American-Caribbean Experience | American-Caribbean Experience

God’s Expectations Vs. Mine

by American-Caribbean Experience | May 24, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship

Long-time ACE volunteer Tina Gerke shared the following story with our team after her recent trip to Jamaica.

It’s been almost 23 years since I first stepped foot in Jamaica. I would have never believed all the changes and lessons that I was to learn along the way! Being so young in leadership, I thought I knew a whole lot. My passion did not match my wisdom though, and God was so patient in molding and pruning me.

Not often do I stop and take a good long look back. But my last two weeks at ACE have given me that exact opportunity. A look back at hopes and dreams, some that have been realized and some that were shattered, walking a road that I could not even see when I first started saying yes to Jesus!

What I didn’t realize then was that God had plans for me that involved crossed paths with Allen, Marla, and the whole ACE family. People that became family and mentors long before I even knew I needed them. I have watched for decades as they have, without fail, remained steadfast and obedient. The lessons I have learned watching them, learning from them, and seeing them walk out their faith is reflected through our ministry and how God has molded me to be.

God doesn’t always do what we want. I am hard headed and always had to learn the hard way. I wanted my way and even thought that my way was surely right and better.

I had a dream of speaking and writing a book of devotions one day. I used to dream of having audiences sitting at the edge of their seats listening with anticipation of jumping up in surrender and it was all because of what I said! Dreaming of people loving me and my ministry. And in the ugliness of my pride, God started pruning. I found myself softening and listening more than talking. And my passionate speeches actually turned into passionate prayers. I have been walking a road of getting older with not as much energy or capacity to keep up with my 20-year-old Tina expectations.

BUT what I have fallen in love with is the fact that my expectations of myself aren’t even close to what God actually wants to use me for. Once I started truly surrendering, I realized that He has been developing me into someone I wouldn’t have even recognized two decades ago! Someone who now is blessed beyond words to pray over people. I have been beaten up enough in life to know that it isn’t Tina’s words, or Tina’s actions that will ever save anyone. Tina can’t defeat an enemy on her own, one that won’t ever stop warring against her God. BUT GOD CAN! And not only can He but HE WILL!

I sat on the rock this past month reflecting on all of the places God has allowed me to go and see and the people He has brought in and out of my life. How so many of our stories intersect right there on that tiny island in one of the poorest areas we will ever visit. Surrounded by more joy and love than most will ever feel.

ACE has given me such a gift in allowing me to glean from every area of their ministry. To not only become lifelong friends with so many, but family!

Just this past trip, I got to witness a young man become overcome with the Spirit moving that after praying over D’Vaun, he sprinted to the rock and fell on his knees before the Lord.

I have seen kids cry out to Jesus to heal, break chains, and use them! I have kids and adults come face to face with sin and fall on their knees before Jesus. So much healing, so much life and so much love!

People used to ask me why I keep going back to the same place, and my response will never change. You build relationships with people and show them along the way in addition to telling them about Jesus. And that changes everything.

Thank you, ACE! Thank you, Allen and Marla, for being the obedient servants that have prayed over a community, land, island, and people for decades! Because of your obedience, you have been able to use your place for more than Jamaican ministry, but also for a host of Americans whose lives will eternally be different! Mine at the top of the list.

Tina Gerke

two women smiling and enjoying the dining room at Galina Breeze

Jamaican children celebrating Christmas with a mission team

RETURN TO NEWSLETTER

Protecting Donor Gifts Amid USPS Issues

by American-Caribbean Experience | Apr 29, 2024 | Community

It is always ACE’s top priority to protect the gifts we receive from our donors. That’s why we want to make you aware of recent issues that we’ve experienced with the Atlanta USPS and offer alternatives to continue supporting ACE in timely and secure ways.

In recent months, we have seen two different issues with the Atlanta postal service. Donor checks are being returned to donors and never making it to our office, or ACE is receiving donor checks several months after they were sent in the mail.

For more information on the issues the Atlanta USPS is experiencing, you can read an article from 11Alive News here, or another article from American Thinker here.

In an effort to make sure that none of your gifts are ever lost in the system, we encourage you to send your gifts electronically if possible.

Here are your options for sending electronic donations:

Set up a recurring donation using a credit card via PayPal on our website here.
Send donations via Zelle, directed to accounting@acexperience.org.
Contact your bank directly to have them wire money directly to our account at Truist.

If you choose to wire money through your bank, you will need to provide them with the following information:

American Caribbean Experience

7507 Roswell Road #101

Sandy Springs, GA 30350

You will also need our routing number and account number, which we are happy to provide you via email at office@acexperience.org.

If you prefer to send a check, please use FedEx Ground or UPS.

If you have any questions or need further information, please email office@acexperience.org. We apologize for any inconvenience these issues have caused, and we appreciate your patience and continued support of our ministry.

RETURN TO NEWSLETTER

Marla’s Minute: Still Seeing God At Work 36 Years Later

by American-Caribbean Experience | Apr 29, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community

I’m Old….

That’s what I was thinking inside my head as I was standing beside a group of teenagers and college students this spring. We began the famous bucket brigade slinging gravel onto ACE’s greenhouse floor. The fact that ACE has aged about 36 years since the beginning shouldn’t impact me at all physically…or am I just off in my addition?

Either way, it’s still happening…those extra minutes of staying in bed before starting the day with pops and cracking in the joints. Getting to the work site only to see that our Jamaican ACE staff already got the volunteers briefed, lined up, and ready to go.

