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.
Families & Friends
July tends to be a very dry and hot month in Jamaica. This year is no different. However, as friends and families begin to come back down to serve with us, we only feel the warmth of returning (and new) friends everywhere! We – your ACE family on the ground – are so...
Graduation, VBS, and Sponsorship
It’s mid-summer, and while that may not seem like Spring to you, we have felt the subtle changes that normally come with the new growth the season of Spring offers. You’ve heard of Christmas in July? Well, we had Spring in Summer! Spring is normally the time for...
Help Comes in Large Packages
Our dear friends from Rebel Ministries arrived this month to help us out with clearing our coconut trees of bush and debris, all the while assisting a sponsored family with pouring a floor for their new home. While we have been so grateful over the past year and a...
VBS in July!
It’s true – the first VBS for the ACE students and community since 2019 is going to happen. Just a few days ago, the Government of Jamaica opened up the country to allow up to 100 people to be part of an outdoor gathering and lifted the curfew to more reasonable and...
Little Faith, Big Faith
Everyone seems to know what the word “faith” means. In daily conversations, some say, “keep the faith,” others say, “just have faith,” and, during the last 15 months, many have used the phrase, “I’m losing faith.” Often, we highlight what our child sponsors have done...
Marla’s Minute – How many “i’s” in Mississippi?
For the first time in years, Allen and I did something we wished we would have done before now: travel by car to see friends of ACE who have been MIA since the COVID pandemic hit. We started out in Ringgold, Georgia, where we spent the night with some friends who,...
Final Good-bye to Pastor Watson
After years of service to his community and touching the lives of countless people along the way, Pastor Winston Watson transitioned to Heaven on May 13 after a battle with cancer. Winston served on our ACE Board of Directors for a season before moving on to new...
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...