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.
ENLACE’s approach is an intuitive, fluid, and dynamic process. It is a process that is adapted to every church and community’s unique history, vision, resources and opportunities. The process is fluid and dynamic because each stage builds from and contributes to one another. It is a general framework more than a rigid methodology.
Many of you have been following the amazing development of the potable water project in Las Delicias. This summer, the church and community concluded a crucial step in the project with the completion of all of the infrastructure at the well site. Multiple groups came from the US to collaborate in the project and were of immense encouragement to the Church and community. Take a minute to view some of the photo galleries from a few of the teams.
Through my experience over the years of working with churches in El Salvador, I have identified five general reasons why churches do not engage in or drop out of community transformation which are as follows:
We are excited to announce that we have recently hired three new staff members for our church and community program and are now working in five new churches.
On June 16, a group of 19 people from the Union Church of San Salvador worked alongside the Church and Community members of El Cambio, El Tinteral. The leaders in El Cambio continue their risk prevention work by building drainage canals and retaining walls to prevent future landslides and erosion in the area. So far, more than 30 walls have been built, most of them using ruined tires to construct the walls. This method maximizes local resources by incorporating otherwise useless items to construct a sturdy retaining wall to prevent erosion (which is prevelant in their area). A large portion of El Cambio was a settlement community for displaced families after the 2001 earthquakes. Many of these families have gone from living in plastic shelters to now having sturdy block homes, potable water, sanitation facilities, improved access roads and improved stoves in many homes. Over the years, the church and community has increased its capacity to manage such projects. It is easily understandable that the community would now want to protect their community against future disaster.
