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Marla’s Minute: Saving Savvy
ACE is always looking for ways to cultivate relationships and restore people that just need a little help along the way. We are very proud to say that we, as individuals with ACE, are just the hands and feet of a greater story, the story of a Savior who loves all His...
We are the Zalks – A Word from Charity
In 2019, Brian and I were vacationing in Jamaica, and we experienced God undoubtedly and distinctively calling us to uproot our life and come serve Him there. As a family, we came as a package deal, so that included our kids – at the time, nine-year-old twins and a...
Many Hands Make Light Work
Many hands make light work This old saying portrays a picture of what ACE has experienced this spring on the ground. For the first time in years, we have been blessed with many incredible volunteer teams in a row! Ranging from families, high school students, college...
Marla’s Minute –God Gives Me Grace
This is the month of valentines! I can recall those paper valentine punch-out cards where you write on the back and then give to your teachers and friends. They always seemed to say the same thing: “from _________ “to ________ -- Would you be my Valentine?” A special...
A Visit with Marla and D’Vaun
Our very own Marla and D’Vaun were featured on a recent podcast! Thank you to TJ Mauldin for taking time to talk with both Marla and D’Vaun to hear their stories and experiences with ACE and what led them to where they are now. If you’ve never heard them speak or...
Gooden’s Good News – A Word from D’Vaun
Any great undertaking doesn’t start where the results are seen; it starts with a spark of inspiration, a simple idea, a tiny prick that over time becomes a little more than a sensation to ignore. Then God confirms that He’s implanted destiny, and it so happens you’re...
Samaritan’s Purse and ACE: Partners at last!
Have you ever seen the shoeboxes in the lobby of your church or school marked “Operation Christmas Child”? Those red and green boxes are for a program facilitated by Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational outreach organization that provides spiritual and physical aid...
Ms. Foster’s Focus
With the start of 2023, I'm so thankful to see another year but even more exited to know things are getting back to some normalcy, getting to see our ACE friends we have not seen for a while. I am also happy to update you on how our microbusinesses (Galina Breeze,...
A New Dawn, A New Day in Child Sponsorship
Most of you know or have heard us mention Dawn, our Child Sponsorship Stateside Coordinator. She has worked diligently for nine years with our Jamaican staff via email and phone calls, coordinating sponsor/child relationships, home visits, and learning about the needs...
Marla’s Minute – Infirmary Update
With 2023 here and lockdowns in the distant past, we at ACE had hoped and prayed the infirmary we had been calling “ours” for so many years would be open, with the residents happy to see all of us and our volunteers. Sadly, that hasn’t happened. Though we keep sending...
A Word from Althia
Someone once asked me to write all the things on the pages of my bible of what I’m grateful for that God has done for me. My response was, if I did that, no pages would be left in my bible. That’s because there are so many things that God has done and will continue...
Long-Term Commitments = Results
Remember at family functions as a child when you walked into the room and all the relatives made comments about you like, “You are growing like a weed” or “I can’t believe you’re taller than me now” or “Look at you, all grown up!” It’s amazing how quickly children...
Heroes and Zeroes
It’s safe to say that there have been some real challenges this month in our ACE family. Dawn, our Stateside Child Sponsorship Coordinator, experienced severe pain one evening that put her in the hospital. Dawn has been battling illnesses for much of her adult life,...
Marla’s Minute: Fall is Here- Even in Jamaica!
It is Fall! Granted, the leaves stay green here and the students still wear their cute uniforms with short sleeves, but there are changes happening all around St. Mary and ACE if one takes the time to look and listen. If you have been reading our newsletters for the...
Physical Education ramps up at Hampstead Primary
For two years, ACE has been unable to help with physical education in the schools due to lockdowns. And how we have missed it, not only for our own health (who doesn’t get in shape keeping up with kids?) but for the joy of playing with the children through energetic,...
Marla’s Minute – Big winds and torrential rains
That’s the report for this weekend for Jamaica. As tropical depression #9 is gaining strength to enter our personal space here in Jamaica, we are advised to prepare for 65 – 80 mile an hour winds and 6 -12 inches of rain. Being a girl from Miami, Florida, spending...
Back to School!
While the Ministry of Education is maneuvering the system and making changes daily, our students hardly seem to notice as they enjoy the official start of the 2023 school season. It feels great for us and for them to have a sense of normalcy finally. Smiles and laughs...
