Transforming Lives Through Composting Latrines: A Story of Hope, Dignity, and Community Unity

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Liz Baldwin

Background:

The Eben-Ezer Church, together with the local community association and leaders, has identified the incredible need for proper waste management and education in Las Mañanitas, El Salvador. Currently, 70 families do not have access to adequate waste disposal, compromising the health of each family as well as the entire community. For the first stage of this project, the church and community have identified 30 families who are in great need of intervention.

Impact Story Written by: Jackson Bueno

Las Mañanitas is a rural hamlet in the coffee-rich area of Sonsonate, El Salvador. The broader area of Juayua comprises approximately 24,465 people, 42% of whom are struggling with multidimensional poverty. Most families rely on small-scale farming and seasonal coffee employment to survive, making roughly $140 per month. Homes are often built with makeshift materials and most families do not have running water or bathrooms in or near their homes. They use open-air pits that leak into water sources, causing a variety of illnesses, especially dangerous to children under five.

As a member of the Las Mañanitas community, Ingrid, a young homemaker and mother, faced challenges similar to those of her neighbors. While Ingrid cares for their two children, her husband finds work harvesting coffee and farming their own small family plot of corn and beans. But when the coffee season comes to an end, he is forced to find work elsewhere, often causing him to be away from home for days on end. According to Ingrid, having a latrine right outside her door was a dream that seemed to be years away. Until they could save enough money, they had to use open-air pits, which lacked any privacy, was worrisome in terms of her family’s health and personal safety, and was incredibly taxing as she raised her children.

This changed when Eben-Ezer Church, working with its community, stepped in by helping them and many other families in her neighborhood build a composting latrine next to their homes.

During the building process, however, Ingrid became worried that she could not contribute in the way all beneficiary families are asked. The project’s design relied both on donations from others but also on the participation of each beneficiary family in the form of labor and/or additional materials. When the project commenced, her husband was away working and her son fell ill, which threatened to drain the meager savings they had.

When church members heard of her distress, they volunteered to help. Ingrid noted that it was the son of the pastor who led the volunteers as they transported materials to her home and helped to build, keeping her dreams of having a latrine on their homestead.

Ingrid and her two young children in front of her new composting latrine.

The implementation of a composting latrine significantly transformed Ingrid’s family life and broader community, enhancing emotional well-being, safety, and environmental health. More than a mere physical structure, this initiative instilled hope, upheld dignity, and demonstrated a tangible expression of God’s love, marking a profound shift towards sustainable living and community unity.

Triumph in El Triunfo: A Community’s Journey to Clean Water

Posted on March 22, 2024 by Liz Baldwin

From Pastor Orlando’s earliest memories until last fall, the people of El Triunfo have suffered from water scarcity. In the dry season, they used to trespass to collect water from distant springs on private property. In the rainy season, they collected rainwater, filtered it through a cloth, and drank water the color of weak coffee that gave them parasitic dysentery.

When vomiting and diarrhea grew severe, they either spent $30 for a truck ride to the clinic in Ciudad Barrios or they walked 10 km over washed-out roads while sick.

Water scarcity was not all that troubled “Brother Orlando,” as he’s known today. He was also haunted by questions about whether or not he’d be a good father, having grown up without a dad as a role model.

In 2009, ENLACE began to accompany Emanuel Church in El Salvador where Brother Orlando was pastor. His community, El Triunfo, identified “scarcity and difficulty obtaining drinkable water” as their number one problem, so Brother Orlando helped found the Community Development Association of El Triunfo (known by its Spanish acronym, ADESCO). With Emanuel Church’s support, the newly-organized ADESCO began meeting with their mayor. Eventually, their efforts were rewarded with the donation of a plot of land with a spring on it!

Community members immediately invested in improving the land, then started raising funds to build a water tank and distribution system. Fundraising for such a project proved too ambitious for the subsistence farmers of El Triunfo, but Brother Orlando didn’t give up.

From 2010 to 2019 Emanuel Church and community leaders worked together on smaller projects like eco stoves, composting latrines, and a crosswalk over a road. They hosted medical visits, repaired their local school’s roof, and even built homes.

