Marla’s Minute: New Sounds on the Farm

Marla’s Minute: New Sounds on the Farm

Everyone who knows me knows I am anything but a farmer or cattle girl. In a staff meeting the other day, I confessed to everyone that all I know about farming and cattle is how to dress for it. Everyone laughed as if to say, “We already know that!!”

We have a saying (among many) here at ACE: fake it till you make it. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of gaining knowledge by attaching myself to professionals who know far more than I do when it comes to our micro-business specifics. By dressing the part, however, I believe I’m just that much closer to becoming part of the team of farmers and cattlemen who know what they are doing on the farm at Llanrumney.

This week, a herd of Black Poles were moved from a farm closing down to Llanrunmey for security and pasturing. I learned a lot. Three things particularly stood out as I watched these magnificent animals being loaded onto a truck to our farm.

  1. They are big and I am not.
  2. They could kill a person with little effort if not handled gently
  3. They live a simple life. Eat, sleep, produce

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Okay, so here’s what I felt God telling me about these beautiful animals:

  1. God is God and I am not. My ways, my thoughts are just so much lower than God’s ways and thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9 )
  2. My actions and words can destroy relationships, and relationships are the most important part of my life. (Proverbs 18:21)
  3. When I wake up and when I go to sleep at night, I can have peace that I did all I could do that day to make a difference. Simple living (1 Thessalonians 4:11)

Funny… me, enjoying the sounds of the farm in this time of turmoil all over the world. God says, “Just relax, I’ve got this.” I would love to hear your “Moo” story. There is always something to be learned in every adventure!

Happy Thanksgiving

Grateful for you

Marla

Wisdom Over Age

Wisdom Over Age

The seniors have our hearts every time.  Of course, our sponsored students are the life of ACE and the future of Jamaica, but without the wisdom of our seniors who have made the way for us, we would be lacking development and vision built on life experience. And such is the case with our dear Pastor Kermit Jones who turned 85 last week!

Those of you who are new to ACE should know that this dear man and his now-deceased wife, Gloria, are the reason ACE is in St. Mary. Pastor Kermit wrote Marla a letter a long time ago seeking assistance for his church in some structural challenges. Without knowing the where or how, Marla ventured out to St. Mary from the Mountains of Manchester to meet this vivacious couple. And that’s the beginning of ACE and the Joneses’ influence in St. Mary.

One of our own ACE boys who came up through the ranks, Orlando, lives with Pastor Kermit and takes great care of him.  If there is ever a legacy of lifetime investing, Pastor Kermit and Orlando are the perfect examples. And that’s really what we are all about, isn’t it? Young and old, learning from each other, making every minute of life count.

Happy Birthday, Pastor Kermit! Let’s make it another 85 years – if not in this realm, then in the next!

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A Word from our Board of Directors Chairman, Dr. Guy…

A Word from our Board of Directors Chairman, Dr. Guy…

Sitting on a recent flight to Jamaica reading the “American Way” magazine, I came across an article entitled “Refueling Your Emotional Tank”. I reflected on how little time I had spent over the last eight months in recharging my emotional batteries. Covid has robbed us of many activities that usually help to do just that; many of us have not been attending regular worship services, bible studies, family visits, volunteering or even working out.

 Being back at Galina Breeze this month reminded me of how thankful I am to be part of ACE. The energy that still persists at ACE warms my heart! The hotel is looking great, getting new solar panels to help us reduce our cost of electricity and be off the grid. The ACE campus is housing volunteers spending one to four weeks working on the farm and with Cloud 9 Chocolate. The ACE house is buzzing with students who are out of school working in virtual classrooms. Child sponsorship is still running full time to help feed students and their families as well as attend to other needs.

 Cloud 9 Chocolate is busy upping production for the upcoming holiday season. Bruce (our expert chocolatier) has been experimenting with new flavors, like incorporating sorrel flower into the chocolates. We are also getting ready for chocolate tours from the cruise industry when they return to the island. The jerk center on our Green Life Llanrumney property has been a big success with increasing business, providing the best jerk on the North Coast! Our newest tenant in the center is Knutsford Express. Two buses a day stop to pick up and deliver packages and people to Montego Bay and Kingston – that will be bringing even more business to that area.

 I had the chance to meet Robin, our cattleman with well over 50 years’ experience. Our pastures are ready, and we will be bringing 60 head of cattle to graze and get ready for market. The wellness center is ready and waiting for our medical and dental teams to ramp up soon. We are working with health officials to prepare a team for February.  We were proud to show off our facilities recently to the Smile With Heart foundation, a non-profit that partners with volunteer professionals to provide dental care to children in need.

Well, after spending the last five days traveling and engaging with the ACE staff in Jamaica, I am recharged, refueled and my heart overflows. Covid can’t minimize the impact of ACE. When you are getting weary or feel burned out, when your emotional tank reads E, say a prayer for ACE, sign up to sponsor a child or make a donation.  We are still changing lives and transforming communities. We encourage your continued prayer support and we are thankful for your time and treasure.

