement volcano:  One of our workdays focused on mixing concrete for the house we were helping to build. The foundation had already been dug—by hand—and our task was to haul and mix sand, gravel, and cement. The final step involved combining all the ingredients with water into a volcano, with everyone walking in a small circle, ending with a rush of back-breaking shoveling. It’s the kind of work that makes friends, regardless of age, ability, language, or nationality, and I know that whenever I hear the phrase “Caminando Juntos” (Walking Together), I will always remember the friends (from the U.S. and El Salvador) I made walking around those volcanoes, shovel in hand.

Jan (far left) preparing to play jump rope with childrenIf the cement volcanoes reminded me of the power of working together, a simple jump rope reminded me of the equally powerful role of play. One of our group members Jan had the brilliant idea of bringing a jump rope, and it became a magnet for the local children in the afternoons. At the closing celebration, a young boy, who had what we in the U.S. would call a disability, joined in the fun of jumping rope, with much clapping (and some tears, too) from the adults. This moment was a testament to the powerful work that Pastor Santos and his church are doing in El Espino to support and care for our brothers and sisters with what they call “capacidades especiales”. 

During our trip, a small group of us visited Raquel, an eleven-old girl who lives in a simple house with her family. Raquel uses a wheelchair, which makes going to school difficult. She dreams of becoming a journalist. As we were leaving, her mother said that we should wait, since she had already sent someone to town to purchase a bottle of Coca Cola to share with us. That bottle of Coke—no doubt purchased with money the family needed for other things—arrived a few minutes later. I’ve never liked cola, but that glass of soda was as sweet and nourishing as any communion juice I’ve ever been offered.

The Bible is full of images of surprising places that we find God. After a wonderful week with ENLACE in El Salvador, my own list of such images will now forever include not only the faces of Pastor Santos, Nuria, Veronica, and so many others but also a cement volcano, a jump rope, and a glass of Coke. Dios le bendiga.

Until recently, Maria Francisca Santos (63), lived in a tiny mud dwelling with her two daughters and their children. One of her daughters, Ana Julia (40), is extremely sick and cannot walk. After having to undergo hernia surgery, Maria was unable to continue running a soap business that brought her $25 per month, let alone address the problems associated with a dilapidated home. As a result, Maria began to cultivate corn and beans just to provide basic sustenance for herself and her family.

It was in this situation that Maria had a dream that she would soon live in a new home. Three days later she received the news from the local church that indeed she was on their list to receive a newly built house. According to Maria, whose countenance now exudes a light that she attributes to gratitude, leaving behind the old, crumbling home to live in a new, safe one is “a wonderful blessing from God.”

All her life, Teodolinda Santos (42) has wanted to love, serve and enjoy her life with her family. At one point, she had eight children, a husband, and brothers and sisters. The dream collapsed after her husband left her and one child died. She was forced to live off the begrudging charity of a brother, who allowed her to live in a small shack on his land. Her sadness was compounded when one of her daughters left home and chose not to return.

When the church wanted to build her a new home, the issue of land ownership became an impediment. Teodolinda thought this great opportunity would crumble like the walls of the mud hut she lived in. However, ENLACE Church Coach, Julio Figueroa, invited her to pray with him for a miracle saying, “God will soften his heart.” Teolinda prayed every day at dawn, breaking the morning’s silence with her petition.

Not long after, Teodolinda’s brother sent her everything she needed; signatures, papers, etc., and the church was able to build her her own house on her own land. She said, “This is a great blessing from God, a great joy because I will have my own house, and I will not be…roaming the land. I will have a home with the children I have left.”

On May 24 Getsemani Church in Pajigua, the community and its leaders held a dedication for 25 homes that were built over a six-month period. The project not only provided safe and secure homes for 136 people, but also provided an opportunity for the church and community to collaborate and to bear witness the movement of God in Pajigua.

Click here to see the Picture Gallery

Give Prints is a for-profit company which donates 50% of its profits to various non-profits. Recently, when Give Prints founder, Cristina Robeck wanted to make an even greater impact, she decided to share talent not just profits. She assembled a team, called Give Media, which consisted of two photographers, two videographers, a media consultant, and a writer. They traveled to El Salvador to artistically capture ENLACE’s work and support the ENLACE Communications Department. We are grateful for the team’s passion, dedication, willingness to share their knowledge, and the way God spoke into their lives during their time in El Salvador.

Click here to meet the team

Broadway Christian Church, from Columbia, Missouri, continued “Caminando Juntos” (walking together) with the Tabernaculo Biblico Salem Church in El Espino. The team shared friendship and laughter with the church and community as they built a new home and visited families with special needs. The team also had the opportunity to help with the home garden project in a neighboring community. These churches share a special relationship that continues to deepen each time Broadway visits.

Click here to see the Picture Gallery

Sixty-year-old Maria de Jesus Granados (called Chunguita) and her 54 year-old sister Daysi lived in a house they inherited from their father. In 2005 the old house was all but destroyed by the heavy rains accompanying Hurricane Mitch. Both sisters suffer from rheumatism but Daysi’s hands and legs have become deformed making it difficult for her to carry out daily tasks. Members from the local church often provide food and money for the sisters. In this way, between illness and poverty, they lived day after day by the mercy of God.

Chunguita and Daysi grew up working the land with a father who loved and cared for them. As Chunguita tells it, “When I was young I worked in the corn fields with my dad, cultivating corn and beans. He would cut the zacate and I would pick up the piles of grass and collect the corn. As he grew older, he would tell me, ‘You’ll have to do the work, because I can’t anymore.’ And so it was with him. We also planted sorghum. He would cut the sorghum, but eventually said, ‘You’ll have to take over, sweetie, because I can’t do it anymore.’ Age, hard work and rheumatism gradually faded his life until he died.” Chunguita expresses disappointment that she is not able to do more at her age like she saw her father do.

After receiving their new home, Chunguita expressed much gratitude. “[Our new home] has been a gift from God and from you. Thanks to God because He has softened your hearts to help the poor…We will have a party with Jesus, with our family in Him.”

In 2008, community leaders in El Ranchador decided the bridge that provides the only access to the community desperately needed to be replaced. They struggled, however, to get the project off the ground until leaders from the Arca de Dios Church joined them. Together, the church and community worked to fundraise and design the project. At one point, divisions within the Community Association threatened the project and leaders called Pastor Francisco to help mediate a resolution. On May 8, members of El Ranchador, the Community Association, the mayor, and ENLACE staff celebrated the bridge which not only provides safe passage, but also represents a bridge of restored relationships.

Click here to see the picture gallery of the event…

Click here to see the news in the national newspaper…