Community | American-Caribbean Experience

Althia’s Angle: Preparing for a Full Summer of Teams

by American-Caribbean Experience | May 24, 2024 | Community, Outreach

Last month, my husband, Foster, and I came up to the States for a much-needed break before we hit the ground running with a summer full of mission teams. We spent our time resting, gathering essential supplies, and preparing for the busy season ahead.

Summers at ACE are always buzzing with activity as Galina Breeze fills up with teams of wonderful volunteers coming to help us further our mission. And it’s always fun to see the different energies, ideas, and progress each team makes when they come down.

Leading ACE as the Executive Director is both an honor and a labor of love. While there may be challenges and obstacles that get in the way, it’s always worth it when we get to see the smiles on people’s faces of those we help and hear their life-changing stories.

We are grateful for the opportunity to lead such an amazing organization and work beside incredible staff members and volunteers. Together, we’re making a significant difference in St. Mary, one mission trip at a time. Thank you, volunteers, for continuing to support ACE and obeying God’s nudge to serve our community in Jamaica.

Let’s make this summer the best one yet!

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Trust God’s Calling

by American-Caribbean Experience | May 24, 2024 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

Chelsea Peterson served on ACE’s iQuest internship program in 2014. But the journey to get there brought about its own set of challenges and need for dependence on God. The following is her story that she shared with our team.

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of my time as an iQuest intern at ACE. When I look back at everything God did that summer, even before I was accepted into the program, I am amazed at His goodness and faithfulness.

I am type A personality through and through. I want everything planned to a “T” before I ever commit to saying yes to something. Some call it a control issue, I like to say I’m just very organized… Flash back to 10 years ago, when I felt God calling me to apply for the ACE internship going into the summer after my second year of college.

I had been to Jamaica twice already for a week at a time the previous two years, and I KNEW without a shadow of a doubt that I was going to get that internship. I had never been more sure of something God wanted for my life before.

And guess what? I didn’t get in.

I honestly can’t remember the reason I was told; something about someone who was supposed to intern the year prior but had to back out was able to come this year. Needless to say, I was devastated. Not even particularly because I didn’t get in, but because I was so sure that’s where God wanted me to be. Oh, and now I had to totally reorganize my plans for the summer.

A couple of months went by, and I had started filling my upcoming summer with a job, family beach trip, and different outings with friends. And just as everything started coming together, I got a call from Marla. Another something came up, and the internship was mine if I still wanted it.

Of course I wanted it. But my controlling mind was freaking out. So many logistics to think through – now I have to cancel all my summer plans, plan and pack for the internship, AND raise the funds to be able to actually get to Jamaica. All in about a month.

Somewhere in the craziness of all of the preparation, it hit me – God was already working in my life through the months leading up to the internship.

Where I felt unequipped and even unwanted since I wasn’t originally accepted into the internship, He was gently reminding me that I had the internship all along. Because it was His plan for me. He just needed me to release control and trust in Him and His timing, not my own.

Not surprisingly, God came through in every way, helping me raise the funds I needed, get everything in order, and have the best summer of my life. A summer that pushed and challenged and strengthened me in every possible way – physically, spiritually, emotionally, professionally, mentally, etc.

And I wouldn’t change it for the world.

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God’s Expectations Vs. Mine

by American-Caribbean Experience | May 24, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship

Long-time ACE volunteer Tina Gerke shared the following story with our team after her recent trip to Jamaica.

It’s been almost 23 years since I first stepped foot in Jamaica. I would have never believed all the changes and lessons that I was to learn along the way! Being so young in leadership, I thought I knew a whole lot. My passion did not match my wisdom though, and God was so patient in molding and pruning me.

Not often do I stop and take a good long look back. But my last two weeks at ACE have given me that exact opportunity. A look back at hopes and dreams, some that have been realized and some that were shattered, walking a road that I could not even see when I first started saying yes to Jesus!

