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Author: Liz Baldwin

“ENLACE Coffee is a Win Win!” – Bruce Horgan, Willow Creek Church

Posted on by Liz Baldwin

Bruce Horgan, retired facilities manager at Willow Creek Church, shares why he and his wife Barb subscribe to ENLACE coffee. 

Barb and Bruce Horgan

Bruce first heard about ENLACE in 2014 when he was asked to lead a serving team to El Salvador. He has since been to the country 10 times leading multiple teams. “Once you get the bug, you keep coming back!”

Serving Trips

Bruce had gone on multiple mission trips over the years to the Dominican Republic and Africa so he was no stranger to serving outside the church walls. But he expressed how much he appreciated how organized ENLACE trips were. “It’s a great organization – we don’t have to be the tip of the spear. They do all the logistics and we just serve.” 

Serving Team
“From the time we get there until the time we leave, I see God at work whether it be providing materials or connections or being with us in prayer.” – Bruce

 

family with new ecostove
Many women and children are hospitalized or are living with extreme respiratory illness due to smoke inhalation. Eco-stoves are a life changer! Not only do families save money on purchasing wood, their health dramatically improves.

 

One of ENLACE’s goals is to empower the local church to form healthy relationships with their community so that pastors and church coaches can be effective in bringing about lasting change. Bruce communicated that once a serving team leaves, the work continues. It doesn’t stop from trip to trip. When the government leaders and other residents of the community, who may not be members of the church, see that their community is being improved through the church, they may be open to hearing the Gospel message.

 

women praying for a woman
Barb and daughter Colleen pray for a woman who has not seen her son for a long time.

 

little boy smiling  brick mason from El Salvador with American man  El Salvadoran pastor with American man

“We arrive as strangers and leave as friends” – Bruce

ENLACE Coffee: Some of the perks 🙂

Besides having coffee delivered to your door, Bruce explains why he and Barb have a monthly subscription to ENLACE Coffee. Being coffee drinkers they would get coffee regardless, so why not help families at the same time? “It’s a win, win!” Bruce and his family have even visited the area where some of ENLACE coffee is harvested and have witnessed the poverty of these places first hand. Meeting some of the people who work at the coffee plantation is an uncommon experience.  “The Santa Ana coffee blend was special [to us] because we’ve been there.”

 

bag of coffee

Every sip of coffee does a world of good!

 

When asked why he keeps coming back, Bruce commented that he is blessed to see the fruits of his donations and to form relationships with the people of El Salvador. And he knows that part of his monthly coffee subscription goes toward projects that lift people out of extreme poverty and provide a chance for a better life. To see God working through people to provide monumental improvements is an exciting experience.

 

If sipping on ethically-sourced premium coffee knowing the proceeds help churches end poverty in their communities sounds like a win-win to you, consider an ENLACE Coffee Subscription. To learn more about short-serving trips for long-term impact, click here.

3 Lessons We Can Learn from Salvadoran Christians as We Celebrate International Day of Education

Posted on by Liz Baldwin

Can you serve others by digging dirt, laying stone and constructing a wall? The answer is a resounding, “YES!” 

When your children go to school you want them to be safe while they study and learn and play. You want the peace of mind knowing that people entering the school have permission to be there. You want them to have an opportunity to improve their overall quality of life and have a healthy self-esteem. Well it’s the same for parents living in El Salvador. 

 

Parent looking at rural school

 

Parents in Los Pinos were fearful that the school was too exposed. Local church and community leaders decided that building a perimeter wall around the school was important in keeping the children and teenagers safe during the school day. Families in the community started to save what they could. Even if it was small, it was important for parents to know they could all contribute something. 

 

ENLACE staff began to organize, train and manage the technical aspects of the project. And soon with the joint effort of the local church and community leaders, the process of building the wall began.

 

Measuring wall
Measuring the boundary area and making arrangements to use local resources are part of the beginning stages of construction.

