Fritz with the Kirkpatrick family, Pastor Marco from San Jose El Naranjo and Arturo Perez, ENLACE church coach.

Recently, some good friends of Fritz McGough, ENLACE's Finance Director, came for their first visit to the country. Lisa wrote some amazing
journal entries and we would like to share them with you:

What we knew (or thought we knew) : we traveled to El Salvador to spend much needed time with a dear friend, his amazing wife and their three children; we expected to have adventures and see many things we’d never seen before, knowing that the brave founders of ENLACE would take us into remote areas of the country; we figured we’d feel ashamed by our privilege and comfortable lives. We hoped we could somehow be helpful.

What we learned (and are still processing): The true Angel Servants, the Pastors in the many impoverished villages showed us what it really means to serve others; Central America is frantic for access to clean water; most of all, sustaining relationships are what really make a difference long-term.

We expected to see poverty and despair. We were overwhelmed by the smiles and hope and love we received from people who have nothing. We are called to engage the lives of God’s children in a new and critical way, guided by the Christian hearts of ENLACE.

Click here to read more and see photos from the trip…

CLICK HERE TO SEE A COPY OF OUR 2006 / 2007 ANNUAL REPORT

UW Students at the 2008 Pi Mile RunIt’s a new kind of math they are teaching at the University of Wisconsin! Apparently if you add an enthusiastic engineering student to a 5K run and promise people pie at the end of that race the aggregate sum is $4000 donated to ENLACE’s water project in Las Delicias. That’s math we can get behind!

On April 5^th, 255 students hit the streets of Madison, Wisconsin in the 2^nd annual Pi Mile Run to help raise money and awareness for the ENLACE water project in Las Delicias. Yep, that means a few hundred folks ran to help raise funds for ENLACE and then were promptly thanked at the finish line with a slice of delicious pie. Truly a win-win situation.

Ted Durkee, a mechanical engineering student at UW, volunteered with ENLACE two years ago and helped in the communities of El Tineral and San Martin. The relationships that Ted developed in Las Delicias inspired him to create the Pi Mile Run last year. After organizing a second run Ted explained, “The only organization I considered supporting was ENLACE. Having met and worked with people in the Las Delicias community, it was as easy to be encouraged to raise funds for the water project as helping out a neighbor or good friend."

Creating friendships and forging relationships is a time-consuming process but is the heart and soul of ENLACE. True and lasting change only comes as people listen to God and become connected to their neighbors. It is a great honor to see the impact that such a vision can have locally as well as internationally. As Ted noted in an interview after the event, "ENLACE...provides so many opportunities for people to connect with those in need. You're not just writing a check for some obscure project in another country, you're helping friends.”

The communities of San Martin that will be impacted by this donation express their gratitude to Ted and those at UW. They are also incredibly encouraged by the support of so many friends a world away. That is a gift that will multiply well beyond this year’s run.

To read more about the race, visit the UW website:

See more about Las Delicias and the water project.

 Support the water project.

And it was a very good hole, over 10 feet deep!

When the First Assembly Fort Wayne team of young adults were planning their trip to San Jose El Naranjo, a small hamlet north of San Salvador , the ir goals were simple. Team leader Laurie Atz shared, “We wanted to be open to whatever God wanted to do ; t o build relationships with people and show God ’ s love.” And indeed the team showed up in El Salvador ready to help however they could. They were even able to keep smiles on their faces when the ENLACE staff announced that they would be helping dig the hole for a pit latrine. (We know it doesn’t sound great, but pit latrines do a lot to increase overall sanitation and health in a community. Statistically, along with clean water and preventive education, pit latrines can help reduce the infant mortality rate by 50%.)

The Fort Wayne team accepted the project and attacked the hard, sunburnt earth with spirit, energy and even joy. Throughout the week the team was able to maintain an amazing attitude . T hey even had energy afterward to play with local kids and ended the week with a special presentation for the kids about God’s love. Their presentation included a hip hop dance routine, about a zillion balloon animals and two piñatas. Team member, Bethany Till, shared where her joy came from, “God is so big and awesome and everything He leads us to do He walks with us and gives us strength and courage to do—whether it ' s digging a hole, sharing a word or singing a song. He is right beside us, encouraging us and stretching us and teaching us to use the gifts He has given us!”

At ENLACE, we are always touched by how much God can do when people show up with truly humble hearts fil l ed with God’s love. In everything this team did they glowed with the joy of Christ. We know their time blessed and encouraged the people of San Jose El Naranjo—and that hole will be a daily reminder of a group of happy gringos that came and dug in Jesus’ name.

To view a video about other ongoing projects in the same community, see this video on a vocational training workshop in San Jose El Naranjo.

To learn more about how your church can get involved in community transformation in El Salvador, click on missions or contact Peter DeSoto at pdesoto@enlaceonline.org or 1 (888) 675-2314.

In the February heat, over 100 men and women gathered under a large tree in what shade they could find, fanning their faces as they listened to words from local Pastor, Geovanni Rivas. This was the first church and community meeting in San Antonio, a hamlet located in the municipality of San Jose El Naranjo (SJEN). ENLACE has been working in this area for over 10 years. The hamlet is made up of hard-working families that live on less than $1500 per year, face water contamination issues and have limited access to good housing, food and basic healthcare. The leaders at San Antonio Church asked the community to help brainstorm and identify opportunities that most needed attention. The community really responded to the invitation! As is often the case, access to water and “revamping the current water system” was the primary concern but latrine construction, housing and medical clinic visits were all also present on the wish list as together the church and community dreamed of possibilities.

This first terrific response to a church-called community meeting—in which over half of the families in the community were represented—encourages us to anticipate great things to come. Although San Antonio is a new partner, this meeting came as a fruit of a relationship between Pastor Marcos Melara of the Jersalem church located in SJEN proper and San Antonio 's pastor, Geovanni Rivas. After Pastor Geovanni’s church saw what was happening through Marcos’ church—health improvements, housing iniatives, increased community unity, etc.—he and his leadership desired that same work of the Spirit in their community. When the opportunity came, Pastor Geovanni and his church leaders jumped at the chance to begin working with ENLACE within their own hamlet.

ENLACE believes that the excellent turn-out of this first church and community meeting marks an exciting moment for the community of San Antonio and indicates that the local church has already done a lot of groundwork. Please join us in praying for the communities in San Jose El Naranjo, the San Antonio Church, Pastor Rivas and the ENLACE staff working in the community. We are excited to see what God will do in and through them in the years to come.