Category: Blog

Sixty-year-old Maria de Jesus Granados (called Chunguita) and her 54 year-old sister Daysi lived in a house they inherited from their father. In 2005 the old house was all but destroyed by the heavy rains accompanying Hurricane Mitch. Both sisters suffer from rheumatism but Daysi’s hands and legs have become deformed making it difficult for her to carry out daily tasks. Members from the local church often provide food and money for the sisters. In this way, between illness and poverty, they lived day after day by the mercy of God.

Chunguita and Daysi grew up working the land with a father who loved and cared for them. As Chunguita tells it, “When I was young I worked in the corn fields with my dad, cultivating corn and beans. He would cut the zacate and I would pick up the piles of grass and collect the corn. As he grew older, he would tell me, ‘You’ll have to do the work, because I can’t anymore.’ And so it was with him. We also planted sorghum. He would cut the sorghum, but eventually said, ‘You’ll have to take over, sweetie, because I can’t do it anymore.’ Age, hard work and rheumatism gradually faded his life until he died.” Chunguita expresses disappointment that she is not able to do more at her age like she saw her father do.

After receiving their new home, Chunguita expressed much gratitude. “[Our new home] has been a gift from God and from you. Thanks to God because He has softened your hearts to help the poor…We will have a party with Jesus, with our family in Him.”

In 2008, community leaders in El Ranchador decided the bridge that provides the only access to the community desperately needed to be replaced. They struggled, however, to get the project off the ground until leaders from the Arca de Dios Church joined them. Together, the church and community worked to fundraise and design the project. At one point, divisions within the Community Association threatened the project and leaders called Pastor Francisco to help mediate a resolution. On May 8, members of El Ranchador, the Community Association, the mayor, and ENLACE staff celebrated the bridge which not only provides safe passage, but also represents a bridge of restored relationships.

Click here to see the picture gallery of the event…

Click here to see the news in the national newspaper…

Rosa and Marta in front of their new home

Leaders from the local church knew that helping these mothers by building them a new home would transform their lives. After receiving the good news, Marta felt utterly relieved. To fix their old home on their income, said Marta, would have taken an eternity. Using their money for food and other expenses has given her a sense of peace. And Rosa expressed a deep joy–something she hasn’t felt in a long time–because now her daughter, grandchildren and herself would have a real and safe home in which to live, work and grow.

Joshua Manuel Fieldson, 24, first came to El Salvador in 2008 with his church, SeaCoast Grace Church in California. Year after year, Joshua returned to serve, motivated by his love for the Salvadoran people and the work of ENLACE.

Josh was a business major, but upon returning to the United States after his first trip, he decided to pursue a degree in public health. He says, “While on the trip, my heart was changed by the faith in God and daily dependence on his word that the people of El Salvador exhibited so genuinely.”

Before coming to El Salvador, Josh did not have any idea of ​​the effect that could be generated by connecting and empowering churches to achieve community transformation. His many experiences in El Salvador have encouraged him to be active in his own community while preparing to live and work in El Salvador this year.

Josh will help with visiting teams during June and July and we pray that his experience will enrich his passion to serve the poor in effective ways.

Welcome to the team, Josh!

ENLACE is looking for motivated individuals like Josh to join the momentum taking place in El Salvador. You can help us respond to the growing movement of churches in El Salvador that are transforming their communities by serving as an ENLACE volunteer or intern. Click here for more information. 

ENLACE Missionary-Volunteer Melissa Mefford was recently featured on Willow Creek Community Church’s Compassion and Justice blog:

Melissa with Pastor Marta from Anemona“It is the smallest country in Central America—riddled with poverty and environmental degradation. A place where rocks and sticks hold the roofs of houses together and when it rains, the roof blows off and water fills the home— where people travel miles to reach a local river in search of water for their family— a place where many families live on less than $2 a day.

But it is also a place where the spirits of people are strong and where faith is continuing to grow. It is the country of El Salvador— the place where 24-year-old Melissa Mefford has been called by God to serve the local churches and community…”

Click here to read more.

A group of high school students from Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, IL, came to El Salvador to spend their Spring Break serving with Zurisadai Church in San Jacinto. They helped build a storm drain to prevent dangerous flooding during the rainy season and painted a recently constructed water tank. The team also enjoyed eating mango everyday, playing with kids, and visiting the homes that returning members helped to build last year. The team continued building the relationships from last year and formed new friendships as well.

Click here to see the Picture Gallery

Another group of students from Willow Creek Community Church came to El Salvador for Spring Break. The team from the Crystal Lake campus spent the week with The Arca de Dios Church in El Ranchador helping begin construction for a new medical clinic. The team ministered to children in the community by visiting a Compassion International site and challenging students from the public school in a soccer game. They served with joy as they took part in the ongoing transformation of El Ranchador.

Click here to see the Picture Gallery

The centerpiece of ENLACE’s mission is to help and support local churches in El Salvador as they engage effectively in service with their impoverished communities. Building and renewing relationships between each other and God, therefore, is at the heart of what we do. ENLACE’s Church Partnership Program broadens that relationship building as it joins U.S. and Salvadoran churches in long-term partnerships that equip the local church to fulfill God’s plan of wholeness for its community. Along with helping a poor church reach out to its neighbors, U.S. partners that send teams to El Salvador experience first-hand the transformation that is taking place. They often return home with a renewed sense of who they are in Christ and who they are to their immediate and global neighbors.

Recently, a team from CrossWay Christian Church came to El Salvador to meet and serve with their church partner in the Abelines region.  Another team from CrossWay is in El Salvador this week to continue building relationships with the local church.  

CrossWay team member Phil McArdle created this video which offers a glimpse into the type of experience that many U.S. church partners share with their Salvadoran brothers and sisters. The team works with church and community members on a project, sharing laughter and friendship to encourage one another in the work to which God has called them. 

Click here to find out more about how your church can get involved.