Community | American-Caribbean Experience

Marla’s Minute: Something Old, Something New

by American-Caribbean Experience | Aug 30, 2022 | Community

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 iQuest intern. While we have had only one intern the last two years, with and without teams present, we haven’t had quite the same set-up as we’ve had in the past, due to Covid restrictions. This year, as Jamaica started to get back to normal, it finally felt like the familiar iQuest days of old.

We began to reincorporate processes and traditions into our program while enjoying more volunteers on the ground than the last two summers. As the old familiar routines resurfaced, there was a new appreciation for what interns bring to the ministry, and that was very evident this year. Kayla had told us long before applications were due that she wanted to be considered, and we smiled knowing that she would be the first to apply; she ended up being the only one to apply. As always, God sent us the perfect person.

Having Kayla this summer really made me personally appreciate what a young adult with passion can bring to ACE… and it’s all good. This young woman learned things about herself that she never knew, like how to use her “outside voice” inside when gathering a group together for instructions, laughing at herself and understanding what Isaiah 61 really means to her personally. The best part was watching Kayla learn about the habits and hearts of our Jamaican family and culture and loving it!

Her time as an intern is over, but now she joins our iQuest alumni family, with her own stories to tell and experiences to build on. If you know a young adult who would be a great fit for our program and ready for a life-changing summer, tell them about ACE’s iQuest opportunity. It’s an old tried-and-true tradition that helps the staff in Jamaica and provides new perspectives on the world for all involved.

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The Village Has Begun

by American-Caribbean Experience | Aug 30, 2022 | Community

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 the first homes of the Village. While the layout has changed drastically, the vision has remained the same. All along, ACE has been planning for the day and place where we can build a safe haven for families to live, grow, and thrive in life. ACE had faced many roadblocks in finding the right location to begin a community. With the acquisition of 830+ acres just outside of Port Maria, our new Green Life Llanrumney Farm property seemed the perfect fit.

If you recall from a previous newsletter, the first home to be built belongs to LaToya and her children, two of whom are in our Child Sponsorship program. A few months ago, volunteers took apart the home ACE originally built for her and stored it while they stayed temporarily in our farmhouse. We are now ready to move it to its new location in the Village. A generous couple who loves Kingdom work sent down two Jamericans (born and raised in Jamaica who now live with their families in the States) to help our local staff in this process. LaToya’s family has endured many hardships in life, so it was an easy decision to move them into the Village onto the most beautiful spot on the property.

Stay tuned for pictures of the final move in. They will not have electricity and will be off the grid, but we are looking into supplying them with one solar panel and one battery to get them started. If you feel led to help contribute to this purchase, please contact our office. When we told LaToya there would not be any electricity available, her comment was, “It doesn’t matter. I can live without it.” She is fully embracing what we tell our volunteers before every trip, to let go of all expectations.

Please pray for this family as they let God lead the way in their lives. He has blessed us with knowing them and allowing ACE to be His hands and feet. This home is just the start of great things to come.

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From Child to Family: Sponsorship Reimagined

by American-Caribbean Experience | Aug 30, 2022 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Education, Outreach

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 Sponsorship Program is now – a relationship between sponsor and child to meet basic school needs.

Before March of 2020, through this program, ACE made sure children got to school, provided uniforms, shoes, some books, and some lunches for students who needed that mid-day meal. The sponsorship originally started at $30 per child per month for one year. As needs and inflation rose, ACE raised the fees to $35 and then our current $45 monthly plan. We have not raised our basic sponsorship cost since 2015. As we grew into serving our special-needs and 2nd Story (high school) students who had more specific requirements, the option of a higher sponsorship rate or multiple sponsors for one child was introduced to cover the cost.

Our program has always factored the parents in. When things were normal, pre-2020, mom and/or dad were required to go to PTA meetings, be employed or in job training (with which ACE would often help) and take an active role in their child’s studies and activities. But we discovered along the way that there was more at stake. Where there was one sponsored student in a home, there were sometimes three or more siblings with the same needs and more. Home improvement – and sometimes an actual home – was necessary. A sense of peace and purpose for the entire family unit was often lacking, and the pandemic brought on more fear and chaos.

When COVID hit and schools closed, we mentioned in some of our social media and newsletters that donations normally used for educational needs were being used for food and staples as our families were desperate to survive. We were grateful that our sponsors understood this temporary shift to keep their children and families afloat.

Even with all our efforts at ACE to help with remote learning and tutoring during the lockdowns, many children simply didn’t have the means and have fallen behind. Classes are set to resume this fall, and our public school system in St Mary is struggling to figure out how to reintroduce students to the day-to-day tasks of learning in a structured social setting, while their home lives have also become more complicated in these difficult years.

Long story short, our Child Sponsorship Program has become more than just handing out books and uniforms. There is a need, we often say, to go deeper, not wider. ACE has always tried to find the root of a problem and fix that before anything else because one thing affects the next. We have realized that the family unit should come first when determining what is best for the child, not the other way around, so we are looking at expanding our program to encompass Family Sponsorship.

