A group from Faith Christian Fellowship (FCF) in Clarksburg, West Virginia arrived for the third year in a row to work alongside the Good Samaritan Church in Las Delicias. This year the group was able to do more than make friends while sharing manual labor efforts with church and community members. Pastor John Eklund, outreach minister of FCF, conducted a training seminar for over thirty pastors and leaders in the area on starting and implementing a Celebration Recovery (Christ-centered addiction recovery) program in the area. It turns out that a local pastor has started the program in San Salvador and will be helping the churches in the Las Delicias area walk through the process. In addition, Charlotte Snead, a M.O.P.S. (Mothers of Pre-schoolers) coordinator, spent time with the women's ministry of the Good Samaritan Church having a wonderful time of encouragement and sharing.
The church and community leaders of the community of Las Delicias invited (or maybe "challenged" would be a better word) the ENLACE staff to a pupusa* eating contest on May 26. It was an amazing time for all the ENLACE staff to celebrate the amazing progress of the water project and then eat until stuffed. We estimate that more than 900 pupusas were eaten that Saturday afternoon. An employee of ENLACE's sister org CREDATEC, Israel Melendez, ate 17 pupusas winning the event. While Evelyn Rosales (also from ENLACE) ate 16 coming in first for the female category. Her 9 yr old daughter, Rebecca ate 9 pupusas. Click here to see a photo gallery of the event.
May 2-4 ENLACE hosted a three-day workshop with all employees. The workshop, entitled " The Church in Mission: Transforming Your Community," included a focus on the Biblical basis of the mission of the church, the church's part in God's plan for reaching the world and the details of ENLACE's projects and programs. These days were invlauable for the ENLACE staff to grow together, dream and plan for what lies ahead in the upcoming years.
The churches and community of Abelines celebrated the completion of the expansion of their clinic facilities recently. Representatives from five different churches as well as the mayor's office and local police force were present to give their blessings to a building which is almost five times as big as the original one room clinic. The church and community take much pride in these facilities as it is an initiative which they have all been behind over the past five years. The new facilities include an expanded space for seeing patients on a regular basis, two lodging rooms for visiting medical teams or others to stay, as well as a large common area for community meetings and health committee training seminars.
The mission of the church is to be a restored body that transforms its community. The church is a group of people called and made new by the grace of God through Jesus Christ to love and serve one another and the world (Ephesians 2:8-10). This mission has two equally important and integrated elements: (1) the church should be a body of vibrant, authentic people relating to one anther in love, compassion and justice (Ephesians 4, Ephesians 3:4, 1 Cor. 12, Ro. 12:5). And (2) the church should serve its neighbors to create long-lasting change in the relationships, institutions and overall conditions of their communities, especially focusing upon those of greatest need (Mark 12:31-33, Luke 10:27, Matt 22:39;Ro 13:9, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8).
Over the years, I have heard Ron Bueno, ENLACE’s Executive Director, explain to our staff, local church partners and donors why he believes that the church is the answer to poverty in El Salvador. I asked him recently to write down his answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding ENLACE’s commitment to equip local churches to transform their communities. I've asked Ron to address the following questions:
Tina Anderson is director of communications for River West Church in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Tina is praying about returning to El Salvador to work with ENLACE 's communication's department.
A group from ACTHOW (A Call To Help Orphans and Widows) visited the community of Abelines this March. At the newly expanded medical clinic, the team saw over 350 patients with three general doctors and one eye doctor. The event was planned and organized in coordination with the local health committee. ENLACE has been working with the health committee to develop health initiatives in the area over the last seven years. Other initiatives in the area include a potable water system, pedestrian bridges, sanitation facilities, improved stoves and road repair.
In February, a group from The Crossing Church in Costa Mesa, California made their 5th visit to the community of Las Delicias, continuing its partnership with The Good Samaritan Church that started over four years ago. The primary project has been to help fund and work alongside the community in building a new water system. This year, the group had the privilege of working on a third main water tank that will have the capacity to benefit over 15,000 people. During the going away service, more than 80 people attended. Less than half of this turnout were church members. Pastors of other local church partners also attended along with water board and community association members. And to the community's great delight, a group of 7 lay leaders from the local catholic church came to share in the fun and help cook pupusas (a typical Salvadoran food).
A group from Faith Chapel Church in San Diego, California visited El Salvador in late February. The group partnered with the Jerusalem church and community leaders in the construction of two homes. Last year, the group's visit marked the beginning of the housing project in the San Jose El Naranjo area. The group was very happy to learn that the church and community collaborated with ENLACE to build a total of 10 houses in 2006. They were even more thrilled to learn that local mayor's office has now stepped up and will be offering 22 homes for the neediest families in the area in addition to the church and community's 10 homes planned for 2007. It is amazing to see how a little initiative can cause a ripple of collaboration and hard work.
ENLACE's church and community program walks alongside churches as they begin to understand who they are as body and begin to reach out to their communities. The training helps form a biblical basis for why the church should be one of God's chief agents of transformation in the world and is one of the first and continuous aspects of ENLACE's work within any given community. Pastor Miguel Duran of the Good Samaritan Church in Las Delicias is no stranger to the concept of sacrificially serving his community; He has built his entire minstry around it. ENLACE has supported pastor Miguel and his core leadership team for over ten years. Recently, however, the leadership of his church has asked for training for the entire church. We hope to serve them in this manner in the coming months.
The community of El Cambio in El Tinteral celebarated the completion of a new access road. This small settlement community has seen amazing progress since it was founded after the 2001 earthquakes. Families in the El Tinteral area took refuge in what would be called El Cambio ("The Change") after a small plot of mountainous terrain was donated to put up temporary shelters. El Cambio's Ebenezer Church was established with the vision of collaborating with its community in order to bring positive change to the area. ENLACE has partnered with this church, community leaders, the mayor's office and other organizations over the last 6 years to bring sturdy homes, sanitation facilities, potable water, improved cooking methods, a local library and community center. All of these initiatives have truly brought "a change" to El Cambio.
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES INTERVIEW IN ABELINES- Blanca and Elena, original members of the Abelines health committee, tell what they have learned over the years and how it has affected the health of their community.
On Thursday, January 18 at 2:45pm I received a telephone call that I will never forget. Peter DeSoto a long-time friend and ENLACE co-worker had been shot in the neck. Peter and four ENLACE staff members were assaulted while coming home from a field visit with a long-time church partner in Abelines.
