Outreach | American-Caribbean Experience

It’s Official!!

by American- Caribbean Experience | Aug 20, 2020 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Outreach

iQuest made it through Summer 2020…

For the past 18 plus years, ACE has enjoyed having many young adults ranging from 18 to 26 spend their summers to help us out in Jamaica. This program, called iQuest, has turned out to be one of the best “pauses” in a young adult’s life ever. This past year, we opened up our intern application process in October 2019. Usually, we have anywhere from six to eight immediate applicants going on to our website. Not this time. Instead we had three, then two, then one. We were scratching our heads wondering what was going on.

God knew what was coming… and, in usual style, we went along.

Moving forward, Covid became a popular topic after the first of the year. One by one, all our volunteer teams cancelled for the summer. But, there was one young man who didn’t cancel, didn’t back away and in fact kept pushing forward to come be an Intern for the summer.

Meet Abe. Abe came from Indiana in May and was ready to meet any challenge ACE had for him. With our own Super Student, Tahj, as the house father, Abe stayed with Anthony and Tahj at the Campus this summer. We called it the Jamaican Guys Club and it worked! Not only has Abe developed muscle, but he has developed a love for his new home in Jamaica. Like most interns who complete the Leadership Course, we hope he’ll always consider this his “go to” spot when he needs a getaway from life in the U.S.

ACE is offering iQuest intern programs all year long in 2020. Look at your calendar and see if ACE fits into your life for that much needed “pause”.

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Farming With the Family: August 2020

by American- Caribbean Experience | Aug 20, 2020 | Community, Outreach

Last Tuesday, Green Life Llanrumney Farms (GLLF), an ACE micro-business, hosted its first “Llanrunmey Agricultural Meeting” at Buccaneers. Local farmers in the area and district were invited to attend a one-hour meeting to learn about what ACE, through GLLF, plans to do in the agricultural field of growing. We were so pleased at the turnout! Approximately forty farmers, both men and women, joined us in the conference room to hear about the possibilities of farming on the Llanrunmey property – as well as on their own farms – with the seeds we prepared in advance, thanks to a generous farmer in Kentucky who donated the vast variety of organic vegetable seeds.

Much discussion was had over the ups and downs of farming, like the lack of land, and lack of equipment to plow and prepare the property for planting. GLLF was able to share the vision we have for the farming side of the property and how that would benefit all. We think the most important outcome of this meeting was the excitement of everyone wanting to can the food when the prices are low to use later.

We agreed and will be looking for more supporters to help us with another gross of canning jars from the States. Everyone left their names, numbers and locations. We will be physically following up with our farmers by charting their planting season to see who is serious and who is not. After seeing the initial planting, we hope to have several local growers for Galina Breeze Hotel and ACE. They eat what they grow and what farmers don’t eat, Galina Breeze will purchase at a fair market price. Now that’s some real groceries growing! Stay tuned for more of this exciting venture as we are growing not only our farmers’ livelihood but our family as well!

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Mountain Lake Does it Again!

by American- Caribbean Experience | Jul 27, 2020 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

In this digital age, many may not remember the U.S. Postal Service slogan which began: “Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night…” To paraphrase, the postman always delivers, no matter what!

That’s sort of what we think about when we see our friends from Mountain Lake Church in Georgia refuse to let a little virus keep them from coming down! Okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration here. But with the Martinez family in tow, this team came down and not only helped us on the farm physically, but they encouraged each and every ACE/Green Life Llanrumney Farms (GLLF) team member.

The laughter, the fun, the jokes, and the determination left all of us here in Jamaica feeling encouraged and hopeful. We know so many of you have had to cancel your trips to serve with ACE. We realize and understand that you had to make the best decision for your team, and we believe this season of uncertainty and fear will pass as most seasons do.

Please know we love you all and pray continually for wisdom on how you can comfort your friends and families. Most of all, know that this is the best of all times to see God at work in each of our individual lives.

Mountain Lake was a breath of fresh air during these challenging times, and we are grateful to them and to God for bringing them to ACE safely and with servants’ hearts. And we are keeping the lights on for YOU when you return.

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Marla’s Minute: Climate Change Happens in St. Mary

by American- Caribbean Experience | Jun 18, 2020 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

It’s hot and dry… that about sums up the day-in, day-out conditions here on the island since March. But that’s not the climate change I’m referring to. I’m talking about the climate in which ACE is used to working and how we do outreach to our hundreds of students, and families in St. Mary.