 

ENLACE supports the local church in the transformation of its community by strengthening collaboration between churches and community organizations. They work together to identify and develop sustainable solutions to multidimensional poverty. After initiatives have been identified by the local community, serving teams from the U.S. and Canada come alongside members of the local church and community to work together to finish the project. It is a beautiful collaboration and opportunity to learn from and work with the community.

 

people working together    people excavating

A serving team from Soul City excavates alongside the community.

 

excavated for base of the wall   building the base of the wall with stone

The next step is the construction of the base of the wall.

 

workers adding wall to stone   Workers working together

Community workers are trained in the installation of the new wall.

 

bulldozer excavating around a wall   bulldozer excavating around a wall

ENLACE incorporates resources and laborers from the local community.

 

Before the wall was built the school only offered classes through the 7th grade, but now that the school grounds are safer, older students are able to continue their education without having to travel to another community. 

 

“[This project] may not be huge to some, but for us, it has been an incredible blessing!” said church member Eunice Magali Lopez Cartegena. But at ENLACE we know their accomplishment IS huge, not only for the families of children protected by the wall, but also because through projects like these, churches and communities learn over time to carry out community-transforming projects on their own without outside help.

 

people celebrating together
Members of the church and the community invite the serving team to celebrate and reflect on their accomplishments together.

 

Students walking in front of perimeter wall

 

The local church in Los Pinos has always been willing to serve their community, but they have grown in understanding that service is an integral mission of the Church. 

They have learned 3 lessons: 

  1. It is better to serve than to be served. 
  2. Do everything with love as if we were doing it for Christ Himself.
  3. It’s a privilege to show God’s love to others by taking care of their needs.

 

If you think your church would be interested in this transformative work, please contact us! Learn more here where you can also schedule a call with an ENLACE church relationship facilitator. 

5 HIGHLIGHTS OF 2023!

Posted on by Liz Baldwin
While there are many more stories of what God is doing through people at ENLACE, we would like to highlight 5 that were possible thanks to the gifts and prayers of supporters like you!

In 2023 ENLACE…

 

…answered prayers in Guatemala!

Check out this webpage or this video to learn why Church Coaches like Marielos Morales say ENLACE’s long-term accompaniment is exactly what churches in her country need. 
Group of Women
Mica Shive Bueno visits Marielos and Karla, two church coaches in Guatemala.
 

…helped women empower women! 

ENLACE’s Mica Shive Bueno launched and led the Shine Collective, a network of people who gather to learn, build community, and empower women through ENLACE because investing in women builds healthy communities. 
Group of Women
Mica Shive Bueno on a recent Shine Pilgrimage trip to Guatemala.
 

…saw church demand for ENLACE skyrocket in Nicaragua! 

Last fall we shared this video about the Orellana family’s adventures from El Salvador to Nepal to Nicaragua where hundreds of churches asked for an ENLACE partnership. Well, that number is now in the thousands. We’ve never seen anything like it, so please pray with us as we seek God’s guidance to meet even a fraction of that demand. 
People in front of a church
Executive Director, Ron Bueno visiting a church in Nicaragua.
 

…saw God at work in Nepal!

This year you helped churches in Nepal train and equip women to work as seamstresses. You helped churches equip marginalized neighbors to start family businesses raising chickens, pigs, and goats, making the love of Jesus visible in places where it’d once been unwelcome.
Nepali woman sewing
Nepali woman in seamstress vocational training.
 

And we celebrated our 30 years of helping churches end poverty in their communities! 

In this video, ENLACE’s Executive Director, Ron Bueno, tells the story of a few Salvadoran pastors from poor communities who created a development methodology that now helps transform churches and communities across Nepal, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. As we look back at 30 years of faithfulness, it becomes clearer what God has been preparing us for all along. 
Balloons Celebrating 30 Years
30 Years Celebration in El Salvador.
 

We hope you’ll share the joy of taking part in our work in 2024!