This year will bring a steady flow of teams made up of wonderful Christians intent on sharing God’s love with the poorest in El Salvador. One such team member who has traveled far and wide and partnered with ENLACE over the past five years is Rhonda Grigg. Recently, she wrote a note about her experience. Her words were so powerful that we wanted to share them with you. We’ve posted the letter here and pray that it will be as inspiring for you as they were for us.
A very dear friend of ENLACE, Ben Louis, passed away on Tuesday, February 5th. Ben was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of brain cancer last week and underwent an unsuccessful surgery on Monday to try and remove the tumor. Ben was a dear friend of ENLACE U.S. president Larry Kasper and made multiple trips to El Salvador and was a wonderful friend of ENLACE for many years. Join Ben's faith community, the ENLACE team and Salvadoran churches in prayer for Ben's wife, Judy, for Larry Kasper, as he officiates the funeral this week and for all of Ben's family and friends.
The Today’s Pentecostal Evangel magazine has recently featured ENLACE in its February 3rd issue. The sixteen-page spread includes an in-depth article covering ENLACE’s history, mission and future and is accompanied by beautiful, full-color photos.
The first mission team of 2008, nine folks from the Colorado Springs area, went to our most remote community, Abelines, January 4-12 to provide medical, pediatric, optical and dental care to hundreds of community members. The dentist pulled 180 rotten teeth! This is important because in an area that lacks immediate medical care, an infected molar can lead to serious illness, even death. So, what might seem like basic care in the states, can actually be life-sustaining here.
Click Here to see a complete slideshow from the three day conference for Salvadoran pastors and spouses: "Renewing Your Passion for Christ."
Thank you to those of you who were praying this past weekend for the pastor's conference. It was an amazing success and minstry for more than 2,000 Salvadoran pastors and spouses. Please check back later this week to see a slideshow and read testimonials from this wonderful event.
From November 29 until December 1, 2007, world renowned evangelist, author, pastor and founder of Teen Challenge Ministries, David Wilkerson, along with his son Gary, will host a conference for Salvadoran pastors and their spouses. The event is free for the pastors and promises to be an amazing opportunity for prayer, worship and developing unity and shared vision among the churches of El Salvador. Ron Bueno is directing an interdenominational team of Salvadoran leaders who are organizing the event and the ENLACE office has served as the logistical base for the conference planning. So far, there are more than 2,500 Salvadoran pastors and spouses signed-up for the event from nearly every Christian denomination in El Salvador!
October 27 - November 3 a group of 18 came from Meadowbrook Community Church. This was the fifth trip for the Church from Champaign , Illinois. Part of this year's group painted water tanks, built infrastructure at the well site and did cement work for the water project in Las Delicias. The group also collaborated with three area churches near Las Delicias to bring medical attention to more than 550 community members, of which 65% were children.
Take a minute to watch a few of the retreat's attendees talk about this year's experience.
Thank you for your prayers during our recent Pastor & Church Leader retreat. Once again this 3-day retreat was a blessed time! Eleven Salvadoran churches (39 pastors and church leaders) and the ENLACE staff enjoyed a wonderful time in Biblical teaching, prayer, worship as well as plenty of time for games and friendly soccer matches. Time was also spent on Biblical training of servant leadership, practical discussions about specific experiences & best practices shared, as well as regional strategic planning for the coming year.
evening prayer time 2006We are so excited to announce that we will have eleven churches represented at our annual pastor and church leader’s retreat. This event is always the highlight of the year for ENLACE. We spend three days seeking God together in prayer, sharing specific experiences from different contexts, Biblical training on servant leadership, and design new regional strategies for each church . This year, we have invited pastors and leaders from our 3 most committed churches and have included 8 new churches working with ENLACE. Please pray that God’s presence will renew each leader’s heart and commitment for their communities and that they might develop deep friendships with each other leaders to help and encourage them in their work.
In the July issue of The Pentecostal Evangel John Bueno, the executive director of the Assemblies of God World Missions, shares four scriptural aspects of reaching out to the poor: God and the poor, the Church and the poor, and the gospel and the poor. With each aspect, he shows how scripture addresses the responsibility of Christians to minister to and defend the poor who live among us.