“Those were not wasted years,” says Brother Orlando, smiling with pride as he shares that every step of the way the church and ADESCO were learning valuable lessons about building relationships, mobilizing local resources, project design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, sustainability, and tangibly loving neighbors as an expression of God’s love.

Ten years into their journey, in 2019, Emanuel Church and community leaders decided it was time to finally tackle the water problem. They designed storage tanks and a distribution system. They managed six to ten volunteer workers each day, women and men alike, for several months nonstop. Two ENLACE Short-Term Service Trip teams joined the effort. Then the rainy season hit. Work was delayed. Then COVID-19 brought everything to a halt…but Brother Orlando didn’t give up.

Emanuel Church partnered with ENLACE, World Vision, and the mayor’s office to make sure the community’s poorest families had food and made visits to attend to people’s spiritual lives.

Work resumed in June 2022, but COVID had taken a toll. Working-aged people had fled to the US for work out of desperation. Family economies were unstable. The government had abused its COVID-related powers, arresting innocent people, leaving few workers…but Brother Orlando didn’t give up.

Everyone at Emanuel Church prayed to God for guidance. The few church and community members left, mostly women, got back to work. Teenagers helped. People who had fled to the US heard about the effort and started raising money to pay day laborers from the neighboring town—God had answered their prayers.

Once again, Emanuel Church and the ADESCO were meeting regularly with the mayor, who sent two excavators to help bury pipe. “They did six months of work in six weeks!” said Brother Orlando. And then World Vision kicked in to help buy the remaining water pipe that was still needed to finish the project.

At the end of 2023—14 years after he helped form El Triunfo’s ADESCO—Brother Orlando helped form a new Water and Sanitation Administrative Board of El Triunfo, and enlisted ENLACE to train its members. For his great commitment and trustworthy character Brother Orlando was elected as Treasurer of the new Water Board.

Today, church and community leaders are at work connecting the water distribution network to every home. Each homeowner must build a grease trap and sump pit for greywater treatment to be eligible for water service. The community works with a harmony that would’ve been difficult to achieve had this been their first project.

Brother Orlando thanked God repeatedly as he recounted this story for World Water Day. He wiped away tears as he remembered taking church member Sister Reina to the hospital, close to death caused by contaminated water. He remembered Sister María twisting her ankle in the mountains walking for water, and everyone getting sick and walking 10 kilometers to the clinic, managing their vomiting and diarrhea along the way.

Never again. And we pray that Brother Orlando will never again wonder if growing up without a dad would result in parental shortcomings. With God as his Father, the prayers of his church community, and ENLACE as a guide, Brother Orlando is not only a loving father at home, but also a trusted ADESCO President, Water Board Treasurer, and now pastor of a new church, God of Justice Church in El Zúngano, where the adventure of loving his neighbors begins again.

Celebrate International Women’s Day: 4 Portraits of Empowerment and Hope

Posted on March 8, 2024March 8, 2024 by Liz Baldwin

International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world in March of every year. This year, we celebrate and recognize ENLACE Church Coaches who work tirelessly to invest in women every day. Women who are valued, supported, and trained play an especially important role in community leadership. Whereas men often work away from home, women leaders are more likely to care for children and represent their needs in community development plans.

ENLACE’s Church and Community Program makes a meaningful impact through leadership, vocational, and technical training, and offers social, physical, and emotional support to women in each country that ENLACE serves. Here, we share four unique portraits of women of all ages from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Nepal.

Reina’s a remarkable young woman from El Salvador who’s grown up seeing her parents make a big difference in their church and community. She took those lessons to heart, diving into everything from teaching kids at church to singing in the worship band and even getting her hands dirty with major community projects such as building gutters, improving roads and school infrastructure and participating in leadership training in community development initiatives like chicken farms through ENLACE’s Church and Community Program.

Due to her incredible love and commitment, others in her community recently elected her as a community leader. She now serves on the Community Development Association for the village of Chantusnene. People aren’t just impressed by what she can do; they’re inspired by who she is—her endless joy, her grit in facing challenges head-on, and her heart for helping out where it’s needed most.

