Marla’s Minute: A Home Run For Lashauna

Marla’s Minute: A Home Run For Lashauna

Last week, ACE had our annual Men’s & Women’s Conference in St Mary. However, unlike the past 16 years of holding the conference at Galina Breeze Hotel, we moved the conference to an outside event space, Buccaneers Jerk & Juice Centre.

When some very insightful men from Trinity on the Hill started the Men’s & Women’s Conference back in 2007, only a few people attended. Fast forward to last year, we had over 150 people attend our short 3-night event filled with worship music, a great message, and our desire to spread God’s Word to everyone.

As seasons change, so does ACE. We realized that we wanted to not only reach our friends and neighbors around the hotel, but also reach the many homes and families that surrounded Green Life Farm where Buccaneers Jerk & Juice is held. By making the move, ACE created an open-air venue just like our weekend movie night on the lawn that Buccaneers holds every Saturday and Sunday evening.

The same loyal team of adults from Trinity on the Hill in the States showed up ready to serve no matter what. Game chairs were set up, we all wore our favorite sports shirts, made popcorn, and just enjoyed each other’s company. Jeff Chandler and Annaleise Stennet led the music while everyone else joined along.

This year’s theme was all about setting a baseline, meaning everyone has a baseline they follow throughout life. Pastor Omar from Church on the Rock challenged everyone spiritually by connecting the fact that every sports game has rules and guidelines players must follow to win with the fact that people who want to know what God’s Truth is must follow a set of guidelines in order to start their spiritual journey with Christ.

One of our favorite testimonies from the conference surrounds one of ACE’s sponsor students, Lashauna. For 21 years now, Lashauna has been unable to go anywhere but her bed, house, and hospital. Although she was born perfectly healthy, Lashauna endured a medical mistake as an infant that left her crippled. 

Lashauna’s sponsors recently purchased her a brand new wheelchair that reclines and ensures she is strapped in safely. Friends of ACE were able to go to Lashauna’s home and help get her ready to attend the conference in her new wheelchair. And what can we say? She loved it! 

What’s more, her wheelchair has proven to be a huge blessing in several areas of her life. Now, Lashauna’s mother, Latoya, can take her to work a few days a week and also let her more easily be a part of what ACE is doing around the community.

Now that’s a home run!

 

Answering The Holy Spirit’s Call

Answering The Holy Spirit’s Call

In 2009, my wife and I took our first trip to Jamaica to serve with ACE. I recall our uncertainty on the long roller coaster ride from Montego Bay to Galina Breeze, survived only by the assistance of Dramamine. The main highway looks a lot better now than it did back then! We didn’t know what to expect or if we were even qualified to be there. We sat down by ourselves at a table in the corner – exhausted and questioning our sanity. A wide-eyed, recently married couple in our mid-twenties, we must have looked quite pitiful at our table surrounded by empty chairs.

A lady we did not know joined us. She sat down, introduced herself and we found ourselves having dinner with the founder of ACE. Through the course of our meal, we heard her origin story of how she found herself in Jamaica to begin with and how ACE had come to be. For some reason that I still don’t understand, at the end of our conversation I told her, “Well, we are in!”

Anyone who has served with ACE knows that there is a presence of the Holy Spirit there that is both palpable and beyond comprehension. Even though I didn’t entirely understand what I was saying in that moment, the Holy Spirit was pulling us in and making it clear that we were a part of this now. It took one meal and less than an hour.

Fast-forward to 2024 and we had the privilege of serving with ACE on a combined medical and dental team from February 3-10. The team consisted of doctors, nurses, dentists, hygienists, and servants from multiple states and even New Zealand.

Aches and pains, high blood pressure, diabetes, and dental abscesses were the primary diagnoses for the week and a multitude of patients were served with both medical but also spiritual care. In turn, the team was cared for with gratitude and the occasional gift of fruit from our patients. I always leave for home after a week in Jamaica feeling as though I had received much more than I could give.

However, the theme for the week was that of Hope, both present and future. I saw ACE staff that had grown and become leaders. I saw multiple generations of families serving together, including a dentist and her daughter, a physician and his family, a nurse with her son and a pastor from a church looking to establish a relationship with ACE for the first time.

I thought of Psalm 127: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” ACE family, your labor has not been in vain. The Lord has built this house! He brought up the founding generation of ACE, and he is bringing up the next generation to carry the mission forward. If you find yourself alone at the dinner table surrounded by empty chairs and wondering where you fit in, this is your invitation. God wants you in as well!

