Category: Blog

After spending a year volunteering with ENLACE in El Salvador, Ali Hunt felt called to return to the U.S. and pursue a vocation in medicine. Recently Ali shared with us the process God took her through from trusting Him as she volunteered in El Salvador to following His call to study medicine. It is a beautiful story of how God can work in the life of a person who is available to His call. Read more of Ali’s story.

But before we tell that story, we need to shout and hoop and holler. There is electricity in Abelines! Real power lines and switches and no need for car batteries or generators. Honest to goodness electricity in Abelines! Praise God and hot diggity!

OK, now let’s think about electricity. In the US, electricity is assumed. So much so, that most of us never think of the real value of electricity. Sure light bulbs, TV and computers are great, but electricity is so much more than that.

Electricity has been a significant goal of the Abelines region for the last seven years . In rural El Salvador electricity means medicines can be refrigerated—so more people can have access to better healthcare. It also means that some families can purchase and store things such as dairy products and meats —meaning potential for better nutrition. An electric stove could replace the open fires women cook on that contribute to pulmonary problems and deforestation in the area. And of course, light offers a little more time in the day to do homework, wrap up chores, etc. Electricity is more than a means to evening entertainment—it can greatly improve health and quality of life .

It has been a long road, and the members of the community have worked hard to be able to flip a switch and see light flow into a room. Traveling along that road together, each visitor and each time ENLACE staff has been able to offer support, the folks in Abelines believed a little more strongly that they had the resources they needed to find solutions to the needs of the community. Like a drop in a bucket, each prayer, shovel full of dirt, and community meeting contributed to the wellspring of transformation in Abelines. We have seen this transformation in the health committee as it created greater awareness of health issues and better access to healthcare at the clinic. We have also seen transformed relationships as they served one another.

Pastor Victorio recently commented on their motivations over the years, “Well, first of all the key is found in the love of God, you must be covered with the love of God and then you can feel…the need of others. You must feel the love of God—that God is in you and you are in Him. This is how we got more involved and begin to help more in our community. This is one of the factors that motivates us. Also ENLACE collaborates with us, through training we find the words of encouragement to keep going.” And when people continue together amazing things can happen—like better health, better access to food, better access to education and even electricity along a dirt road in El Salvador.

The illuminated light bulb here marks a great success for this community, and we ask you to join us in a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s continued presence and blessing in the communities of Abelines. And thanks to everyone that has contributed a drop of love in this process of community transformation.

Read Reina’s quote to hear a little more about Abelines from a member of the health committee. Or to see some recent photos of Abelines, visit photo albums for teams from Church at Briargate and South Hills Corona.

Spanish for “tell me”, dígame is a new feature highlighting thoughts from the amazing local leaders we work with every day.

There was a time when people weren’t accustomed to standing and talking in front of others. They were scared and afraid to stand up. But now they have more confidence. They stand without shame and even train people. For example, I recently gave a training on preventing parasites. I did it easily because I had learned it well in one place–so easily I taught it in another place.

-Reina Margarita Villeda de Parada, Health Committee Member, Los Abelines

Caleb & Rebekah help grab tires for a retaining wallSometimes visitors wonder why ENLACE does projects that they do. Why build a retaining wall when some people’s homes don’t have proper walls? Why build a latrine when a community still lacks water or electricity? Sometimes our decision making process may seem a bit odd to the teams that come to help us.

Well, it’s all part of the process. First, ENLACE doesn’t decide what projects to do, but the communities we serve determine that for themselves. Every year the churches and communities gather together and develop and prioritize a list of opportunities. They then work with ENLACE’s Operations staff to determine how to accomplish their goals in a realistic and doable manner. When churches from the States contact us about coming to serve, ENLACE connects them with various projects on the list. This is significant because through the years this process has helped Salvadoran churches and communities organize, procure resources and implement projects—all on their own. And that is a key component of community transformation— it takes mutual work, sacrifice, respect and building each other up in order to build something truly sustainable and transformative .

Once you are here for a while, you actually learn pretty quickly why some projects take priority over others. At the beginning of July a team of 6 students and recent grads from Vanguard University came to Las Delicias and worked on a retaining wall. Mid-week, after a great deal of sweat, dirt and cement-making, the team arrived in Las Delicias to see most of their work washed away in a night-time thunder storm. They were naturally a bit demoralized. But this also proved to be a great illustration of a reality in El Salvador. It rains. A lot. And due to significant deforestation everywhere, there are a lot of mudslides and general deterioration of land. If you have a house or a school or a church below a mountainside–destruction, homelessness or worse can be literally a rainstorm away.

But not if there is a retaining wall! With retaining walls deterioration is slowed down significantly. People and buildings are protected and are the surrounding ecosystems. Additionally, retaining walls recycle old tires that often contribute only to landfills or mosquito breeding grounds. The project is also a relatively cheap and one that can allow a small visiting team when working with a community have a major impact in a short amount of time.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to a wall made of tires! It’s kind of a dream project really! Connecting to one another in Christ’s love, responding, laughing and wading through disappointments is a lot like what Paul said when he encouraged early Christians to bear each other’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Check out some great photos from Vanguard’s week of construction and fun or contact Missionary Director of Development Peter DeSoto and talk to him about your church coming down to help build a wall in El Salvador to.

Working at ENLACE we have opportunities to enter homes and lives in Christ’s name in El Salvador. This is an honor that we try to not take for granted and we often share stories of the people we meet with one another. New volunteer, Ashley Rutledge has been with ENLACE just over a month and yet she is a natural missionary with a joy and spirit that quickly has been blessing both our staff, as well as the community members that she has been getting to know. Following are some excerpts from a particularly powerful portrait she shared on her personal blog about a mother named Reina and a little girl named Heidi.