Growing up, Maria Jose saw firsthand the limited opportunities for girls to engage in sports, not to mention the safety concerns that come with it. That all changed when local church and community leaders introduced a soccer academy as part of a violence prevention initiative, welcoming over 80 kids and creating a safe space for everyone. This academy is more than just playing soccer; it’s about building character, teaching life values, and pushing for gender equality. Maria and the other participants got more than just soccer training; they were inspired by talks and supported with the right gear, thanks to the contributions of the Comunidad Cristiana Maná church, where a majority of the members are women and young people who have a strong desire to serve their community. For Maria, the program was a game-changer. It taught her that her gender doesn’t define her limits—in sports or life. Today, Maria’s not just better at soccer; she’s made many new friends and has grown closer to her family, all while breaking stereotypes and paving the way for other girls in Guatemala.

Before ENLACE’s Church and Community Program introduced vocational workshops to her community in Nicaragua, Ana was a woman of limited resources. She had no hope of a decent living wage because of her lack of education and training. Ever since she was a teenager, Ana worked in other people’s homes washing, ironing and doing other chores. There were times when Ana had insufficient food and could not afford hygiene products. Her children did not always attend school because they lacked basic food for lunches and supplies. But thanks to ENLACE’s church accompaniment model, the church can be the entity that brings hope to women through tools that contribute to their personal growth and drive women like Ana to dream of a transformed community. Women can be trained to create businesses and become entrepreneurs.

Ana was trained in a beauty vocational workshop and now specializes in manicures and pedicures. This new skill generates more income for her and her family. She bought new clothes for her children and encourages them to participate in school and play with other kids. Today, Ana is part of the local church and supports other women who want to learn a trade in vocational workshops like she did. “I had always been taught that I was born to be poor and forgotten, and that I would die in the same condition.” But Ana’s heart and mind have changed. She now has a new vision for herself and her children.

In Nepal, women like Ranjita confront daunting challenges. Born into families of low caste, they face societal disdain and struggle with self-acceptance. This cycle of poverty and rejection makes education and securing a living wage nearly impossible, further isolating them from their communities.

Ranjita’s story, however, takes a turn toward hope and empowerment. With the support of the local church and the ENLACE Church and Community Program, she transitioned from a life of marginalization to one of leadership and impact. She became a teacher and joined the staff of a school founded by the local church that serves the most marginalized children in Durgabhawani. Ranjita not only educates her students but also instills in families the value of learning and the understanding that they are loved and accepted by God.

Beyond teaching, Ranjita received training in proposal writing and running development projects. She has embraced this role in community advocacy, raising awareness on critical issues like human trafficking and child marriage. Through the church’s emotional, spiritual, and technical support, she has found her voice and purpose. Ranjita feels empowered to make a difference and is motivated and equipped to serve her community. The church has helped her see her worth, and she now sees that she has an essential role in helping her community’s poorest to live with dignity and hope.

Ranjita’s journey from exclusion to empowerment exemplifies the profound impact that a church can have when walking with its community and looking for ways to serve. Liberty Church and others working with ENLACE Nepal, are nurturing hope in some of the world’s hardest places.

We hope you will join us as we invest in women like Reina, Maria, Ana and Ranjita to feel valued, loved and supported, nurtured and trained, and empowered to create positive change in their own lives and in the lives of others.

Empowering through Advocacy: A Profile in Action

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Liz Baldwin

“I’ve met so many brave and courageous women during my life and I learned that a woman can change a lot of dynamics in her family and community.”

Riani Martin first heard about ENLACE when she started attending Crossway Christian Church in 2011. Since then Riani has gone on seven serving trips and one Shine Pilgrimage trip with ENLACE. When asked what her first impression was when she went on her first trip to El Salvador she said, “I was really impressed with ENLACE’s model. The relationships they had in the community and the impact ENLACE made in communities and to see how they love the people in El Salvador was just…WOW.”

Riani has been to many ENLACE communities over the years. She has helped improve a road, and has helped build a bridge, retaining walls, latrines and homes. All of these projects have made a real difference in the daily lives of Salvadoran families.

When people pull their resources together they can make a huge impact! For example, $350 builds an eco-stove and $500 builds a latrine.