Watching the ACE staff take the lead and owning what used to be just a job is exciting and a promise coming true for me personally. More and more, I find I have time to read my emails, have conversations with the friends of ACE who come through our doors, and well, just savor the moments of a successful ministry that has grown in a direction no one could have foreseen.

Yes, I’m older; and perhaps to youth, I’m old. But most of all, I’m so proud of our national and U.S. staff that have played a vital part of ACE. The succession that ACE has planned for years is taking place, and I get to be a part of seeing God at work. It’s an answer to prayer.

My advice to you: don’t let time catch you waking up and wondering where all the time went. Rather, be intentional with your relationships, your goals, and your passions. Then, smile as God gives you the time to grow old alongside the new team that takes up the mantle and moves up front.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:8-9

Those of you coming to serve with us in Jamaica this summer, get ready! Jamaicans are running ACE like never before. And I’m so excited for you to see what a great and exciting time it is for ACE, all thanks to the Lord.

RETURN TO NEWSLETTER

The Lord’s Garden

by American-Caribbean Experience | Apr 29, 2024 | Book A Trip, Discipleship

Former ACE iQuest intern Audrey Renner recently came back down to St. Mary, Jamaica, with her husband and father. After her trip, she headed back to the States and shared the following letter with our team.

I’ve always loved springtime in Ohio. Suddenly, after months of the cold, gray, desolation that is winter in the Midwest, the natural world springs back to life. Each spring, when I see the flowers springing up out of the cold ground, I can’t help but to remember the final verse of Isaiah 61:

“The Sovereign Lord will show His justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise Him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, with plants springing up everywhere.” – Isaiah 61:11 NLT

My husband Ricky and I just recently visited ACE after being away for 6 years. The last time we visited was on a college service trip in March of 2018. I had given my life to Christ the summer prior, during my internship with ACE, and Ricky did the same on this very trip in 2018. If our faith was a plant in the Lord’s garden, it would have looked like a delicate baby sprout the last time we were in Jamaica.

Returning 6 years later, so many things had changed, both in our lives and at ACE. Our proverbial faith plant had grown, matured, and started producing fruit while we were away. Upon returning, we saw how God had used the past 6 years to grow the “gardens” at ACE, too. Projects that were once seeds waiting to be planted, are now a reality. I remember Marla talking about her dream for the Children’s Village and the Peace House and about buying the neighboring property to the campus (now Green Life Farms). God reminded me of His faithfulness as we got to see the smiling faces of Lotoya’s family at their new home in the Children’s Village, as we lifted His praises with neighbors at the Peace House fellowship night, and even as we sifted through countless suitcases of thrift donations at the ACE office on the new property.

Here’s the thing about spring flowers. You never know when or where they will decide to pop up. Only the Lord knows what is happening beneath the surface of the soil. Our trip to ACE reminded me of this.

Since I gave my life to Christ, I have been praying that both my parents would grow in relationship with Him. After years of seemingly no progress, I grew tired and weary waiting for a sign this prayer would come true.

When Ricky and I felt the Lord calling us back to Jamaica in 2024, we also felt His call to invite our families to join us. Incredibly, my dad immediately jumped on the invitation. This was it, finally! I could see the “soil” start bumping up, preparing for his little faith plant to break the surface.

While my dad did not give his life to Christ on this trip, his presence on our trip gives me a steadfast confidence that the Lord is moving in his heart. He got to experience the Lord’s presence in the very place that both Ricky and I had poured our hearts out to Him years ago, desperately searching for answers as we stumbled through our own spiritual journeys.

Don’t give up, dear reader, on the seeds that you have planted. Even if you can’t see them, know that they are growing under the surface of the soil. Remember the Lord’s promise in Isaiah 61. You’ll never know when or where, but just as the plants come back every spring, He will bring your people, your faith, your peace, and your joy back to life, too. Keep planting, keep watering, and don’t give up!

RETURN TO NEWSLETTER

Marla’s Minute: Reaping A Harvest

by American-Caribbean Experience | Mar 25, 2024 | Book A Trip, Discipleship

The manual for life, The Bible, continually says that sooner or later, whatever choices we make in our lives, we will see the results of these choices come to light in our lives or the lives of others.

“Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:8-9

Let’s look at an example of what has been going on in Jamaica for the past few years, which happened again this month through an I-Quest intern alumni, Gentry. Many years ago, ACE had a season with Gentry in Jamaica where we got to share with her all the things God was removing and adding to her “spiritual toolbox” for life.

Through our relationship, Gentry introduced us to the rest of her family, and we quickly learned she doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Yes, Gentry, like her sisters, comes from good stock. And after all these years, she came back to ACE to serve with her father and older sister. Earlier this month, David, her father who is a carpenter, helped Allen build a larger and better tool closet for all the tools that have often been easily misplaced over the years.

What most I-Quest interns don’t realize is the gift they give to us personally. That gift is the opportunity to catch up with their fast-paced life and see how they have chased after God with all that they do. And Gentry is just one example. Audrey, another intern who is now married, also brought her father down to ACE recently to volunteer in helping lead our spring break teams. Who knows, we might just get another family involved the way Gentry did.

We want to give a huge and sincere thank you to Gentry and her family for the many years they have given their treasures and time to ACE. And even beyond just Gentry’s family, we are reaping so many years of faithful friends and family at ACE in Jamaica. Thank you for your continued love and support!