“When I accepted Jesus Christ, my life was filled with God and with a desire to serve. To this day, I still have that desire. Through my studies I can help others, working not for men but for God because God satisfies my inner being.”

David's postive attitude and enthusiasm to serve has helped him to become a valuable new member of the ENLACE staff.David Gonzalez is currently studying agronomy engineering at the Roberto Quiñonez National School of Agriculture. Soon after starting there, his life changed completely when some of his classmates invited him to a Bible study on campus. After the study, the gratitude he felt toward God gave him a strong desire to help others in need through his life and his profession. He desired to live out the words of Mother Teresa which had always inspired him, “I am a pencil in the hands of God and he writes with me whatever he wants.”

David submitted 21 resumes to various businesses before being accepted for a job, but there was never a moment in which he lost faith in finding a place where his talents and abilities could be used by God. During his search, David discovered ENLACE and was impressed to see the positive impact that the local churches were having in their communities. It was with ENLACE that David finally found work as a technical expert in agronomy. David agrees with ENLACE’s method of working through the local church, saying, “I think the principal help has to come from the church, following the example of Jesus Christ.”

David is currently one of the three ENLACE agronomists who provide technical advice to local farmers in the communities we serve.Since October of last year, David has been in charge of providing technical assistance to the participants of the Home Garden Projects being implemented in the region of Abelines. He organizes, supervises, and trains farmers to better prepare the soil, plant seeds, care for their crops, and harvest the resulting produce in a way that optimizes the efforts of each participant. His work is part of a larger effort to promote home gardens as a source of nutrition and daily sustenance in one of the poorest and most remote regions of the country where the rate of malnutrition and infant mortality has been very high due to low food quality.

David enjoys teaching others how to take care of their plants in order to multiply the fruits and vegetables they bear. Just as the seed that fell into good soil in the Bible grew a hundredfold, David is using his abilities to help those with little resources plant their seeds in a way that their blessings may be multiplied. David, 24 years old, will soon finish his degree in agronomy engineering, and his story--one of a young man willing to be a pencil in the hands of God--is just beginning.

by Michelle Negron Bueno

We encourage U.S. churches who share our mission of alleviating spiritual and physical poverty through the work of local churches to explore, invest, experience, and engage in what God is doing in El Salvador. Since 1993 ENLACE has been equipping church and community leaders to identify, design, and manage sustainable poverty-alleviating projects throughout the country. Over the years many  foreign and local churches and institutions that have identified with ENLACE’s vision have worked alongside rural communities in El Salvador to bring hope and transformation.

Olga Melani Medrano has lived in conditions of extreme poverty for years while raising her seven children, and the rainy season always came with much stress because their home was leaking and the walls falling apart. However, her conditions are improving now that she and her children have a secure roof over their heads. Olga is very grateful; she knows that her resources would never have been enough to build a new home on her own. The collaboration between friends in the community and the local church has greatly impacted her life.

On April 27 we received the sad news that Pastor David Wilkerson, prophet, evangelist and above all servant of God, was killed in a car accident and his wife, Gwen, left in a coma. All of us at ENLACE were profoundly moved as we reflected on the earthly departure of a Godly man and began praying in earnest for his wife. In the week that followed, Gwen began to recover quickly and preparations were made for Rev. Wilkerson’s funeral and memorial services.

Mercedes Portillo is a leader in his community who has been cultivating vegetables for years. When the Home Gardens Project began in Abelines, he learned techniques to yield better and healthier produce. The improvements to his garden have helped his large family to have a more nutritious diet, and have eased their financial burden with extra income from the sale of surplus vegetables.

The entire week before much of the world celebrates Easter, the people of El Salvador are celebrating the Semana Santa, or Holy Week, to remember Jesus’s suffering, death, and victorious resurrection. For Latin Americans, this vacation week encompasses some of our deepest and most extensive traditions, while providing us with a break from the normal rush of daily life and giving us time for ourselves and our families.

When the Home Gardens Project first began in El Espino, Dina Velasquez had no desire to cultivate her own garden. She was going through an emotional crisis and believed that any attempt to garden would be unsuccessful, but she reluctantly agreed to participate after much encouragement from her friends.  Now, Dina has a flourishing garden which has helped to ease her stress, and she enjoys serving as one of the project’s biggest advocates.

Azucena and her family are new to the area of La Loma, and she is excited to have the opportunity to grow tomatoes at her home.  She and her two children are now able to eat the vegetables, as well as sell the surplus to help with home expenses.  Next harvest, Azucena looks forward to expanding her garden by cultivating even more plants.

This year, ENLACE finds itself in an exciting period of growth. We are now ready to begin the journey toward our 2020 vision, starting with our transformational vision for 2015. Check out our Spring Newsletter to find out more about our recent celebrations and our plans for the future!  

Panamericana Highway that crosses in front of the Christian and Public schools and the New Jerusalem ChurchThe traffic accidents that occur on the highways in El Salvador cause an alarming number of injuries and deaths. In the past 10 years, five children near the New Jerusalem Church in Comecayo lost their lives while walking along the highway or trying to cross the road. The tragedy of these losses moved the church and the community to consider it a high priority to construct a pedestrian bridge across the busy road to protect the lives of more than 10,000 people that must walk through this area daily.

Residents of Las Delicias have lived for generations without running water in their homes, but Catalina encourages her neighbors that clean water is finally on the way. No longer able to walk to the river, Catalina washes her clothes and baths with contaminated water that she buys from a truck. If the water runs out, there is none to drink. The completion of Project Milagro will mean that she will not go thirsty due to lack of clean water.

Juan Antonio is a new father and a resident of La Loma. He is excited to be able to sell tomatoes from his garden in order to provide for his new son. As a leader, he is happy that the home garden participants are creating a positive example for the community. 

God’s love is contagious, and in the region of Abelines, it’s spreading like wild fire! We are often asked how pastors in El Salvador hear about ENLACE, what promotional materials we use, or how we advertise our services. The answer is that replication is inherent in our work because the churches that serve their communities have a passion for service; and change is contagious.

At ENLACE, we define community transformation as a dynamic and continual process that is rooted in restored relationships and sacrificial service. This February relationships were restored and hundreds of people were served through the combined efforts of two Salvadoran churches and the Meadowbrook Community Church from Champaign, IL. They worked together to repair roads and attend to patients at makeshift health clinics organized by the partnering churches in Las Delicias and Santa Maria.