Arlene’s Adventure Home

Arlene’s Adventure Home

by | Jun 18, 2020 | Community, Discipleship

“The Lord has said, ‘I know the plans I have for you.’”  That was the verse that spoke to my heart when I returned to Jamaica on January 11 of this year, since I knew I was facing decisions for the future. However, once COVID-19 reared its ugly head, I found myself facing unexpected challenges. My planned departure date of April 9 never happened, and in the end, my usual 3-month stay turned into a 5-month stay. As the days progressed, it became clear why God had me in Jamaica for that extra time.

My new departure date was scheduled for June 7. As the first ACE person to leave the island, we thought you would be interested in what I encountered at the Montego Bay airport after Marla dropped me off at the airport.

When attempting to access the terminal, I was met at the door by a security guard, questioning my flight info, and was told that the terminal would not open until 9:30. Passengers were required to line up outside the terminal, with masks on at the requisite six feet apart. We had to present our passports to the guard and remove our mask so she could verify we matched our passport pictures. On the way in, we had to sanitize our hands.

The usual kiosks were not in operation, so I joined a slow line for checking in, where there are now Plexiglass shields between passengers and the agents. The agents were wearing masks, making it difficult to converse in a noisy terminal. When I got to the counter, I discovered my flight had been cancelled, with no prior notification from them! Nothing like driving two hours to find that out! The agent was able to get me on another flight going to New York, a two-hour drive from my original destination of Philadelphia.

Next was TSA, where they strictly monitored the distance between people approaching the security area. Once upstairs, I discovered that only half of the terminal was open and most of the stores were closed. In the gate area, there were “Do Not Sit Here” signs on every other seat, and getting onto the plane took longer due to the distancing requirements. For now, the middle seats on the planes are unoccupied, and I was able to enjoy being the only passenger in my row!

At JFK, I faced the thing that concerned me most: would I be faced with a 14-day quarantine? Needless to say, I was relieved when none of the people in front of me had been presented with this necessity for entry. My time with the Immigration officer was brief as she asked where I was coming from and how long I’d been there; there was no reaction from her when I said, “Five months!” Then she handed me my passport and I was on my way, looking forward to seeing my brother who had graciously driven to JFK to pick me up!

Here are the verses God gave me, prior to my departure, which kept my heart at peace concerning a possible quarantine: “The Lord Himself will go over before you. Do not fear… for it is the Lord your God who goes with you.” (Deuteronomy 31:3, 6)

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Prayer Works!

Prayer Works!

by | Jun 18, 2020 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

As we watch the USA express their anger over injustice, Pastor Omar, our Pastor at Family Church on the Rock and always part of the ACE family, had some thoughts to share:

Shalom,

If there was ever a time we needed to pray, it is NOW!

Like many of you, I have had to process my anger and frustration in response to what happened to George Floyd in USA and many recent similar incidents in our own country. I have had to bring my heart to God and have Him minister to me. What happened is wrong and should never happen. If like me, you’re angry. I want to let you know, there’s nothing wrong with being angry. In fact, the Bible says, “Be angry…” but then it ends that sentence with, “…and sin not.”

God is ok with us being angry! Jesus expressed His anger when He cleared the temple of those who were using God’s House to profit instead of pray. So being mad is not bad. It’s what we do, what we write, what we say, and how we act when we are mad that makes it bad or a sin.

So when does my anger turn into sin? When I allow my anger to be expressed in ways that contradict God’s nature! Most of us are mad at the police when we need to be mad at the devil. Of course, we should hold the police and anyone else accountable who display injustice. However, Jesus said in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning.” Wow, murder started with the devil, not the police! The devil will use anybody he can! So, we need to get mad at the right source! We should fight for justice, equal rights, etc. but before you post, pray!

And, that’s what I want to encourage you to do this month – PRAY FIRST! Prayer shouldn’t be our last resort; it should be our first response. 

Pray first when you feel angry because of racism.

Pray first when you feel confined because of social distancing.

Pray first when you feel annoyed because of your boss.

Pray first when you feel frustrated by your spouse.

Pray first!

We are still going through a pandemic, and, add to that, our own personal challenges. Listen, God is still in control and He still calls us to use our faith to overcome. 1 John 5:4 in the Amplified says, “For everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has conquered and overcome the world—our [continuing, persistent] faith [in Jesus the Son of God].”

Did you catch that? Our continuing, persistent faith.

So, don’t allow all that’s happening in the world to overcome you. Let us pray first, and then we will be victorious and overcome the world by our faith.

Pastor Omar

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Marla’s Minute: Farming with the Family

Marla’s Minute: Farming with the Family

by | May 22, 2020 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

As a wanna-be farmer, I’m learning a lot about pastures this month. I’m learning that if you are raising cattle, which we hope to be doing soon for income, you have to have a specific type of grass, and that grass has to grow without trees in the way.

Remember all those guavas we reaped earlier in the year for guava jam and juice? Well, I never understood how we got all these trees everywhere on the property – probably over 150 trees! Then a senior experienced Jamaican farmer Mr. Robin showed up to help us get our pastures ready for cattle and shared some info about those trees.

Even though I’m a 4H-er, I must have missed this fact in the cattle raising class. Cattle love guavas just like I do, but when they eat all those sweet fruits, they leave the seeds everywhere on the farm in the form of cow pies…. and those cow pies produce random guava trees all over the pastures. There you have it – how much more organic can you get?