When asked to share her most recent experience with the Shine Pilgrimage, Riani had A LOT to say! She said it was such a privilege to be a part of the very first Shine Pilgrimage to El Salvador. To be a part of creating spaces for women to meet, talk, and share and be vulnerable together was an amazing and humbling experience. As she talked with the women in a remote area on a mountain top, Riani realized that they all struggled with the same issues. They not only learned new things, like making pupusas for example, they also learned new things they didn’t know about each other. For instance some of the ENLACE staff didn’t realize that other co-workers liked to garden, loved baking, and even watched Korean TV shows!

Riani expressed that being a part of an organization that changes people’s lives for the better is an amazing feeling. Speaking of the Shine Collective specifically, Riani loves the idea of women coming together to support each other, not only in her own Shine group, but also in El Salvador and Guatemala. She believes we all need community and being a part of a community that supports and makes a difference in others enriches our own journey.

Besides raising awareness and money for projects that benefit women and children, her Shine group has had a lot of fun too! They’ve had a Christmas party and exchanged gifts starting with the letter “S” (for Shine), enjoyed a Ladies Tea, and have plans for a retreat where they can recharge, spend some quality time together and possibly try their hands at archery. Now that’s hitting the target! (I couldn’t resist…)

Riani says the best part of being a Shine leader is seeing the impact they make together, seeing their relationships grow and change and being a part of something bigger than themselves. She went on to say, “We are an awesome group of women who value and support each other. I can laugh, cry, have fun, and share life together.”

If you’re someone who is interested in joining Shine, Riani would be the first to tell you that it is life changing! “We can change a family’s life. We can change a community!” If you’d like to boost Riani’s efforts for effective sustainable change, click here.

Riani Martin was born in a small town in South Africa. After graduating she taught high school accounting and business economics for 14 years. Her husband and two young sons began their journey to the U.S. almost 20 years ago. Riani was a stay at home mom for a few years and volunteered in the children’s ministry at her church. She began working for Crossway Christian Church in New Hampshire as the lead pastor’s assistant, but is now the bookkeeper and Global Outreach Director. Riani especially loves being involved in the Global Church. She is passionate about cooking and baking and enjoys testing out new recipes on the church staff! Riani loves to read, hike, travel, and play board games with her family. She is also a USA certified level II archery coach!

Boots on the Ground: Meet Fabiola Ramírez

Posted on February 27, 2024February 27, 2024 by Liz Baldwin

If you remember typing on a typewriter in college, then you might remember searching for jobs in the newspaper or on a physical job board. If I had come across this posting, I might have thought twice before applying.

Fabiola Ramírez de Rivera has been working for ENLACE for more than 10 years and is currently the Head of the Church and Community Program in El Salvador, but before that, she was an ENLACE Church Coach.

When Fabiola first started working for ENLACE she said it was a dream for her. But not in the sense of what we think when we think of a dream job with a good salary, great benefits, and vacation days. Fabiola says the dream is to work in an organization that helps the church transform its communities. “I know that the church can preach the gospel, but [we can] BE the gospel.”

ENLACE CHURCHES

For more than 30 years, ENLACE has had the privilege of walking WITH churches as THEY walk WITH their communities to bring about profound change. Whether the local church is nestled in mountainous areas, a farming region, or along the coast, the poverty experienced by the local population is extreme. Generally, families living in poor rural areas lack adequate living conditions, school and community infrastructure, good jobs, or viable economic opportunities. And that’s where the ENLACE Church Coach comes in.

ENLACE CHURCH COACHES

ENLACE Church Coaches provide on-site coaching and consulting to church leaders on how to organize one’s church to serve effectively, how to build relationships with community leaders, associations, and organizations, and how to identify and develop sustainable collaborative initiatives and projects that alleviate poverty in their neighborhoods. ENLACE Church Coaches work tirelessly on a daily basis, coaching and offering technical support, and are committed to walking alongside the church for seven to 10 years.

“I used to do everything by myself, and my ministry to the community was simply visiting the elderly and helping children. My church coach helped motivate our entire church and showed us how to work together to make a significant impact.”