This is Reina. She lives in Pajigua with her 9 children. She is the mother of 16 children, two of whom have died and 5 of whom are older and no longer live with her. She is married, but she told me that her husband comes through as he pleases and she can go a whole year without seeing him and has never been able to depend on him. Reina is living in one of the most extreme cases of poverty in her community. She struggles to provide for her children at all.

When Reina and I began to talk I noticed a little girl lying in the hammock of the main room. Her name was Heidi…

…I then realized she had a very high fever. I asked Reina if I could help in any way and maybe give Heidi a bath. There was a water spigot outside that had clean, cold water. I had to hold Heidi in my arms while I bathed her in cold water and a half a bar of soap I had in my bag. I got drenched and it wasn’t an easy job but I just kept thinking, “Ashley, do what you know to do. That is all you can be responsible for.” After cooling her down and getting her clean I wrapped Heidi in a clean towel and held her in my arms in the sunlight and she looked up at me with those huge brown eyes and smiled. Then she breathed heavily and fell fast asleep. She slept for a good 45 minutes and when she woke up I combed her ratted hair, put it in pigtails and put her in some clean clothes. She sat in my lap all day long.

… I don’t have all the answers and I can’t save the whole world, but I can be Jesus to the people that I come into contact with and that is all He is asking of me anyway. That way I can be used and not get caught up in myself or my own abilities. I can pray with and provide comfort to those that need it the most

To see more photos and read the full blog entry visit Ashley’s blog.

Spanish for “tell me”, dígame is a new feature highlighting thoughts from the amazing local leaders we work with every day.

“ Our vision is to learn more together everyday about the word of the Lord, improve the work of the church and, with our community , be involved in all the initiatives that we can— knowing that we are contributing to resolving the needs of the community .” 

-Pastor Giovanni Rivas

Click this photo to see more of Glad Tiding’s TripOne of the biggest sacrifices for any missionary is saying good bye to family & friends.  Yet, as God calls, we follow—trusting that He will provide new friends and create a new family from his vast body of believers.  And God is always faithful to provide. Yet, it is a truly special gift when family & friends actually come to El Salvador, see the work we are doing and sometimes even work alongside us!  

 Shane Wimberly has been a missionary volunteer with ENLACE for almost a year and has been assisting with teams and project construction. In June, Shane’s parents Dueward & Sharon Wimberly brought down a small group from Glad Tidings Church in Texas to work in the community of San Antonio near San Jose El Naranjo.  Pastor Dueward shared a message with the community on Sunday and the entire team of 7 worked on 3 latrines. One of the team members, Sophie, also offered a hair cutting workshop to train some locals on some simple haircutting techniques, as well as offered free haircuts to anyone that wanted one.

 The team was a double blessing—offering encouragement and hope to the members of the San Antonio community that they served through their sweat and shoveling, but Shane was also blessed to have the opportunity to show family and friends how God is transforming impoverished communities in El Salvador through the daily efforts of the local churches that partner with ENLACE.  And sharing with people the truth about how God is providing hope, better health and better communities in El Salvador is one of our very favorite things to do!  Thanks to everyone at Glad Tidings!

Pastor Chris CoffmanTravelling hundreds of miles and sleeping in 4 different locations in 7 days, a group of 7 men from River West Church and other Portland, Oregon churches visited all of the communities that ENLACE works with in the beginning of May. That can be a pretty overwhelming journey—and half the team was missing their luggage the first half of the week! And yet this team came with hearts eager to see God working in El Salvador and brought a sense of joy, spirits of humility and a whole lot of prayer.  The River West team came to El Salvador to be an encouragement to local community leaders & members, but River West Associate Pastor, Chris Coffman, shares below what can happen whenever you carve out time to be with God and want to see what great things He is doing in His world

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I flew out last week. I knew going into this that folks back home were asking God to open new doors of opportunity. So I asked God to speak to me and allow me to see how he is working in El Salvador.
 
Having never carved out a week to travel to a country for the purpose of prayer, learning, and listening to God, I was a bit anxious about this trip. With each day that passed the dissonance of my own thoughts was replaced with the unmistakable presence of Christ’s voice—Everywhere I turned Christ was speaking. Through stacks of papusas and stories of unimaginable suffering. Through the beatitudes and the “numb-buttocks” feeling that comes from four hours expeditions in the back Land Rover. In the most unexpected places I found Christ at play in the people of El Salvador.

All in all, this last week was one of the best weeks of my life. By God’s mercy, I was given a front row seat to the kingdom of God in El Salvador. I will never forget what it’s like to meet people that believe that a life of justice
(justicia) is inseparable from the life of Jesus.

We are often amazed to see God work week in and week out, but we never put those exact words to it. “A front row seat to the kingdom of God!” That is a good seat to be in!

See photos of the River West Vision Trip.

Due to a severe wind storm in January 2008, many houses in the western part of El Salvador lost part or all of their roofs.

The churches in San Jose El Naranjo, Los Laureles, El Paraiso and San Antonio sought a way to provide help. The San Jose church, which has partnered with ENLACE the later 90’s lead the way in resolving the problem. They also saw this moment as an opportunity to walk alongside the churches working more recently with ENLACE, helping them to indentify the families most affected by the storm and work together with their community to resolve the situation.

After soliciting corrugated roofing material from ENLACE, the churches organized work teams from a variety of sources within their communities—including community associations, general volunteers and church volunteers. Together they installed 140 new roofs, providing 980 people with shelter.

The timing couldn’t be better. The first major tropical storm depression of the season brought five days of consistent rainfall two weeks after the roof installations were completed. Additionally, because of the way in which the churches walked with their communities to solve the problems they were facing, the project not only ended up filling a specific need but also strengthened the links of friendship between the churches and their communities.

pastor marcos with recipient 
recipient family
recipient family