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Marla’s Minute: Finding Your Purpose or Calling

by American-Caribbean Experience | May 19, 2025 | Book A Trip, Discipleship

While enjoying my first cup of coffee the other day, I began rereading the book of Jeremiah. It’s interesting how the New and Old Testaments go hand in hand if you analyze the verses a little deeper than normal. I’m sure God knew that when He wrote it.

Jeremiah was a priest who noticed one day that his community was overthrown and enslaved by another group of people. I don’t know about you, but this is very apropos for today. While we don’t exactly have that type of event so blatantly happening in our “yaad” as they say in Jamaica, many cultural thoughts and practices have moved into our communities, some subtle and some bold.

However, what struck me were the next verses where God described to Jeremiah who he is and what his next career move was. God then spoke to Jeremiah about how he was born for this time and given what I would call a “special coat of protection” to be a spokesman to all the world. Jeremiah was told to warn the people to “get it together” or there would be consequences. I don’t know about you, but there is no doubt that Jeremiah had a purpose/calling by God to do something radical and not to be afraid that something might happen to him.

You should read the book yourself to follow the ending, because it’s incredible to see how Jeremiah did whatever God told him to do each day. Yes, he was afraid, but he “did it afraid,” as we say at ACE.

We at ACE run into a lot of young adults trying to figure out who they are, how they can make an impact, what decisions they should make in life, and how they can find their purpose. My advice is to start by asking God to show you where you can make a difference in someone’s life within your own “yaad”. It’s easy to pray if you don’t have to follow prayer with action, which leads me to the challenging part…

The best exercise to find your purpose in life is to begin to do things that you would normally be opposed to. This may sound funny, but remember after every holiday when you want to lose weight? You join a gym or make a promise to yourself that you will give up sweets? Well, that might last a month, and then your flesh cries out that it wants something sweet. Before long, you are right back where you started.

So, if you want to know what God has for you as a purpose or calling, you have to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your mind and bypass the comforts of the body. I’m no expert at this, but over the past 30-something years, I’ve seen young adults who were serious about finding their purpose begin the journey of curbing their flesh feedings. They start to curb these feedings by doing things they wouldn’t normally, such as giving back or volunteering their time.

It’s easy find time to go on vacations and retire comfortably, yet we seldom think to schedule time in our busy lives to give a few hours a week to something that offers little to no benefit to our natural flesh. And, then to try and keep your volunteering a secret from family or friends, so you won’t get a pat on the back.

This month, before our busy season hits, we’d like to highlight a few of the incredible volunteers who gave us time to serve without pay. They had to pay for their tickets and sacrifice their personal work time to give back. They spent quite a bit of money to just get to us, and then they also covered all of their expenses while at ACE. These people are the heroes who discovered a long time ago that true purpose is living outside of your own needs and putting others first. Even when you could have seemingly better options. We at ACE rarely think of ourselves as heroes, if at all. But we know that what we do each day counts for Kingdom growth and helps people find their purpose in life by finding their spirit walk and then moving out from there.

Do you feel like you’re too busy to give back? Be grateful God didn’t show up and tell you what your career would look like, as in the day of Jeremiah. Yet Jeremiah did it afraid and grew in his faith and wisdom. His availability and willingness led to him seeing a great movement happen.

Pray for ACE as we start our wonderful, busy summer. We cannot express our gratitude to each of you who is coming to serve along us in St. Mary.

For those of you still seeking your purpose, I encourage you to just start somewhere and ask God to direct your path. We can help with that part as well. We love welcoming people to ACE who are seeking God and want to make their lives count.

I hope to see you soon,
Marla

David designed and built a pizza oven at Buccaneers

John and Brandon replacing tuck shop roof at Galina Breeze Hotel

Don and John replacing tuck shop roof at Galina Breeze Hotel

Dr. Drew serving at ACE through medical missions

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Birdwatching Adventures with ACE

by American-Caribbean Experience | Mar 26, 2025 | Book A Trip, Community

At ACE, we love welcoming teams with all kinds of talents and interests to visit us in Jamaica. Recently, we had the privilege of hosting a group of passionate birdwatchers who experienced firsthand the island’s beautiful wildlife.