– Pastora Marta Vaquerano
Palabra de Poder Church, Anemona, San Martin

After being trained to listen to their neighbors, take surveys, and engage with organizations already present in their community, the church breaks out of its shell and becomes a powerhouse of transformation! And every year, as the projects become more technical and require stronger leadership skills and collaboration with the community, ENLACE coaches walk with the church as they develop and strengthen its relationships with water boards, health committees, public schools, and mayor’s offices as well as with the community associations of nearby hamlets.

ENLACE COMMUNITIES

“I have received so many hugs from people who are suffering but are still giving and being generous to their communities. I have received more than what I have given.”

When she first started working as a Church Coach, Fabiola said that she learned many things from a woman she was training. Rosita was one of the leaders of the community and a member of one of the first churches that ENLACE started to work with. Rosita was a single mom with two children but was still very involved in her church. Fabiola was impressed that she had a clean house, knowing that Rosita didn’t have access to clean running water.

At that time, Fabiola was still in school and was trying to complete her homework while staying at Rosita’s house. Rosita said that Fabiola could have the light on to do her homework. Rosita and her family only had one light in the house, but she was willing to give her the light.

Fabiola recalls that Rosita made it seem so easy. Simple tasks like doing the laundry can seem so “hard” when you have children, but for women like Rosita they are hard. They have to walk to the river carrying the dirty clothes of the entire family, wash them in the river, and then come back carrying the heavy wet clothes to hang outside their home. Fabiola admires these women who come to the ENLACE meetings even after they have already done so many time-consuming tasks in their homes.

“These women are doing a lot with less, but they are always faithful.”

Fabiola remembers early on when she was working with a remote community where they were planning on building latrines. They had to walk for 4 hours around the mountainous terrain to visit all of the people who would receive a latrine. She remembers staying with one of the leaders in the community who was a seamstress. The woman was sewing school uniforms, and on one particular night, there was a lot of work, so Fabiola offered to help sew. In this moment and so many since then, Fabiola recalled her mother’s words, “The more you learn things, the more you can help people.”

A serving team from the U.S. comes to help build and bring the additional funds needed to build these composting latrines for this community in rural El Salvador.

Another moment early in her journey as a church coach, with her mother’s lesson in mind, Fabiola started a class to teach English to a group of children in the community. “I don’t know much, but I can teach a little bit,” she thought. Eleven years later, one of the boys in that class has a bachelor’s degree in English. When recalling this story, Fabiola laughed and said, “Now he knows more than me!”

Fabiola’s admiration for the people living in the communities ENLACE serves has not waned. Recently, in the middle of a housing initiative, the local mayor’s office did not come through with the funding that they had promised. Two 70-year-old women were so set on finishing this project that they spoke boldly, “We’re going to build these houses, no matter what!”

To Fabiola, these lovely, fragile women are shining examples of what happens when we are committed to loving people. While they could be relaxing in their old age, instead, they are moving mountains to serve their community. Fabiola said she wants to be like them when she grows up!

“Sometimes, as women, we feel we are not seen or heard, but I am so grateful that I work with men who know the value of women in leadership.”

Fabiola is now in charge of all the ENLACE church coaches in El Salvador. Ron Bueno, ENLACE’s executive director, described her as “all terrain.” When asked what Fabiola means to ENLACE, Ron replied, “She was a great coach and now is a great leader. Fabiola is deeply committed to seeing the local church flourish and wants to see ENLACE be a healthy and encouraging place to work.”

When asked what she loves most about working on the ENLACE team, she said, “What I like most is talking to people, listening to their stories, [and seeing] the faith they have in a better future. I love seeing lives transformed and relationships restored when the church takes on the challenge of loving its community the way Jesus does.”

Fabiola is also a professor in the Community Development department at the Christian University of the Assemblies of God and serves in her local church as a teacher of adults. Fabiola and her husband Wilmer have two beautiful children, Nicolás and Ezequiel. She likes plants, drinking coffee, and spending time with her extended family.

Other ENLACE colleagues echoed Ron’s words. They described Fabiola as a servant leader who cares deeply about people, a dedicated mother and friend. She is reflective and funny, and cares about justice. Fabiola demonstrates the love of Christ and ENLACE is grateful and blessed for her leadership and friendship. If you’d like to give to support projects and people like Fabiola, click here.

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

Posted on January 25, 2024February 7, 2024 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.