It used to be, around this time, that students were getting ready for exams and the summer, with our first VBS starting the second week in July. And it used to be that all students were dressed in uniforms with oversize backpacks full of books standing on the road waiting on their taxi to take them to school. Then there were the ACE field trips for learning that a lot of you got to help us with, giving our students some real life education.

That’s all changed – but not a permanent change; just for a season. This past week, I asked two parents if I could take their boys with me to Kingston for a meeting. The parents said “yes” before I could finish my sentence, so off I went with Rashawn and Karl. Since I had a meeting at 11:00 am, I decided that today we would do things differently – dessert first and lunch later!

Away they went to get ice-cream at the Devon house, the premium ice cream shop in Jamaica. While my meeting went well, I kept thinking about that pistachio ice cream Devon House makes and thinking how lucky they were. We ended our day at Subway for a 6” sandwich each before heading over the mountains home to St. Mary.

I remember many years earlier when two of my older boys – now young men in University and one graduating “whenever “ this year – were near the same age as Rashon and Karl and how we used to do mini-field trips together. Anthony and Tahj joined me for church this Sunday for the first time since March. My heart burst with pride to see how far they’ve come with the help of your sponsorships and a good community of people and prayers changing their day-to-day experiences. I pray for the same for Rashawn and Karl.

From a climate of uncertainty for the future to a climate of acceptance and assurance that there is a future – now that’s a real climate change. Thank you, Sponsors, for changing lives and transforming communities, one person at a time.

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Prayer Works!

by American- Caribbean Experience | Jun 18, 2020 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

As we watch the USA express their anger over injustice, Pastor Omar, our Pastor at Family Church on the Rock and always part of the ACE family, had some thoughts to share:

Shalom,

If there was ever a time we needed to pray, it is NOW!

Like many of you, I have had to process my anger and frustration in response to what happened to George Floyd in USA and many recent similar incidents in our own country. I have had to bring my heart to God and have Him minister to me. What happened is wrong and should never happen. If like me, you’re angry. I want to let you know, there’s nothing wrong with being angry. In fact, the Bible says, “Be angry…” but then it ends that sentence with, “…and sin not.”

God is ok with us being angry! Jesus expressed His anger when He cleared the temple of those who were using God’s House to profit instead of pray. So being mad is not bad. It’s what we do, what we write, what we say, and how we act when we are mad that makes it bad or a sin.

So when does my anger turn into sin? When I allow my anger to be expressed in ways that contradict God’s nature! Most of us are mad at the police when we need to be mad at the devil. Of course, we should hold the police and anyone else accountable who display injustice. However, Jesus said in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning.” Wow, murder started with the devil, not the police! The devil will use anybody he can! So, we need to get mad at the right source! We should fight for justice, equal rights, etc. but before you post, pray!

And, that’s what I want to encourage you to do this month – PRAY FIRST! Prayer shouldn’t be our last resort; it should be our first response.

Pray first when you feel angry because of racism.

Pray first when you feel confined because of social distancing.

Pray first when you feel annoyed because of your boss.

Pray first when you feel frustrated by your spouse.

Pray first!

We are still going through a pandemic, and, add to that, our own personal challenges. Listen, God is still in control and He still calls us to use our faith to overcome. 1 John 5:4 in the Amplified says, “For everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has conquered and overcome the world—our [continuing, persistent] faith [in Jesus the Son of God].”

Did you catch that? Our continuing, persistent faith.

So, don’t allow all that’s happening in the world to overcome you. Let us pray first, and then we will be victorious and overcome the world by our faith.

Pastor Omar

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Marla’s Minute: Farming with the Family

by American- Caribbean Experience | May 22, 2020 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

As a wanna-be farmer, I’m learning a lot about pastures this month. I’m learning that if you are raising cattle, which we hope to be doing soon for income, you have to have a specific type of grass, and that grass has to grow without trees in the way.

Remember all those guavas we reaped earlier in the year for guava jam and juice? Well, I never understood how we got all these trees everywhere on the property – probably over 150 trees! Then a senior experienced Jamaican farmer Mr. Robin showed up to help us get our pastures ready for cattle and shared some info about those trees.

Even though I’m a 4H-er, I must have missed this fact in the cattle raising class. Cattle love guavas just like I do, but when they eat all those sweet fruits, they leave the seeds everywhere on the farm in the form of cow pies…. and those cow pies produce random guava trees all over the pastures. There you have it – how much more organic can you get?

Now we are cutting out the guavas as they have finished bearing, and we are making room for the African Star Grass which is already there and beginning to grow. If you have some farm stories you’d like to share, please do so, as we will share them in a future newsletter in our Family on the Farm article. We will keep sending you more info on our own farming experiences as we learn and grow with our Jamaican families.