D’Vaun, our Sponsorship Coordinator in Jamaica, sees the situation first-hand:

From the perspective of the father, I’ve always been asked what’s the most difficult part of my job – dare I say, it’s not a job, it’s my calling. My response to that question, unfortunately, has always been consistent: having a desire to help but limited in the ability to do so.

The current model of “child” sponsorship is really individualistic, though we do our best to accommodate the family as a whole. The finances are designated towards a specific child and using it outside of that scope would make us bad stewards of the sacrifices entrusted to us by donors. And then the pandemic hit. We were forced to reevaluate how to use the funds we had to support the child through the entire family’s needs. Growth requires us to adapt to new climates and make the necessary changes in order to progress.

“Family” sponsorship is our solution to my desire “go deep” with our families. I will be in a better position to address the needs when a family of one mom, no dad, four children, perhaps one with special needs, who all live in a dilapidated sardine can, who are hungry, mentally frustrated, emotionally uncared for and have no resources to survive.

I can offer the possibility of employment for the parent or siblings older than 18.

I can offer therapy to a suicidal child that struggles with anger issues.

I can build a home welcoming another family to our village.

I can step outside the parameters of what is typical (books, bags, uniform, taxi and lunch) and minister to the needs that are present while still maintaining our commitment to changing lives and transforming communities.

All 200+ of my children come from family units with no less than three people. ACE wants to see that the child will bloom, but the family is the tree that supports all the blossoms.

The logistics of how a Family Sponsorship will work are being discussed by both our Jamaican and Stateside staff, and we will have more details forthcoming. We want to make sure we factor in hiring enough qualified staff to evaluate and manage all the needs of a family, with adequate vehicles to withstand the wear-and-tear of driving the crumbling roads for multiple home visits, determining the exact pricing structure, and, most of all, how this will impact you, our sponsors, and the relationship you have with your children and their families.

Nothing is changing today, but, as with everything in life, once you see the big picture, you instinctively and passionately strive to do better and expand your opportunities. We appreciate your prayers and any feedback you may have as we move through this process. We are committed to our vision of changing lives and transforming communities, one family at a time.

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Eight Days of Hope

by American-Caribbean Experience | Jul 28, 2022 | Community

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 Peace House is the last leg of what ACE likes to call its Legacy Plan for long-term sustainability, both physically and spiritually.

In the New Testament, we know Paul, Peter and other disciples were praying and teaching in people’s homes so communities could grow together in many ways. Moving forward to the 21st century, our community at Llanrumney and its connecting districts are seeking to do the same through the Peace House.

For two and a half years, we have been slowly moving forward in our effort to complete the building. Those same generous donors who helped us start the Peace House project years ago contacted their friend who is the executive director of a ministry for disaster relief in the US called Eight Days of Hope. In June, a small group skilled in construction from that organization arrived to help us complete the job.

This team consisting of eight men and woman arrived ready to work – and work they did. Not only did they make great strides in finishing the building, but they passed along their knowledge of construction and tricks of the trade to some of our staff, which will make life easier going forward. After a week of their dedicated labor, we are very close to move-in ready, just a few finishing touches to go.

Got some extra time to help us make our Christmas deadline for the Peace House? We’ve got the room, and, thanks to Eight Days of Hope, we have a lot of tools and new-found expertise to make the work go smoother. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

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Down Home on the Farm

by American-Caribbean Experience | Jul 28, 2022 | Community

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 cistern, clearing out dirty water and soil to prepare it for holding fresh water. We pumped most of the sediment out, but found, near the bottom, we needed to get in there and hand-bucket it out. Not a problem for our teammates; in fact, the messier, the better. Afterwards, we put on a tin top as a cover to capture the water.

Then, as always this time of year, we have all our regular and pink guavas come into season. A rush is on each week to beat the cows for the guavas as we sell the juice in our jerk center and make wonderful guava jelly. With 50 hands or so to pick the trees, it’s a win for the humans this year vs. the animals.

Never tried guavas? Well, you should. Come on by Buccaneers and buy a glass of cold guava drink. People drive from all over to get that Vitamin C. Just another sustainable project growing out of the ground on our property down on the farm!

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Our First Home is finally going up at the Village!!

by American-Caribbean Experience | Jul 28, 2022 | Community

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 Augusta got things moving again.

About a year ago, the foundations were laid by previous teams for three homes with the blocks we had on site. This week, the lumber for the foundation went up. We will keep you posted as the first home should be completed by the third week in August.

For this particular home, the mother has had a very difficult time. She has four children: a 20-year-old with cerebral palsy, a nine-year-old, an 18-year-old son who is working and going to school, and a daughter who has had some devastating things happen in her life that has her currently in a home for girls. If we can complete this home for our mom and her family by September 1st, the government says they will allow her daughter, who is 15, to return home and go to school locally. If the house isn’t complete by that date, then her daughter will have to stay in the girls home until she turns 18.

Nothing like pressure to complete a job. Thanks to the generosity of our donors who have committed to finance the home and to all the volunteers who have helped along the way, we believe we will make the deadline. Please pray with us that we won’t be delayed, and we’d love it if you could come down to help! A lot of circumstances are riding on it.