Last week I had the incredible opportunity to travel to El Salvador with some leaders from Gateway to explore some potential partnerships there. We spent the week with Ron Bueno who is the executive director and founder of ENLACE.
ENLACE is a truly remarkable organization. Since 1993, ENLACE has been strategically equipping churches in El Salvador to alleviate poverty by becoming servant-leaders in their communities. Churches are given the tools they need to identify, design and manage sustainable initiatives in their communities - including clean water systems, micro-loans, community gardens, health clinics, improved roads and sanitization.
ENLACE believes that the local church is the key to solving poverty in El Salvador - but it wasn’t always that way. Ron group up as a missionary-kid in El Salvador and when he returned to the country in 1993 he had little interest in working with the church. At first, ENLACE focused all of their training and coaching on community leaders. But very early on they realized that the church would be the best agent of change for their community. Ron writes...
“In the first few years, we worked hard to include the community in the design and management of projects so that they would have ownership and participation; however, we realized that no matter how well we helped the community design their projects to be just and efficient we could not change people’s relationships to each other. For example, people would work together to build a water system they all needed, but as soon as there was a problem with someone’s spigot, they would not necessarily work together to help that person resolve their problem.
The project could not restore relationships, which is the first and most important step in community transformation; only an ongoing, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ can truly change someone’s heart to think of others before themselves.
Community leaders and associations with whom we first worked, ultimately had their own interests in mind and so were influenced by quick solutions or political forces. In contrast, the church’s leadership, seen as body and not as individuals, was a continuous and steady presence in the community which did not act, at least when done well, upon political or personal interest. Rather, the church body committed to a long-term process because it believed in a biblical mandate that led them to commit to their communities.”
Ron came to see that the local church - no matter what it’s size or budget - is a continuous reservoir of resources.
“ENLACE has worked primarily with churches of less than 100 members located in impoverished, rural areas of El Salvador. Many of the church leaders believed they did not have the financial or human resources to become effective agents of change in their community. As soon as they looked at their church more closely and began to partner with their community, they discovered a wealth of skills and resources within their congregations. Churches already had, or could develop quickly, great fundraising skills and could pool resources together effectively. They also had a deep commitment to stewardship and compassion which made them an endless reservoir of resources to transform their communities.”
During our time there we met Pastor Miguel - who has worked for over 20 years to get clean water to the thousands living in his community.
In 2005, they successfully drilled three wells hitting enough water for the next 30 to 50 years. Today the work continues to get the water from its source to the people who need it.
We met Pastor Santiago who worked for over three years with his community to construct a road suitable for vehicles and sanitation.
ENLACE’s micro-finance office down the street from Santiago’s church has helped to provide over 300 micro-loans for small business.
We met Pastor Walter who is working to provide revenue streams and improve nutrition through community gardens.
Finally, we met Pastor Santos, whose church has helped build 25 homes, repair and rebuild roads, planted dozens of community and home-based gardens and provided programs and aid for the mentally handicapped of their community.
All of these churches have 150 members or less and the majority of the congregation lives on less than $5/ day. Needless to say, as an American pastor this is incredibly inspiring, humbling and convicting all at the same time. How is our church doing at restoring relationships within our community? Have we really embraced the biblical mandate to commit to our neighborhood? Are we directing the wealth of skills and resources within our congregation towards the deepest needs in our city?
ENLACE understands the integral relationship between the local church and the development of the community better than any organization I have ever seen. I am so excited about this partnership between Gateway and ENLACE and I know that this is going to have as much of an impact on our church as it does in El Salvador.
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“When a church, as a group of people who love and serve God, begin to lift up their eyes to see each other and their neighbors as God does, they become the salt and light to their community; they become the leaven with spiritual authority to become effective agents of change in their community. It is as a mysterious, amazing, dynamic process where the body is formed and strengthened as its serves effectively its community.” - Ron Bueno