Led by local eco-certified guide Dwayne Swaby, Greg, Sarah, Matthew, and Will set out on an early morning expedition, eager to explore ACE’s different properties. Greg mentioned they were “all ‘in it, to win it,’ excited to see what birdlife and nature [they] would see,” despite the muddy trails and intermittent rain they encountered.

The team enjoyed spotting roughly 45 incredible bird species, including the Jamaican Tody, the Jamaican Woodpecker, and the Red-billed Streamertail—Jamaica’s national bird. The national bird is a hummingbird and, as Greg put it, “unbelievably stunning with its long trailing tail feathers and green body with black and purple on its head.” Greg also mentioned that “God had a sense of beautiful humor when he designed birds.” We have to agree, but more so with all of His creation, including His people.

Our staff at ACE loves connecting people with communities in meaningful ways. Whether through education, healthcare, microbusiness, or even birding, we believe every visitor has something valuable to contribute to our community in St. Mary.

If you have a passion, skill, or hobby you’d love to share, we’d love to host you! We still have a couple of open weeks at the end of July, so gather your team and come experience Jamaica with us. Whether you’re a birdwatcher, a medical professional, a teacher, or someone who just wants to make a difference wherever you can, there’s a place for you at ACE. Email Susan, our Stateside Director, at office@acexperience.org or call 877-500-5768 for more information.

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Marla’s Minute: Unto the Least of These

by American-Caribbean Experience | Feb 24, 2025 | Book A Trip, Community, Outreach

The heart of ACE has always been and will always be focused on people. We call Jamaicans “our people,” “our seniors,” and “our extended families.” When you come to Jamaica to volunteer, you can rest assured that one of the days, if not two, will be spent in our community with one of “our people,” through our AMI visits.

This month made the top of the list compared to all of our previous Februarys for reaching out and helping our elderly and those in need. Friends bought food for distribution and helped clean up individuals and their living spaces. We even had friends assist our ACE staff by singing and reading to our elders. They were also treated to a gardening lesson or two from local yards.

Does it feel good to leave a home seeing smiles on our seniors’ faces? You bet it does! I just pray and hope someone will come visit me when it’s my time to rest. And hopefully have a garden of something to show or a song to sing.

Thank you, friends, for never growing tired of doing good for the least of these.

Blessings,
Marla

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Vision Casting Into Reality

by American-Caribbean Experience | Nov 25, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Outreach

November started with some spectacular visits to Jamaica by our ACE friends and new leaders. If you recall from our October Newsletter, ACE is literally “back to the future” with our outreach efforts. For the first time in years, two vision trips were scheduled for interested leaders who wanted to see what 2025 was shaping up to be for St. Mary and ACE.

The participants got to see and hear from our school principals and how hopeful and grateful they are that ACE is getting back into their schools and assisting with the needs of their teachers and leadership. Sponsored students are on the rise as the needs continue to grow. Our senior adults in the community were met with love, rubbing lotion on their arms, hands, legs, and feet, food, and even haircuts by Gary, the owner of Travis Salon in Atlanta. It was his first time visiting ACE, and we are sure it won’t be his last.

Edgehill, the special needs school that ACE and Galina Breeze partner with, opened their doors for all of us to hear from the teachers what needs they have, as well as receive big hugs from our many students who love to sing, play, and learn. Laura, a pastor’s wife from Mississippi who happens to be an architect, met with the acting principal about designing a computer lab for the desktops they were given from E-learn, an NGO that focuses on teaching tools for the teachers to use.

At the end of the trip, everything was good. We dodged the rain from tropical storm Sara, and our spirits were warmed from meeting so many wonderful leaders who have a heart to grow with us. All of our staff at ACE, Galina Breeze, and Buccaneers smiled over the incredible generosity of these leaders. This is really encouraging and made a huge difference to all of us, considering how much we have grown since we were there last.

How do we move forward from here? The same way ACE has moved for years — from vision to reality. It all happens because of each of you who believe in the progress ACE has made over the decades. If you were not part of the vision trips this year, that’s okay. Call us and we will fit you into one of the 2025 trips we are preparing.

A vision is just a vision unless we have the hands and feet on the ground to make it a reality. Thank you, leaders, for your time and commitment with your teammates.

