missions | American-Caribbean Experience

Wellness Goes A Long Way

by American- Caribbean Experience | Mar 25, 2020 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

As you can imagine, the first place to close down due to the virus was the infirmary. We hate it, but we understand. I was at the infirmary with some staff two weeks ago when the Matron came over and asked us politely to leave immediately. She had just received the word from the Ministry of Health and was acting quickly.

As we loaded up to leave, we smiled as Bo Bo asked when the next field trip was and would we put his name on the list. Then Christopher ran out to assist me in turning the key on the bus to start the engine and take us home. There was silence for a moment as we thought about those precious souls so thrilled to see us so often. ACE got the chance to say goodbye to our seniors from a good distance but reassured them that we will be back and, next time, with a big celebration with cake and music!

The Matron and her staff have been working countless hours providing comfort and protection to our friends at the infirmary who really don’t quite understand our absence. We give thanks for all of you who have continually supported the infirmary and the hundreds of you who have taken them out on mind stimulation trips. Everyone sends their love and thanks. And ACE is very grateful for the Depends. We have not only shared them with the infirmary but with Pastor Kermit who sends his love and is house bound, and Shirley, our GB cook, whose mother lives with her and needed them as well.

Thank you for allowing ACE to be your hands and feet on the ground. Good goes around.

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Our Children In St. Mary

by American- Caribbean Experience | Mar 25, 2020 | Community, Discipleship, Education, Outreach

With this “stay close to home” policy, how can we know if our children and their families are doing okay or have needs? After discussions with the Child Sponsorship team on how we can continue our impact and support from us and from you, their sponsors, we have a plan.

Beginning this week, we are calling all parents and guardians of children in our Sponsorship program to see how they are doing, where they are staying and how many are in the house – just a small survey in regards to health and welfare. With the cancellation of our teams, we decided that instead of holding a thrift sale this month (we normally hold three a year – March, July, and November), ACE would put an individual suitcase together for each child and other relatives living in the house. Next week, D’Vaun and Laneka will drive to the house and deliver the suitcase (in the yard, of course) and then sit outside to visit, encourage and, most of all, pray for the family. We will be delivering lots of soap, toiletries, and women’s personal products.

See how valuable your donations have become to those in need? We know you will be back soon, so please keep saving those toiletries, soaps, shampoos and ladies’ pads. Thank you, also, for so many books you’ve given us over the years. We are taking two age-appropriate books per child and reading them from the yard while visiting, then leaving them with the family along with some simple activities to enjoy while they are home.

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Marla’s Minute: Working and Sweating

by American- Caribbean Experience | Mar 25, 2020 | Community, Outreach

Normally, those two verbs are not something anyone would be attracted to unless you were an athlete. But here in St. Mary, we have lots and lots of hard manual outdoor work to do that keeps us busy for as many hours as a day can hold.

For the past two weeks, all our ACE and Green Life Farm staff have pulled together to work hard at doing grunt work. We are learning every day that this fantastic piece of land is bearing fruit and food everywhere. Last week, a small group of us headed out into the pastures and began picking guavas. Growing up in Miami as a child, I remember having guava trees in the yard. I hated them and would throw the fruit at my friends because they smelled and would squish easily.

Not now – I have a new appreciation for this fruit. It’s high in vitamin C and can be juiced and frozen for months and months… and, most of all, it can be made into jelly. If you have ever visited us at Galina Breeze, you know what guava jelly tastes like, and it’s good! We have close to 400 trees all over, and what we can’t pick quick enough, we go back and pick up the ones that have dropped to the ground and give to the pigs (did I mention we have a few?) as a treat! Pigs love fruit, especially guavas. The things you learn when you become a fruit picker! Last week, we filled up four freezers full of guava and began juicing them with ginger. We were able to give each employee their own bottle of guava juice to take home. As this newsletter is being sent, we are already scheduled to head out again for another 300 pounds of guava.

The farm is full of limes, ackee, citrus, and guavas. God is good as we are able to share all this with our staff and their families. And we can do all of this six feet apart…(smile). Social distancing is taking on a different role than just standing in line. It’s easy to stay apart when you are working and sweating as much as we do — body odor can be a great deterrent.

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Winter may be cold, but ACE Wellness teams were just warming up…

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

We are not sure if you have ever experienced winter in St. Mary, Jamaica, but if you haven’t, you might want to consider coming down this time of year and joining a wellness trip!

Thanks to our ACE Board Chairman, Dr. Steve Guy, we were all fortunate to receive another team of medical and dental volunteers this winter to keep us all feeling great, both physically and in spirit. This trip not only gave our health professionals a chance to make a difference, but it gave their family members (who might have thought they were just tagging along for the good weather) the opportunity to serve in other much needed outreach areas all week.

Medications were administered, counseling was given to the low in spirit, and teeth were extracted, along with many teeth cleanings. All in all, so many of our community families were relieved of pain and experienced the love only our ACE healthcare professionals could give.

During the middle of the week, our friends helped out on the farm and we have begun to uncover the old ruins on the property where Captain Henry Morgan built a home. While it may be years before we can fully uncover the whole house, we are getting lots of potting soil for our chocolate trees. Who knows, we might start another business called Pirates Potting Soil!

Thank you to Dr. Guy and the incredible health professionals who worked long hours to ensure we were all left happy and healthy.

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Happy Fall & Thanksgiving!

by American- Caribbean Experience | Nov 26, 2019 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

Last night, D’Vaun asked a funny question after we had returned to Jamaica. His question was “Is it still fall?” We knew why he was asking; every time we landed or drove to a new city last week in the states, D’Vaun seemed to bundle up more and more in loaned-out clothes. While winter officially comes December 21^st, many people in the North are experiencing those temperatures that remind us that winter is just around the corner.

At ACE in Jamaica, it generally means cooler temperatures and rain. In fact, it’s raining right now. No one here is complaining as we have been in a very long drought and the farmers have been praying for relief. At Green Life Farms, we plan on replanting what we already planted a few months ago, starting next week.

Jamaica doesn’t have an official holiday called Thanksgiving like Canada and the U.S. However, there is no doubt in our minds that every single one of our sponsored students, their parents, our farmers, infirmary residents, hotel staff, honey bees, chocolate trees, and employees of ACE are very grateful to be part of something much larger than themselves. They are all part of the ACE network of “Changing Lives and Transforming Communities”.

We, too, are so grateful for each of you – our volunteers and donors – for sowing into ACE this year with your treasure and time. As we finish the 2019 year in just a few months and welcome 2020, please consider sending in a financial gift to help us over the hump of Christmas. With a lot of movement forward comes a lot of expense. Helping at this time of year will give us a big boost forward for the upcoming holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving and please know that all of us at ACE are thankful for you.