 May God bless and continue to encourage you as you serve,

Steve Guy

Marla’s Minute: ACE and AVC

Marla’s Minute: ACE and AVC

Since all the craziness continues in the Education Department in Jamaica over who learns online vs. who goes to school, ACE found a common problem happening among our sponsored students…well, among several common problems.

Most of our students were unable to learn via tablets because they didn’t have one. Then there was the issue of students being given instructions to use their parent’s phone for lessons using data. The problem was there were two to three students in different grades all wanting to use mommy’s phone at the same time, as well as mommy! So, that wasn’t working either. We know these facts because ACE has many parents of sponsored students employed with us who told us, and we heard from other parents in the sponsorship program. No internet, no tablets, no phones and, if a parent works, no supervision. Sound familiar?

We hope it’s better in the U.S. than here because our Ministry of Education is having to correct or modify its policies weekly. And, frankly, I would not want to be in their shoes. They are trying to keep adjusting even while the Ministry of Health is making constant changes to the health codes. It really is craziness.

Then ACE had an idea. What if we create a place where at least 30 of our students who had no way of connecting to an online class could do so on a daily basis in a safe environment with adult supervision to help with connections and facility needs?

Introducing ACE Visual Classroom or AVC! AVC will be held at the ACE office at Llanrumney and at the hotel. Beginning November 1st, ACE staff plans to implement a Visual Classroom upstairs in the Henry Morgan room for 15 students, one ACE person, and a volunteer parent. The second AVC will be in the ACE Headquarters office on our Llanrumney property for another 15 students.

The question came up earlier, why just 15 per classroom and not more? In accordance with the Ministry of Education guidelines, ACE is not a school and therefore can only provide enough space per location for 15. If we chose to have more than 15 per location, we would fall under the guidelines of a school and, well, let’s face it, we are not a school. Each location has bathroom facilities, full internet and tables for spacing. We are seeking the advice of principals, former teachers and Board Members on how to do this in the best way possible.

There was just one thing missing from this idea. We didn’t have computers or tablets for our student to join on the internet for their classes. Have you ever heard the expression, “The lights are on, but no one is home”? That’s us. Everything was in place — even the students that will be walking to AVC – but nothing to use.

Then it happened – again. We prayed that God would provide what the students needed to attend online classes and, thanks to a very generous family, ACE has 10 tablets on their way down to Jamaica. These are not cheap tablets, either; they will handle everything the school needs our students to do. Thank you, friends, for making a huge difference in the lives of these young Jamaicans and their families.

Stay tuned for pictures and updates next month.  In the meantime, remember all the PB&J you brought down? ACE is providing lunch for each child who cannot bring a lunch with juice. We’ve got enough PB&J to last us to the end of the year hopefully. Thank God for His ideas on how to create change. When we ask our volunteers to remember some key sayings, it’s because we had to learn them first…. it’s just the way we like it!

Blessings and Very Grateful

Marla

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A new arrival at Green Life Llanrumney Farm

A new arrival at Green Life Llanrumney Farm

Anyone who has ever been to Jamaica with ACE knows that Marla and Allen are not natural farmers – particularly Marla. She can dress the part, but when it comes to knowing how to handle the cows, pigs, and donkeys, well, let’s just say, ACE leaves the real work to the farmers who know what they are doing. When we acquired the property, there were four female donkeys and a “Jack” (male donkey).

Funny enough, they are all pregnant (well, not Jack) and just last week, one of the ole girls gave birth to another female. We thought about asking everyone to come up with a name for our new arrival, but then, it just came to us…. “Covey”… get it?  What do we need donkeys for, someone asked?  We use them for collecting those coconuts we have on the farm whenever we can get to them. Donkeys carry coconuts on their backs.

And yet another one got married!

And yet another one got married!

During this time where the line “and yet another…” seems to be filling our evening news, usually about something bad, we are thrilled to be able to steal that phrase for good news — yet another member of our beloved ACE family has reason to celebrate! Katie Guy, former intern and long-term volunteer, is now Katie Lowery!

Katie and her now-husband TJ tied the knot outdoors on a beautiful day in an Ohio garden. Remembering Katie when she was twelve years old and following her dad, Dr. Steve Guy, around at ACE in Jamaica brought us back to how important making a personal investment into people, not things, can really be. Katie is no longer the young-soon-to-be teenager; she is now a beautiful young lady that not only loves TJ but Jesus.

With the ACE US staff and a few other familiar faces and previous volunteers there to celebrate, the event ended up being a small reunion of years of ACE friendships all packaged together into one perfect evening. A fun fact: Katie’s mom’s maiden name was Lowery!

Congratulations, Katie!

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