What I didn’t realize then was that God had plans for me that involved crossed paths with Allen, Marla, and the whole ACE family. People that became family and mentors long before I even knew I needed them. I have watched for decades as they have, without fail, remained steadfast and obedient. The lessons I have learned watching them, learning from them, and seeing them walk out their faith is reflected through our ministry and how God has molded me to be.

God doesn’t always do what we want. I am hard headed and always had to learn the hard way. I wanted my way and even thought that my way was surely right and better.

I had a dream of speaking and writing a book of devotions one day. I used to dream of having audiences sitting at the edge of their seats listening with anticipation of jumping up in surrender and it was all because of what I said! Dreaming of people loving me and my ministry. And in the ugliness of my pride, God started pruning. I found myself softening and listening more than talking. And my passionate speeches actually turned into passionate prayers. I have been walking a road of getting older with not as much energy or capacity to keep up with my 20-year-old Tina expectations.

BUT what I have fallen in love with is the fact that my expectations of myself aren’t even close to what God actually wants to use me for. Once I started truly surrendering, I realized that He has been developing me into someone I wouldn’t have even recognized two decades ago! Someone who now is blessed beyond words to pray over people. I have been beaten up enough in life to know that it isn’t Tina’s words, or Tina’s actions that will ever save anyone. Tina can’t defeat an enemy on her own, one that won’t ever stop warring against her God. BUT GOD CAN! And not only can He but HE WILL!

I sat on the rock this past month reflecting on all of the places God has allowed me to go and see and the people He has brought in and out of my life. How so many of our stories intersect right there on that tiny island in one of the poorest areas we will ever visit. Surrounded by more joy and love than most will ever feel.

ACE has given me such a gift in allowing me to glean from every area of their ministry. To not only become lifelong friends with so many, but family!

Just this past trip, I got to witness a young man become overcome with the Spirit moving that after praying over D’Vaun, he sprinted to the rock and fell on his knees before the Lord.

I have seen kids cry out to Jesus to heal, break chains, and use them! I have kids and adults come face to face with sin and fall on their knees before Jesus. So much healing, so much life and so much love!

People used to ask me why I keep going back to the same place, and my response will never change. You build relationships with people and show them along the way in addition to telling them about Jesus. And that changes everything.

Thank you, ACE! Thank you, Allen and Marla, for being the obedient servants that have prayed over a community, land, island, and people for decades! Because of your obedience, you have been able to use your place for more than Jamaican ministry, but also for a host of Americans whose lives will eternally be different! Mine at the top of the list.

Tina Gerke

two women smiling and enjoying the dining room at Galina Breeze

Jamaican children celebrating Christmas with a mission team

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Protecting Donor Gifts Amid USPS Issues

by American-Caribbean Experience | Apr 29, 2024 | Community

It is always ACE’s top priority to protect the gifts we receive from our donors. That’s why we want to make you aware of recent issues that we’ve experienced with the Atlanta USPS and offer alternatives to continue supporting ACE in timely and secure ways.

In recent months, we have seen two different issues with the Atlanta postal service. Donor checks are being returned to donors and never making it to our office, or ACE is receiving donor checks several months after they were sent in the mail.

For more information on the issues the Atlanta USPS is experiencing, you can read an article from 11Alive News here, or another article from American Thinker here.

In an effort to make sure that none of your gifts are ever lost in the system, we encourage you to send your gifts electronically if possible.

Here are your options for sending electronic donations:

Set up a recurring donation using a credit card via PayPal on our website here.
Send donations via Zelle, directed to accounting@acexperience.org.
Contact your bank directly to have them wire money directly to our account at Truist.

If you choose to wire money through your bank, you will need to provide them with the following information:

American Caribbean Experience

7507 Roswell Road #101

Sandy Springs, GA 30350

You will also need our routing number and account number, which we are happy to provide you via email at office@acexperience.org.

If you prefer to send a check, please use FedEx Ground or UPS.

