Defining and measuring ‘community transformation‘ can be tricky. However, it is possible to identify and recognize the change that goes on when a church begins the journey of effectively serving its community. To this end, ENLACE tracks six areas of transformation and eight core outcomes for every church and community with which it works.
During a recent trip from US partner church, Covenant Family Fellowship (Portland, ME), many of the team members began to see first-hand what transformation looks like in the remote community of San Antonio en Medio. Of notable interest to the team was the increased involvement of local and national government in the area. Pastor Ron Nevers, on his third visit with ENLACE, noted the difference and when asked about his understanding of community transformation, he said, “The story at the school, and seeing the construction, that says it all right there.” The school project was not one initiated by ENLACE, and that’s the beauty of it.
According to community leader Roberto Mejia, the San Antonio church, with support from ENLACE that helped to train and to encourage the church to serve its community effectively, had spearheaded many sucessful community initiatives such as housing, road repair, a clean water, and reforestation. Recently, due to the community participation in these initiatives, the local government of the San Jose El Naranjo region recognized the community of San Antonio as being unusually organized and able to work together to accomplish large projects that benefit its residents. Because of their exceptional organization and cooperation, the government entrusted them with a $111,000 project to expand their public school.
Now, Roberto Mejia and other community members glow as they show off the active construction site. They are proud to mention that the project’s labor–paying jobs that rotate every two weeks–is being distributed fairly among the San Antonio community ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to benefit from the additional income.
Kids learning how to play “disco” of “frisbee” with frisbrees that the Covenant team gave to the local school.We often tell teams who are on their first trip to El Salvador to enjoy the details, the sights and smells, and the people in the communities because it is overwhelming to try to see the whole picture of community transformation at first sight. On his third trip, George Thebarge of Covenant Family Fellowshiph expressed his growing understanding of ENLACE’s role in the San Jose Naranjo Region.
“My first trip, I knew that what was happening was exciting but I could not exactly see the big picture. My second trip, it began to make sense and I became familiar with the community and some of the people. This year, my third trip, I can honestly say that I see the transformation in the people and the community.”
Churches like Covenant Family Fellowship who commit to multi-year relationships play an important role in this process of community transformation by visiting El Salvador and encouraging the local church in its endeavors. Additionally, as the Salvadoran churches seek to alleviate spiritual and physical pverty in their communities, US churches help to provide them with ongoing accompaniment from ENLACE.
In dozens of churches throughout El Salvador, we are seeing that this equation of partnership ultimately results in ‘community transformation.’
