Behind the Scenes: ENLACE’s Journey Back to the Basics

by Kim Frederick

“ENLACE’s greatest challenge concerning our 2015 plan does not involve finances, administration or leadership, nor does it concern human resources. The challenge is spiritual. The biggest challenge for us will be to keep ourselves centered on Christ and to allow Him to change, prepare, and guide us to complete our mission.” Ron Bueno, ENLACE Founder and Director

Certain that our greatest challenge is spiritual, we, as ENLACE staff, are committed to seeking a life radically dependent on God, and to live under His authority and grace. In efforts to remain focused on Him, the ENLACE staff gathers every Monday to pray together and share a time of devotion. Recently, our director, Ron Bueno has been urging us to “return to the basics.” As he pointed out, if ENLACE is going to continue to expand and reach more churches and communities in El Salvador, our greatest challenge is to keep God at the front and center of all our efforts.

Over the 18 years that ENLACE has been serving as a link for churches and communities in El Salvador, we have seen God open doors, change hearts, and bless the lives of those living in more than 50 communities. For several years, we maintained a small number of church partners, but as they are becoming Leader Churches and examples to other churches in their areas, the small spark of change has become a wildfire. In fact, we have now reached a point in which there are so many new Salvadoran churches interested in partnering with ENLACE that we had to form a waiting list of potential partners while we search for more US churches to partner with their efforts. It is amazing to see the hearts of pastors all over the country turn toward an integral mission and a desire to serve those in need!

We have learned much from our experiences over the years, and we continue place a strong emphasis on the following:

• Confidence. We believe that God has entrusted us with a calling and has prepared us for a specific purpose.
• Family Heritage and Tradition. God has left us a pattern of conduct, values, and principles to which we must be faithful and which we must appreciate.
• A Call and Spiritual Gifts. Each one of us has made a vow before Christ to be one of His ambassadors.
• The Character of a Christian Servant. We’re committed to act like people who follow God.

To focus on the above ideas, we know we must embody four key characteristics:

1. Bravery. We must be brave enough to face challenges from God, to go to difficult places, to make tough decisions, and take necessary actions.
2. Power. We must remember that the same power that resurrected Christ lives in us.
3. Love. We must fall deeply in love with God so that we cease to focus only on our own interests, and instead focus on seeing and loving our neighbors.
4. Discipline. We must have the discipline to seek God’s presence and to follow Him with with our words and our minds so that we may recognize our successes and failures in our attempts to be like Him.

We urge you to stay involved with ENLACE and to pray for us this year, as we are challenged with staying focused in the face of growth and change. We, too, will be thinking and praying for your churches and families. Thank you for your ongoing encouragement and support!