If you have any questions or need further information, please email office@acexperience.org. We apologize for any inconvenience these issues have caused, and we appreciate your patience and continued support of our ministry.

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Marla’s Minute: Still Seeing God At Work 36 Years Later

by American-Caribbean Experience | Apr 29, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community

I’m Old….

That’s what I was thinking inside my head as I was standing beside a group of teenagers and college students this spring. We began the famous bucket brigade slinging gravel onto ACE’s greenhouse floor. The fact that ACE has aged about 36 years since the beginning shouldn’t impact me at all physically…or am I just off in my addition?

Either way, it’s still happening…those extra minutes of staying in bed before starting the day with pops and cracking in the joints. Getting to the work site only to see that our Jamaican ACE staff already got the volunteers briefed, lined up, and ready to go.

Watching the ACE staff take the lead and owning what used to be just a job is exciting and a promise coming true for me personally. More and more, I find I have time to read my emails, have conversations with the friends of ACE who come through our doors, and well, just savor the moments of a successful ministry that has grown in a direction no one could have foreseen.

Yes, I’m older; and perhaps to youth, I’m old. But most of all, I’m so proud of our national and U.S. staff that have played a vital part of ACE. The succession that ACE has planned for years is taking place, and I get to be a part of seeing God at work. It’s an answer to prayer.

My advice to you: don’t let time catch you waking up and wondering where all the time went. Rather, be intentional with your relationships, your goals, and your passions. Then, smile as God gives you the time to grow old alongside the new team that takes up the mantle and moves up front.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:8-9

Those of you coming to serve with us in Jamaica this summer, get ready! Jamaicans are running ACE like never before. And I’m so excited for you to see what a great and exciting time it is for ACE, all thanks to the Lord.

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Marla’s Minute: A Home Run For Lashauna

by American-Caribbean Experience | Feb 26, 2024 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

Last week, ACE had our annual Men’s & Women’s Conference in St Mary. However, unlike the past 16 years of holding the conference at Galina Breeze Hotel, we moved the conference to an outside event space, Buccaneers Jerk & Juice Centre.

When some very insightful men from Trinity on the Hill started the Men’s & Women’s Conference back in 2007, only a few people attended. Fast forward to last year, we had over 150 people attend our short 3-night event filled with worship music, a great message, and our desire to spread God’s Word to everyone.

As seasons change, so does ACE. We realized that we wanted to not only reach our friends and neighbors around the hotel, but also reach the many homes and families that surrounded Green Life Farm where Buccaneers Jerk & Juice is held. By making the move, ACE created an open-air venue just like our weekend movie night on the lawn that Buccaneers holds every Saturday and Sunday evening.

The same loyal team of adults from Trinity on the Hill in the States showed up ready to serve no matter what. Game chairs were set up, we all wore our favorite sports shirts, made popcorn, and just enjoyed each other’s company. Jeff Chandler and Annaleise Stennet led the music while everyone else joined along.

This year’s theme was all about setting a baseline, meaning everyone has a baseline they follow throughout life. Pastor Omar from Church on the Rock challenged everyone spiritually by connecting the fact that every sports game has rules and guidelines players must follow to win with the fact that people who want to know what God’s Truth is must follow a set of guidelines in order to start their spiritual journey with Christ.

One of our favorite testimonies from the conference surrounds one of ACE’s sponsor students, Lashauna. For 21 years now, Lashauna has been unable to go anywhere but her bed, house, and hospital. Although she was born perfectly healthy, Lashauna endured a medical mistake as an infant that left her crippled.

Lashauna’s sponsors recently purchased her a brand new wheelchair that reclines and ensures she is strapped in safely. Friends of ACE were able to go to Lashauna’s home and help get her ready to attend the conference in her new wheelchair. And what can we say? She loved it!

What’s more, her wheelchair has proven to be a huge blessing in several areas of her life. Now, Lashauna’s mother, Latoya, can take her to work a few days a week and also let her more easily be a part of what ACE is doing around the community.

Now that’s a home run!