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.
A Word from Althia
Someone once asked me to write all the things on the pages of my bible of what I’m grateful for that God has done for me. My response was, if I did that, no pages would be left in my bible. That’s because there are so many things that God has done and will continue...
Long-Term Commitments = Results
Remember at family functions as a child when you walked into the room and all the relatives made comments about you like, “You are growing like a weed” or “I can’t believe you’re taller than me now” or “Look at you, all grown up!” It’s amazing how quickly children...
Heroes and Zeroes
It’s safe to say that there have been some real challenges this month in our ACE family. Dawn, our Stateside Child Sponsorship Coordinator, experienced severe pain one evening that put her in the hospital. Dawn has been battling illnesses for much of her adult life,...
Marla’s Minute: Fall is Here- Even in Jamaica!
It is Fall! Granted, the leaves stay green here and the students still wear their cute uniforms with short sleeves, but there are changes happening all around St. Mary and ACE if one takes the time to look and listen. If you have been reading our newsletters for the...
Physical Education ramps up at Hampstead Primary
For two years, ACE has been unable to help with physical education in the schools due to lockdowns. And how we have missed it, not only for our own health (who doesn’t get in shape keeping up with kids?) but for the joy of playing with the children through energetic,...
Marla’s Minute – Big winds and torrential rains
That’s the report for this weekend for Jamaica. As tropical depression #9 is gaining strength to enter our personal space here in Jamaica, we are advised to prepare for 65 – 80 mile an hour winds and 6 -12 inches of rain. Being a girl from Miami, Florida, spending...
Back to School!
While the Ministry of Education is maneuvering the system and making changes daily, our students hardly seem to notice as they enjoy the official start of the 2023 school season. It feels great for us and for them to have a sense of normalcy finally. Smiles and laughs...
Marla’s Minute: Something Old, Something New
We’ve had our iQuest program in some form for over 20 years, so I can safely say this is an old tradition. Each year, though, brings new life and new energy with every young person who participates. This summer, we had the pleasure of having Kayla as our one and only...
The Village Has Begun
For those of you who have been with ACE since the beginning, you may remember the first draft of our Children’s Village or even the update last year. It seems a long time in coming, but do we have great news for you! This month, ACE has finally begun building one of...
From Child to Family: Sponsorship Reimagined
Back in 2005, as part of our community outreach, ACE began helping a few students get to school and have a meal every day at lunch time. Then, more and more volunteers got involved and committed to helping one student at a time with us, evolving into what our Child...