Now we are cutting out the guavas as they have finished bearing, and we are making room for the African Star Grass which is already there and beginning to grow. If you have some farm stories you’d like to share, please do so, as we will share them in a future newsletter in our Family on the Farm article.  We will keep sending you more info on our own farming experiences as we learn and grow with our Jamaican families.

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Peat and Repeat

Peat and Repeat

by | May 22, 2020 | Community, Discipleship, Education, Outreach

The rhythm of life is different than this time last year. It’s humbling, frankly, to know that in a matter of days, everything we’ve done in the human realm can be wiped out … that is, if God wasn’t in charge.

We started this newsletter with the title “Peat and Repeat” because that’s exactly what this month looks like compared to last month.

  1. Our volunteers are not in Jamaica.
  2. Face masks are being washed out each night.
  3. Sun is hot with no rain in sight right now.
  4. We all continue to pray and grow stronger. We see less people getting sick and no more deaths other than the nine from last month. There have been many more recoveries and lots of answered prayers.

Repetition doesn’t need to be boring, when we look deep enough. There are some wonderful repeats happening in the ACE community during all this.

In the 33 years ACE has been in Jamaica, our Board of Directors have never had to write a request for help the way they did this month. When they sent out a letter to all our friends and family of ACE, the response was a faith builder. This past week, one of our dear friends, Tina Gerke, held a fundraiser for ACE, raising over $10,000! In addition, many of our spring and summer teams sent in funds even though they had to cancel their trips. All of these donations will enable our ministry to keep our employees working and keep our families fed.  You never fail to come through for us – repeatedly! – and we are always grateful! Let us officially say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

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Last week, we made the rounds, meeting with staff at the farm, in the office, security, Jerk Centre – all the normal places staff is working. During this time, we began to notice a phenomenon that is being repeated everywhere with our staff and our friends in the community. Families are talking more, doing more reading and writing. Children are playing with siblings. Parents are spending time with their children, even grown children! And they are using their time wisely, learning and passing on life skills. From washing clothes, learning to cook, paint, garden, and farm, kids and adults are sharing chores and taking on new challenges, stepping out of their normal routines and having a great time doing it! And the more they repeat these new skills and personal connections with loved ones, the richer their lives will be!     

In addition to all the new projects for our St. Mary families, our staff has continued to keep busy, too, on ACE-related work. Since the virus hit the island, no one has been allowed to enter the Infirmary, including us, and the Matron lost all her help with groundwork. If you recall from our social media posts, we went over last month to clean up the driveway outside the Infirmary fence. ACE did a repeat of this last week. We not only finished up the first part of the driveway we worked on in April, but we completed the task of cleaning it all to the end. We were able to see some of our residents as Richard, Norris, and Christine say their hellos through the fence. As usual, they keep asking if they can be on Ms. Marla’s list for the field trip. We are looking forward to the day (we hope soon!) that you, our volunteers, can make that dream come true!

Finally, one of the most important blessings happening on the ground is that we were able to go out and buy enough food, mackerel, rice, flour, sugar to support every family in our program for one to two weeks depending on the size of the family. That is not only a repeat but a “Big Up” size repeat, thanks to your donations!

So many repeats of so many great things! We can’t wait for a repeat of our mission trips from past years, seeing some familiar faces ready to take on new challenges.

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Marla’s Minute: Farming with the Family

Marla’s Minute: Farming with the Family

by | Apr 28, 2020 | Community

As most of you are aware, ACE has stepped out and purchased the historic Llanrunmey farm located next to the Campus. It is a big step of faith, particularly now that the virus has nearly stopped Jamaica and the world. However, this is just another chance to see God at work when we can’t visibly see our enemy.

Thanks to you, our supporters, we’ve been able to keep our staff working at least two days a week. We always say at ACE, “Flexibility is the key to success” so, with enthusiasm, the ACE family is joining the Green Life Farm staff to work the farm. We will keep you posted regularly on what farming with the ACE family looks like and show you our progress.

As our friends and family read this, I personally can feel the smiles (all teeth smiles), laughing – who would have thought that Marla and Allen would be farming? All we can say is we’re glad we can add humor to your day as we all plough through this stay-at-home boredom! So, read on and learn a few things. We are picking up a few tips and trivia along with chiggers and ticks.

With the farm came five donkeys! Just this month, we’ve learned something about them: did you know that donkeys love small dark places to hang out? That’s right, they do not prefer the big beautiful barns that horses and cows enjoy. We are in process of making a barn out of the old farm manager’s house by taking a few doors off the entrances. This is where our unusual friends like to hang out. Some in the kitchen, some in the bathroom, and if the house had closets, I know they would all try to fit in there, too.

Secondly, donkeys all do their “business” in one spot together. I kept wondering if only one donkey was creating this enormous pile of donkey doo until one day, I caught them. Apparently, donkeys must debrief in the morning to discuss where they will do their “doo”. Now, that’s organization!

While we are learning, we are working hard at preserving what God has given us. We are mending fences, bushing out weeds, spraying wasps, and getting our horses (yes, we have five of them, too) cleaned, fed, and repaired, and we are figuring out how, when school starts again, to teach our students to care for these beautiful beasts.

As far as a plan for the farm, we are praying we can get cattle on the property as soon as possible. Jamaica specializes in Red Poles, Black Angus and Brahma cattle. The Jamaican government’s agricultural division RADA (Rural Agricultural Development Authority) is helping us with writing the proposal as there is a big push for Jamaica to get back into the cattle business. We would appreciate your prayers because if we can get started, we should have a good crop for sale when the hotels reopen.

Best wishes to all of you, or, as they say in the farm world, “Happy Trails!”

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