American-Caribbean Experience | American-Caribbean Experience

We Are Warriors

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

Tina Gerke has been volunteering and leading trips with ACE for 23 years now. After her latest trip in March, she shared the following story with our team.

My recent two weeks in Jamaica were another amazing time of watching God work. I never cease to be amazed at how He chooses the right people at the right time and weaves our stories together for a week or two.

I had the opportunity to work alongside the elite eight! A small group from Grand Valley only 2.5 hours from my house! We became fast friends through buckets, shovels, and rocks. It’s amazing how a good ole bucket line brings people together!

We talked about life, Jesus, and just about everything in between.

We had the chance to take the Edgehill students to the farm and had an awesome time watching their excitement as they got to hold and pet the baby pigs, and then walk up to the Great House! There, our staff set up several areas where everyone could just enjoy God‘s nature, realizing that we are all created by Him!

There was one particular moment that struck me, and made me stand in awe of what God wants to speak to all of us about. My friend, Kelley, was painting a warrior mask on a young man’s face and she looked at him and said, “God may ask you to do hard things but now you’re a warrior, and you’re gonna be able to say yes!”

He walked away saying, “I’m a warrior!”

Such a precious innocent kid spouting powerful words! It was amazing!

And the same week, I walked out of the lunch area and saw a white flower tucked into the arms of a cactus-like plant. A light bulb moment happened, and I realized that all of us have the same chance to declare that we are warriors, too! Our life may look a lot like the prickly pieces of a cactus, but with Jesus, we have the ultimate honor to bloom right there in the middle of it all! Declaring for everyone that HE is Lord and through Him all things are possible!

Tina Gerke

mission trip working on a construction project smiling

mission team group photo after construction work

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A Lent Devotional

by American-Caribbean Experience | Mar 11, 2024 | Book A Trip, Discipleship, Outreach

ACE volunteer Christina Kershaw came down on a mission trip with Bethel Baptist Church in 2018. As she was recently reflecting on her time in Jamaica, she wrote the following devotional. May her experience and reflection bless you during this Lent season!

READ: John 13:1-17

Story time: I had the amazing opportunity to spend a week on mission serving with ACE in Jamaica back in 2018. Prior to covid, the local infirmary was open for visitors to come hang out and minister to the residents. These residents consisted of mostly elderly men and women who had no family, were disabled, or just had no place in society outside of the infirmary walls… the “forgotten,” for lack of a better word.

We had the opportunity to sing songs, play games, paint their nails, and even apply lotion for them. I went ahead and grabbed a bottle of lotion and went around slathering everybody up! I thought, “This is nothing new. I’m in my comfort zone. I basically do this for a living working as a nurse at the hospital.” So great! Until…. one of the residents asked me to lotion up her feet. Her BARE FEET with my BARE HANDS. Up until this moment, everyone had been getting nice little hand and arm massages from me, but I didn’t dare go for anyone’s feet!

I was hesitant. I asked her to clarify it was in fact her feet she wanted me to lotion. She, of course, nodded yes. I started sweating (and it wasn’t because of the Jamaican sun). If anyone knows me personally, I can be quite the germaphobe, so the thought of me touching someone else’s feet (without gloves like in a hospital and ESPECIALLY someone I don’t know) freaked me out just a little bit.

I pumped a few squirts of Suave lotion, said my prayers, and went for it. She thanked me and I continued on to the next person.

WHY am I telling this story you ask?

Right before I decided to tend to her feet, I immediately thought of the story in John 13 where Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. Feet are one of the dirtiest parts of the body, especially the feet that walked the earth during ancient times. It was cultural for men to wear open sandals and sometimes even be barefoot. Imagine the dust, dirt, and grime that these disciples had hiding in between their toes! But, Jesus, the King of the cosmos, humbled Himself and washed their feet. Wow.

To put this into perspective, read how Jesus “knew his hour had come” and yet, He still ministered to His friends. He knew that He was about to be tortured in insufferable ways, die a horrible death, and ultimately be ripped apart from His Father in just the next few hours! Can you imagine all the agony He was feeling inside knowing these terrible events were happening, and happening soon?

And yet…

He served His disciples and washed their feet. Not only would He make one of the dirtiest parts of their bodies clean, but soon, completely and eternally cleanse them of the dirt in their hearts that separated them from the Father. Jesus, who rightfully deserves ALL glory and worship from us, humbled Himself to a man to serve us and die for us. How much more should we as His followers walk in His footsteps and love others just the same?.

The next time you are faced with an opportunity to minister to your neighbor, think of your Savior and don’t forget to WASH THEIR FEET!

PRAY: Thank You, Lord, for humbling Yourself and dying a criminal’s death so that I may live eternally with You. Thank you for washing away all my iniquities and making me a new creation. Help me to die to my flesh daily and serve those around me so that they may know and experience Your love for them. Amen.

John 13:14: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

Happy Easter!

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Marla’s Minute: A Home Run For Lashauna

by American-Caribbean Experience | Feb 26, 2024 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

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!

Lashauna headed to the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

Lashauna at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

the crowd at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

attendees at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

concessions at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

worship at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

attending the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

preaching at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

2024 Men's & Women's Conference attendees

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Answering The Holy Spirit’s Call

by American-Caribbean Experience | Feb 26, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Outreach

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

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Marla’s Minute: What a Summer!

by American-Caribbean Experience | Aug 28, 2023 | Community

We want to give a big thank you to all the wonderful volunteers and sponsors whose generosity and time made this summer a great success.

ACE is in full swing for fall and, after three years of prayers, concerns, and faith walks, we as a staff feel that God has restored all the lost time we experienced during the “Covid” years.

This summer, ACE has invested in many Jamaicans’ lives through our VBS series, entitled Twists and Turns. The theme teaches us all that we can go with the flow and not be filled with anxiety or anger when God has our backs. Our building projects and home repairs for our elderly through our ACE Mobile Infirmary made a lot of senior residents very happy. Many hands made the work light for our ACE staff on the ground, from thrift sale preparation to feeding and loving on the animals (my favorite).

Dr. Baribeau and his team of volunteers finished up the season with dental and medical exams for all our sponsored students needing attention. What a great send off! Now we are gearing up for Book Bag Distribution Day as school begins first full week in September.

Thank you all for supporting us and bringing us back to “above even” as they say in the ACE world. We are making a great impact in St. Mary because of your investment into the lives that are changing communities.

Always grateful

Marla and Allen