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 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.

A serving team from Soul City excavates alongside the community.

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

Community workers are trained in the installation of the new 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.

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

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:

It is better to serve than to be served.
Do everything with love as if we were doing it for Christ Himself.
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 January 12, 2024January 12, 2024 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.

…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!

In memoriam Oscar Alexander Vasquez

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Michelle Bueno

By Ron Bueno

_MG_5341 Over the weekend we were forced to say goodbye to a great friend and colleague. On Saturday, April 16th Oscar Alexander Vasquez (Alex) died instantly in a motorcycle accident. I continue to struggle to try to understand and process his death. I met Alex when he was 14 years old. He was a youth leader in Pastor Miguel’s church El Buen Samaritano. Shortly after I met him, he shared his life story with me.

He had a very difficult childhood and adolescence. His mother died when he was young and his father was an alcoholic. He lived for periods of time in the street on his own and with other people. He shared with me that it was the love and kindness of Miguel’s church to help with funeral costs and bury his dad that really convinced him of God’s love for him. This expression of love also served as a call to service in the church. Alex served for many years as the youth leader at El Buen Samaritano church until he was called to lead his own congregation several years ago.

Along with pastoring, Alex was also involved as a leader of community outreach at Miguel’s church from the very beginning. His heart was always to serve others so that they might feel the unconditional love that he had felt during the time of his father’s passing. He profoundly believed that the heart of ministry is caring for those in need.

He told me on several occasions that his dream was to pastor and work for ENLACE. He worked hard to finish his high school degree and BA in Theology in order to apply to work at ENLACE. A couple of years ago he joined the ENLACE staff. He worked in one of the most remote areas of El Salvador and loved it! He was truly an inspiration to the pastors that he worked with and to our staff. He had a soft spirit and kind smile. He was always so positive and encouraging. He truly loved people and wanted them to experience the love that he felt from God daily.

Alex is survived by his young wife Karina, congregation, friends and colleagues.
Alex was married to Karina a couple years ago. He had been pastoring his first congregations for five years.

As our entire staff tries to process his loss, I am reminded that he finally accomplished what he strove for all of his life: to be intimately close to God, to feel His presence continuously. It was truly an honor for me to have known Alex and to have worked with him. It was a privilege to see God’s love and transformation in his life firsthand. I was so encouraged and inspired by his energy and excitement to see other people experience that transformation in their lives through the church. We will miss you dearly.

Alex, it is with great sadness that we have to say goodbye for now. But we look forward to seeing you again soon.

I ask all of you to please pray for his young wife, his congregation and for the entire ENLACE staff as we walk through these difficult and tragic moments.

The Story of Water in San Jacinto and the Zurisadai Church

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Michelle Bueno

Background

Back in 2012, in the community of San Jacinto, 40 percent (680 people) did not have access to clean water. The remaining 60 percent of the population (1,020 people) had access to water every other day for 20 minutes. And the water that was available wasn’t treated and contributed to many water-borne illnesses that especially affected children under five years of age with grave sickness and sometime death. This was the case even though the community had an abundant source of water from a nearby shallow spring. However, the water system that drew from that spring was over 35 years old and needed upgrades in order to serve the needs of local residents. Additionally, the organizational capacity of the community water board wasn’t strong enough to take on and implement a community-wide clean water plan.

The Zurisadai Church had begun to work with ENLACE and create a vision and plan to serve its community. The congregation of 170 members led by its pastor, Mauricio Alvarado, are all very poor themselves. It was possible for them to see themselves as people who need rather than people who give. But with encouragement and empowerment, this local church chose to serve.

With incredible excitement and speed, Pastor Mauricio and many church members joined the local community association and helped to make the group more representative, organized and inspired to serve. Along with many other projects such as road repairs, the construction of dozens of homes, and home gardens, they decided to take on the community’s need for clean and accessible water.

Water system project specs:

Between 2012-2013 the church-led community project of building a water system came into being.