We are forever grateful.

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The Tiny House

by American-Caribbean Experience | Oct 28, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Outreach

ACE built its first tiny House this month in Water Valley, a place well known to ACE Volunteers from pre-covid days.

Clive, pictured below, had a stroke several years ago and was left alone, in a yard with an old home that was falling apart and leaked when it rained (swipe past Clive’s photo to view his home).

Clive during an ACE Mobile Infirmary Visit

Thanks to Clive’s generous neighbors, we were made aware of his situation and decided we had to do something quick. The Connor/Hembree Family, ACE friends from Gainesville, GA, flew in as a family of five and went to work with our ACE staff. Building an 8×8 tiny home out of treated lumber was the plan.

To make it easier to put the home together, we carefully measured and constructed everything under the farm pavilion and then transported everything to the site. The one-room home for Clive was completed quickly thanks to our ACE friends. After the family headed home, all the home needed was painting, and of course, Clive. That’s when our ACE Board of Directors showed up a few days later.

With some yellow and brown paint, along with the help of Clive’s neighbors, we were able to complete the job in one day. We were also able to gift Clive with a single bed, a mattress, and sheets as a housewarming gift.

While the board members were here, they also ran a mini walk-in clinic as we painted, led by Dr. Guy. The doctor gave Clive orders to have plenty of ensure, food, and water.

Tiny houses may not be for everyone, but Clive is a big fan. Today, he has working electricity, and he is now clean and warm. The only thing left to do for him is transplant his lemongrass, the best mosquito repellant in Jamaica.

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Marla’s Minute: Back to the Future

by American-Caribbean Experience | Oct 28, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Education, Outreach

Before COVID, ACE was rather successful in our community outreach in and around our four partner public primary schools. The model ACE created was based on “going deep and not wide.” First, we form a partnership with one of our rural primary schools in the area that lacks funds and opportunities for their students, unlike the city schools of Kingston, Montego Bay, Ochi, etc.

Second, ACE forms a 10-year minimum relationship with the principal and teachers at the school. ACE receives a list of all of the students in need of sponsorship, and the children get added to our Child Sponsorship Program. Through sponsorship, we dig even deeper into the students’ homelives, where relationships are formed with everyone living in the home. ACE can then also discover any medical, dental, or other healthcare needs of the student and their family members.

From that community, many elderly and special needs members are met by ACE volunteers and employees with a helpful and compassionate hand and heart.

All that and more came to a full stop almost four years ago with the COVID shutdown. Schools closed, infirmaries and hospitals closed their doors to visitors, and for the most part, ACE lost all progress we had spent decades building.

Then God did something fantastic! He opened a door to start creating businesses on a piece of property we now own call Green Life Farms.

For the past three years, volunteers have come to help us “work the farm.” Cutting bushes, discovering ruins, raising pigs and cows, picking fruit, and helping an old farm with history become a modern-day working property for our Jamaican community. With our food court, Buccaneers Jerk and Juice, Treasure Chest, and Cloud 9 Chocolate, we were able to survive the downturn in the economy.

During that time, many friends were probably wondering if we would ever “come off the farm” and get back to what we do best—“changing lives and transforming communities.” Even we wondered that at times. But the time has finally come.

Looking into the future and even starting right now, ACE is back in our communities with open arms from our teachers, neighbors, and infirmary patients. Unfortunately, the government-run infirmary still hasn’t opened to groups and has a strict policy of visitors. Interesting enough, we have found more “shut ins and disabled adults” living on their own and barely surviving right in our own community. So, we’ve started our own elderly ACE Mobile Infirmary (AMI) visits. That’s the silver lining behind the COVID closings of the infirmary.

ACE is now BACK to the FUTURE. We’re getting back into our schools and communities. Just this week, a family from Gainesville, GA, surprised us with a visit and built a homeless man a house, followed by our ACE Board of Directors finishing the home with paint and a single bed. If you are considering a trip down to Jamaica this coming winter or sometime in 2025, please prepare to go back to our communities, see old friends and meet new friends. We are thrilled. Yes, we like farm work, but ACE loves those relationships.

When you come down next, be sure to bring all the hugs and energy you can. We have three years to make up!