It Was a Sweet Couple Months of Community Building

“I first visited ENLACE in El Salvador in 2014,” says Christine Nolf, Pastor of Healthy Communities at Redemption Church in Costa Mesa, California. “That visit gave me a theological imagination for community development.” 

She has been applying that imagination in her community and church ever since, which is why the children’s ministry leader, Erica, was talking to Molli in communications about resurrecting Redemption Run Club. 

Before long, Molli and Erica’s husband Joey, both runners, were making plans. Joey, a high school English teacher and church youth director, offered to help lead training runs. He and Erica offered their home as the start and finish line every Saturday morning training run. Molli set up a Team ENLACE fundraising page. Word spread, they recruited runners, and set their sights on the Huntington Beach Run in the New Year 5k/10k/Half Marathon. 

Redemption runners ranged from 40-somethings to sixth graders. Some were seasoned runners, while others were first-timers who broke their distance PR at every Saturday morning training run. 

The youth held a bake sale fundraiser. Fifteen runners set up personal fundraising pages on the Redemption Run Club team page. The church’s Caring for Health and Wellness Circle offered a $10,000 match, so the team set their fundraising goal at $10k, which seemed way out of reach. 

Church members came out to support on the day of the run as the Redemption Run Club exceeded its goal, raising $12,155. 

“The Redemption Run Club MVP,” said training run leader Joey, “was my wife Erica. She’s who made the breakfast and coffee we shared after every Saturday morning training run. She created the space where we talked about running, fundraising, and accomplishing goals we didn’t know if we could achieve–it was a sweet couple months of community building.”

To explore starting your own Team ENLACE running group, visit give.enlace.link/TeamEnlace or reach out to Paul Darilek at pdarilek@enlace.link.