The water system is a spring and tank system that distributes clean water to each household of the community. The system is comprised of two springs, three water tanks, a pumping station, and piping that distributes the water by gravity to each household. The water is pumped from the springs to a pumping station and then to water tanks where it’s tested and treated. The water flows from the tanks by gravity through a network of pipes into each household. Each house has its own connection and a meter to measure water use and pay accordingly. The very small fee for water use is then used to finance system maintenance. The improvement to the organizational capacity of the water board has enabled this last piece to maintain clean water for 4 years to all residents.

Because the local church was supported in serving its community, this water system:

Provides 1,700 people with access to an abundant source of clean water.
Provides 2,954 people with access to water to drink, clean, wash clothes, and cultivate home gardens for the next 20 years.
Strengthened the organizational capacity of the existing water board to manage a water system
Reduced infant mortality
Reduced diarrhea morbidity

Willow’s Involvement:

Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois supported this system both financially and by sending a serving team to San Jacinto in 2012 which helped install part of the system.

Team member Joy Bork said, “This experience really helped me see how the local church is the hope of the world. Through pairing together with ENLACE and Zurisadai, I was able to be a tangible representation of Christ’s hands and feet in the community of San Jacinto.”

A Community’s Resident’s Story:

Rosa Maria Chacón, 35, and her husband, Juan Atilio Hernandez, 40, have three children and live in San Jacinto. Rosa was born in San Jacinto and has experienced water shortages her entire life. Her father used to take them to the river to bathe and that is what she and her children used to do every day. They would begin their trek to to river every afternoon after school and it would take at least 40 minutes one way. It would take longer on the return because of the heavy load of wet laundry that had been washed. She received her household connection in April 2013. She said, “It is a joy to have abundant clean water at home. It is incredible to have enough water to wash clothes, dishes and corn and not have to take long journeys to the river to bathe and wash.”

Not Alone in the Journey: The Story of Margarita in Cocalito

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Michelle Bueno

At 18 years old, Margarita has a lot on her shoulders. When her grandfather died last year after contracting the Chikungunya virus (a mosquito-borne illness that creates painful joint swelling, headaches, rashes and can exacerbate other health conditions), she became the sole breadwinner for her household. Up until his death she took care of all the household duties along with her mother and daughter. When he died and she was still without a job, resourcefully she went out every day foraging for food. She picked fruit, caught fish, and grabbed anything that seemed edible along the way in order to put food on the table.

During this time, Margarita and her mother had to be gone a lot getting food and water for the family. One day when Margarita’s 14-year-old sister, María Angela was home watching Margarita’s daughter, Jocelin, they were accosted in their home by gang members. They threatened María Angela and wanted her to work for them. While they went away without getting what they wanted, Margarita remains wary of unsavory people taking advantage of their desperate situation.

The local pastor and leaders of the Aposento Alto Church first met Margarita and her family when they conducted a census of their community as part of the first step of working with ENLACE and its church and community program. They visited the family’s home and learned of their difficult story. It wasn’t until later when the pastor began to visit them over the course of a few months, that he learned that whenever the church committee came and were hospitably offered food, it was often the only food the family had for that day.

The pastor and leaders were incredibly moved by Margarita and her family and when they began their first community project of building latrines, they put Margarita’s household on the list. In the meantime, Margarita found a job. Margarita now works six days a week as a waitress, from 10am to 2am. And even though she is grateful for the work and her $150 per month, the work is demanding. And so when the materials for the latrines were delivered to the church for recipients to pick up, she didn’t have the time or money to transport the bricks and cement to her home.

When a church member and neighbor heard of her situation, she offered to help. Even though Wendy, her neighbor takes care of her husband full-time due to a kidney disease, she coordinated a way for them to work together to gather the materials. Wendy and Margarita carried 16 bags of cement and over 1000 bricks to their homes to build two latrines.

In the end, Margarita said that there was a moment when she thought she would give up. She was exhausted. That was when the service team from St. Andrews came to help build her latrine. She saw such joy from them and was so encouraged to be supported by people who came from thousands of miles away. Suddenly between the new friends from the church and new friends from abroad, she didn’t feel so alone

Today, Margarita is incredibly grateful. Not only has the latrine made her family’s life healthier and easier, she has also strong friends from the local church helping and encouraging her every day and checking in on her family. In the next year, the church hopes to implement a new home initiative and Margarita might be one of the first beneficiaries.

Category: Blog