Welcome to Our Blog
Welcome to our blog—a space where we share the heart of our mission. Through stories, updates, and reflections, you’ll see how God is moving through our community outreach in Jamaica. Whether it’s a small act of kindness or a life-changing moment, we’re here to shine a light on the love and transformation happening every day.
Our Patrene Exits, Stage Right
Patrene, our wonderful administrator for ACE, is leaving for a season to take a position in the work-abroad program that the Jamaican Government offers adults to work in the states. Patrene will be gone for at least six months. We gave her a party at our own bamboo...
The Green Life Village
Is it finally happening? After all these years of hearing Marla talk about her Children’s Village, a place for families to live together and grow together, it is finally happening. Note that the illustration above is from our original artwork drawn up in 2013. We are...
God’s Little Creatures, Great and Small
As pet owners and animal lovers at ACE, we would be remiss to leave out our incredible vet, Dr. Ryan Chanona. We met Doc and his wife Kristin – also a vet – many years ago at an animal-spaying event sponsored by Sandals Resort in Ochi. Since then, he and Kristin are...
The Seniors of St. Mary
A year ago last month, we were told we could no longer visit our senior family at the St. Mary Infirmary. While it’s understandable, all of us at ACE have felt a tremendous loss. Yet, with the needs mounting, we’ve continued to visit the many “shut in” seniors in the...
A Silver Lining For Our Families During COVID
Every once in a while you read something or see something on TV about how COVID actually helped someone in a way totally unexpected. This is exactly what has happened not just once, not just twice, but several times with our sponsors helping their sponsored children...
Marla’s Minute – Mother’s Day in Jamaica
Mother’s Day always comes in May, right? Except this year… my Mother’s Day came early. My mother (Mommy) and Fred (my dad) and five friends landed in Jamaica a few weeks ago to lend us all at ACE a hand on the ground. I love that my mom is still very much alive and...
It’s iQuest Time Again!
Are you a college student seeking a life-changing experience? We are looking for you! With teams filling in on our 2021 schedule, we are ready for a new group of iQuest interns to come from June 5th to August 19th! Working with ACE staff and volunteer teams for the...
Marla’s Minute: The Widow, Flour & Oil
The other day I was reading a story in 1 Kings, Chapter 17, about the widow who, when the prophet Elijah asked her for a drink and a piece of bread during a severe drought and famine, her reply was “I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a...
Jamaican Cowboys
It sounds funny when you read the title. A Jamaican cowboy? Our age is showing when we think of TV shows like Gun Smoke and Bonanza or all of those John Wayne movies where everyone is Caucasian with fancy boots, spurs, big hats and a horse to ride. But when we talk...
Marla’s Minute — Holy Cow!
Whenever Allen and I travel to KY to see my parents, we usually go to a place my dad loves to go for breakfast. We don’t have these restaurants in GA anymore, but Bob Evans is our place and their slogan used to be “Down on the Farm.” To me, that phrase meant eating...