Josh & Jess Klepinger

Marla’s Minute: Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

Marla’s Minute: Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

It’s never easy to lose a foundational pillar in any organization, but since Jesus loves Mr. Myers more than we do, He decided to bring him home for company last month. Mr. Myers was 89 years old, still riding a motorcycle to work, and kept an incredible work ethic going for ACE working at our farm. On January 20, we honored him by being a big part of his funeral, which was held at his home church in Port Maria. We will miss Mr. Myers, his singing, his encouragement, and the way he served alongside many medical teams so well.  

However, in true ACE style, God had two wonderful employees waiting to tend the gardens that Mr. Myers did such a wonderful job preparing. Stephanie and Orain picked up the important tasks of planting, weeding, and reaping of food Green Life Farms produces for Galina Breeze and Buccaneers. While no one will be able to fill the shoes of Mr. Myers, we are certain he is smiling as his legacy continues to be filled with young people from his community.

We love you, Mr. Myers! Keep the lights on for us! In honor of the 19 years he worked at ACE and became a part of our family, we’ve put together a video of just a few of the countless memories we have with him.

A Child Sponsorship Heart Warmer

A Child Sponsorship Heart Warmer

As most of you are aware, ACE’s Child Sponsorship program strives to not only give every child a step up in their education, but also help grow them into young adults who contribute to their community and society in Jamaica. This is the case with 22-year-old Anthony Hucey, who joined our child sponsorship in 2011. 

After ACE learned that he had a learning disability, we helped him get accepted into Edgehill School of Special Education. And once he graduated high school, he received ACE’s Apprenticeship Sponsorship, where he was able to get a job on the Green Life Farm (GLF).

Anthony has been working with the GLF team for over a year now and is loved by all. In fact, he has actually become one of the best GLF employees according to his supervisor. That’s because he is always stepping up to learn a new way to serve on the farm, and showing up early to work every day and every week.  

We recently learned that there was one thing Anthony has always wanted more than anything…can you guess?

A TV!! ACE provides every employee with a savings plan where they can put a certain amount away each month for an emergency, or even a TV! Anthony was so happy to know that he had enough money to buy the TV of his choice.

He absolutely loves his TV. He doesn’t have internet or cable, but he can still get local channels and borrow others’ internet for limited use. In addition to the new TV, Anthony is also excited to be able to have his own bed, thanks to his two sponsors coming together and chipping in to gift him one for Christmas. 

Anthony is one of many special needs adults who are truly wonderful men and women who enjoy entering into new stages of life by working and earning their living. And our team at ACE loves getting to see these accomplishments and celebrate their victories with them!

4 Ways to Give Hope on Giving Tuesday

4 Ways to Give Hope on Giving Tuesday

As we enter the “Giving Season” and Giving Tuesday draws near, we can’t help but think about how thankful we are to have a community of supporters that don’t simply give during a season of the year, but they give of their time, talents, and treasures throughout the year, every year. 

Thank you for believing in the mission and vision of ACE and helping us see lives changed in St. Mary, Jamaica. 

As always, we have big dreams and plans for 2024 to continue living out our Faith through our four main spheres of influence: education, wellness, micro-enterprise, and spiritual development.

But we can’t do it without you. Will you continue to partner with us in both prayer and financial support as we prepare to complete the following 4 projects that are currently under way at ACE?

1. Our Second Children’s Village Home – Thanks to a generous donor, we’ve met the financial needs to complete construction on the second Children’s Home. However, we still need about $3,000 to build kitchen cabinets and bunk beds in each unit of the duplex. 

2. Digging a Well on the Farm – Thanks to a recent tropical storm, we received an abundance of rain! Yet we still have a huge shortage of clean drinking water, and our surrounding communities are not receiving water at all. We need about $25,000 to dig a well for better access to clean water.

3. Installing our Greenhouse & 150 Aeroponic Towers – We are in the beginning stages of installing our greenhouse! To save room and maximize how much food we can grow for our community, we also need about 150 aeroponic towers. We are hoping to raise $60,000 to complete the rest of this project.

4. Paying Off the Green Life Property – The mortgage on the Green Life Llanrumney property is due September 2024. Through our Legacy Campaign, we have already raised about half of the funds, but there’s still about $350,000 left to pay off the banknote so we can keep the farm. This is a huge need for us, as the property has already helped us create several new micro enterprises and dozens of new jobs for the community. 

As you prayerfully consider how you and your family might support ACE here at Giving Tuesday and as we near year-end, please read more about our Legacy Campaign here. You can also make a donation through that link, or by contacting the ACE Stateside Office at 877.500.5768 or office@acexperience.org. 

Together, we can continue to create lasting change in a poverty culture by empowering people to reach their full potential and become self-sustaining.   

*ACE is a 501c3 non-profit organization and all donations are 100% tax deductible. Annual giving statements are mailed out at the end of the year.