Marla’s Minute: Something Old, Something New
We’ve had our iQuest program in some form for over 20 years, so I can safely say this is an old tradition. Each year, though, brings new life and new energy with every young person who participates. This summer, we had the pleasure of having Kayla as our one and only...
The Village Has Begun
For those of you who have been with ACE since the beginning, you may remember the first draft of our Children’s Village or even the update last year. It seems a long time in coming, but do we have great news for you! This month, ACE has finally begun building one of...
From Child to Family: Sponsorship Reimagined
Back in 2005, as part of our community outreach, ACE began helping a few students get to school and have a meal every day at lunch time. Then, more and more volunteers got involved and committed to helping one student at a time with us, evolving into what our Child...
Eight Days of Hope
Before COVID came into the world, a generous couple had donated funds to help us build the Peace House, a place for families to come together weekly to eat, play games, socialize, and hear what we believe to be foundational truths to our faith through the Bible. The...
Down Home on the Farm
During the month of July, while VBS was happening in one part of ACE, Allen and non-VBS volunteers were doing some pretty serious projects needing completion before the heavy rains come in September. We continued the work of previous teams on cleaning out the 16-foot...
Our First Home is finally going up at the Village!!
After a shaky start and escalating costs of building supplies, ACE is completing the first of many homes at the Green Life Village for our single moms and families. We’ve been through the ringer with building hurdles, but at last this week, Allen, Bulla, and men from...
Marla’s Minute – VBS is back for the Summer!
When I think of Vacation Bible School, I think of high-pitched squeals, laughter, and tons of energy, mostly derived from sugar. When our teams think of VBS, they think of creating an atmosphere of orchestrated fun and learning about God and His creation. And that’s...
Marla’s Minute: Big Red is Dead
Farming is not an easy business to be involved with in Jamaica, especially if you are trying to raise a herd of beef cattle and grow a business so more Jamaicans can earn and help their families. ACE and Green Life Farms are not exempt from struggle, no matter how...
iQuest comes through again!
iQuest has proven to be one of the best leadership programs ACE has to offer young adults looking for a 75-day life-changing opportunity. Over the years, ACE has seen incredible young adults invest their summer in Jamaica. They learn how to grow and serve in a...
Movers and Shakers
Summer has barely begun, and we are already in awe of our volunteers and staff! We believe that success starts when leadership leads, and that’s exactly what Courtney and Emily Simmons, board members for ACE, did to get our season going. The Simmons brought their own...
Marla’s Minute: Melrose is a Rose
I love those moments where special people make an impression. One of those for me this year was from one of our wonderful partner churches, Trinity on the Hill, during our Men and Women’s Conference last February. While we’ve been to Trinity many times, have had...
Our Community is Transforming
ACE’s vision from the beginning has been “changing lives and transforming communities” one person at a time. One of our most needy communities that lines our farm property is Hampstead, and one woman we met there through our sponsorship program is a testament to that...
ACE goes DEEP and not WIDE
How many times have you heard ACE say “ACE goes deep, not wide” about the way we do life with our community? In three decades, we’ve never changed that direction of depth vs width. We can’t reach every single person in St. Mary, but we hope that those we DO reach and...
Marla’s Minute: My Parents are Here!
Funny how statements like this take on a different meaning depending on what stage of life you are presently living in. As a teenager, that statement meant hide the (you fill in the blank) or, quick, turn off the TV and break out the books. But today, in this stage of...
Child Sponsorship Fun & Friendship!
Curfews and mask mandates have ended! ACE is so happy to restore something we always did before the COVID years, and that is to hold a pool party for our sponsored students and staff families. Our friends and volunteers from the States took full advantage of the...
At the Last Minute
As soon as the previous Men and Women’s Conference wraps up each year, we are already setting the date for the next one. So, 2022’s conference dates had been on our calendar since last March, with lots of interest brewing and the format in the making. Our friends from...
Wellness Comes in Many Forms
For the first time in two years, ACE has enjoyed having friends come to Jamaica to serve our lonely residents and needy families in St. Mary. This month, Dr. Steve Guy, our Chairman of ACE, brought down some neat friends of ACE. Some were new, some return volunteers,...
