outreach | American-Caribbean Experience

April Firsts!

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

ACE did a number of firsts this Easter season!

FIRST – Through Facebook, we live streamed a Sunrise Service down by the sea at Galina Breeze Hotel. You can still view it online!

FIRST – Sunrise Service for the Jamaicans! No one except Arlene even knew what a Sunrise Service was!

FIRST – We’ve certainly never used a paper plate and duct tape as an intro to an ACE program, but it worked!

FIRST – We’ve never felt so instantly connected to all our friends, family, and supporters of ACE across the states and Canada at the same time!

FIRST – And maybe the beginning of an Easter tradition! We were so grateful to have been able to gather in prayer and song on Jamaican soil in a place of peace among the turmoil. The sun rose as we celebrated the Risen Son!

With our 2020 calendar still so uncertain (all spring teams have cancelled and we expect the same for early summer), we ask that you consider a donation to help ACE with our everyday needs. Trip revenue is how we pay our Nationals, and without that, we are struggling. Many staff members have had hours cut but have been volunteering their time helping on the farm and doing many other projects our teams usually do. We also have a container of donations, farming equipment and supplies we need to get which requires adequate funds.

We feel, even amid this quarantine, God’s Easter promise of renewal and rebirth in our ministry. We know that all of you are a part of this journey, and we thank you for your spiritual and financial support!

VIEW EASTER VIDEO

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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.

(click to scroll through image gallery)

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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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MARLA’S MINUTE: After 32 years, she found us!!!

by American- Caribbean Experience | Jan 27, 2020 | Community, Outreach

Right after the first of this month, I was cleaning out my emails, and out pops one from someone I wasn’t expecting… and what a surprise!

The email was from a young girl named Evete, a name I hadn’t thought of in 32 years! 1988 was not only the year I arrived on the island, but it also saw one of the worst hurricanes to hit Jamaica, Hurricane Gilbert, in September of that year.

I happened to be back in Atlanta when the actual hurricane hit due to a root canal I had scheduled. Who would ever credit a root canal to being a good thing, helping me dodge a hurricane? Upon my return, I was shocked to see the devastation. It was a month before the airport could be opened to receive commercial flights outside of military help. Within a short time, roads were finally opening up.

Just a few months before the hurricane, our NGO had been working in an area called Ft. George where a small church and community had needed a lot of help. I remembered a young girl and her family being so helpful to us as we built and repaired homes and churches in their community. Evete was that teenage girl.

To make a long story short, I went back to Ft. George following the hurricane, and I brought Evete a suitcase of clothing and toiletries from our group in hopes it would help in a small way. Now, after 32 years, I received an email from this woman who found me on Facebook and wanted to say thanks for that small token of love. With her permission, I’m sharing some of her email. She’s now a surgical nurse in England, married to a husband who loves Jamaica and they have two wonderful children.

“We met in 1988. I hope its you anyway. I’ve never ever forgotten when [you] came back shortly after the Hurricane and Donated a Suitcase of Clothes and Shoes to me, to share with my Friends, I will never forget.

I always thought about you, Especially since I’ve grown much older, You’ve made a Great Impact on my Childhood and that I will never forget ♥ Thank you and God Bless”

Evete hopes to come to see her family this summer… and us! We can’t wait! You never know what an impact you can make in someone’s life by serving in big and small ways. Make your promise in 2020 to never stop loving and serving the people that God puts in your path. You might have a great story to tell like this one day!!

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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.