Recycling an Old Tree
There are a lot of beautiful over-100-year-old trees on the Green Life Farm. One of the most beautiful and sought-after trees is called a Guango. To us, it looks like the Tree of Life in Avatar, where everything lives in it and under it. A few months ago, Allen and...
Cloud 9 gets crankin’ again!!
It’s been a while since Pat has been making chocolate in our Cloud 9 chocolate factory. But this week, the lights were on, the machines were grinding, and the sweet smell of Jamaican chocolate was in the air again. Bruce Smith, our founding ACE chocolatier, arrived on...
Until We Meet Again
Pastor Kermit Jones was such a special man to all of us at ACE and our community. He transitioned to Heaven on January 26, 2022, at home with his daughter Enna and his long-time friend and caregiver, Orlando, by his side. We are still processing his passing and...
Paying off the Farm
Remember the ask ACE made to all of you the last quarter of 2021 to help us pay off the Green Life Llanrumney Farm? As you know, the farm is the place where all our micro-businesses will flourish to keep us hiring more and more Nationals. We want to keep you posted on...
Christmas and Celebrations
Thanks to ACE’s dear friends, Tina and Luke, all of our sponsored students and friends celebrated Christmas in style! As the COVID syndrome continues globally, the Rebel Ministries team came through unafraid, full of life and energy. The last week of 2021 ended with...
New Year, New Faces
ACE is always changing! That is to be expected when people are involved in the lives of others, and this year will be no different in Jamaica. Remember our own Anthony, the beekeeper? Well, Anthony is all grown up, out of school for the moment (he graduated), and he...
A Year in Review (Happy New Year 2022!)
2021 brought a bit more normalcy to our lives, thank goodness! As many of us can relate in our own lives, we aren't quite "normal" yet, but we continue to take baby steps with hope and faith. Thank you to all of the volunteers who never gave up praying for ACE and...
Skill Sets We Wish We Had
Many of us are good at cooking, writing, organization, and even decorating our homes, but what about repairing a 150-year-old bridge with stones found in the yard? At Green Life Llanrumney Farms, another micro-business of ACE, we have been finding all kinds of...
The Second Container is Coming!!
We are not sure if you remember the drama around shipping the first container to Jamaica a year and half ago, but the good news is there is NO DRAMA this time! We purchased the 40-foot container for ACE before the prices on containers more than doubled, AND we were...
Marla’s Minute: Change is Good!!
If you’ve ever been on a volunteer trip with Marla or her staff, you will hear almost every day, “Change is good!” The rain might come and the outdoor work may stop – no problem, because ACE always has a plan B… and C…and D…and so on. ACE is a friend to change and...
School and AVC Progress Report
Are the students attending school in Jamaica? We get this question a lot these days as most of the families in the States are dealing with the same back-and-forth issues. The answer is: it depends. Each school is making its own decision on whether to be in session,...
And the Help Goes On
ACE is known for following up on what they promise and this is a story of one of those follow ups. Pat and her sponsored boys have been living in a beautiful home her sponsors and other supporters built for her and her family several years ago. Yet, with water only...
ACE Micro-Business: A Vision of Success
How can a not-for-profit invest in for-profit businesses? This is a question that comes up from time to time when our readers see the impressive businesses popping up through the ACE ministry in St. Mary. ACE calls them micro-businesses as they are small and only have...
Maddie joins the iQuest alumni family!
As our 2021 iQuest intern Maddie finishes up her remarkable summer, we wish her well and will miss her smile! She has definitely been a blessing to our staff and volunteers, and her hard work on VBS, the coconut walk, and many other projects was outstanding! At the...
Marla’s Minute: Something We’ve Not Done Before
This month, we did something I don’t recall us ever doing before: polling our past interns with the iQuest program to catch up with them! I must admit, as I read the responses of the survey our ACE office sent out, I got a little teary-eyed. And as most of you...
Marla’s Minute: Finally, a Breath of Fresh Air!
It’s been a breath of fresh air this summer with so many volunteers! There is just something about seeing people you admire and love buying into the same vision that God has been giving us for 30 plus years. We love the photos of friends smiling, especially when we...
TRIP COST
There is an old proverb, “If you give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime.” History proves that lasting change in a poverty culture is achieved by empowering the people to reach their full potential and become self-sustaining. ACE is invested in our community long-term and in conjunction with our partners in the US, we are identifying the circumstances of those around us in order to find real solutions for their unique needs.