Discipleship | American-Caribbean Experience

Movers and Shakers

by American-Caribbean Experience | Jun 24, 2022 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Outreach

Summer has barely begun, and we are already in awe of our volunteers and staff! We believe that success starts when leadership leads, and that’s exactly what Courtney and Emily Simmons, board members for ACE, did to get our season going. The Simmons brought their own family as well as long-time ACE friends from Sugar Hill Church who have invested their time and muscle over the years to be the first team of the summer. Despite busy schedules, they made ACE a priority and, boy, did they get things done!

For starters, do you remember single mom LaToya from last month’s newsletter, our very own “Jamaican Cowgirl” who was learning to train horses to round up cattle? We mentioned that she and her children received a home a few years ago through our sponsorship program. Well, they’ve moved – their house moved – literally!

During the first week of June, the team and our staff helped LaToya dismantle her home piece by piece to store at Green Life Llanrumney Farms until our July volunteers are able to build it back for her on the Green Life Village property. It’s an unconventional way to move from one location to another, but it works! LaToya and her children will stay for free at the farmhouse on the property in the meantime until her home is rebuilt. It will be the first home placed at the village this summer, and ACE plans to build her an indoor bathroom in the new location.

The team also cleaned out our water tanks and got our farm one step closer to being made whole for future employment of local farmers. Not to be outdone, in week two, we had a small but mighty team that cleared out our 16’ cistern and worked hard on the farm. After several weeks of no volunteers, it was a joy to see so many accomplishments in a row!

Thank you all for getting things off to a great start, for giving up vacations and taking time to serve. We can’t wait for the rest of our teams to keep the ball rolling!

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Marla’s Minute: Melrose is a Rose

by American-Caribbean Experience | May 23, 2022 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Outreach

I love those moments where special people make an impression. One of those for me this year was from one of our wonderful partner churches, Trinity on the Hill, during our Men and Women’s Conference last February. While we’ve been to Trinity many times, have had volunteers come down and even have had members serve on our Board for years, I had never gotten to know Melrose that well until recently.

Melrose has suffered the loss of her daughter and her husband over the past few years, but she is one of those people who never lets loss keep her from finding joy. She is thankful for every day and finds her purpose in making others happy.

Melrose journeyed to Jamaica to serve ACE and help us with our conference and all the day-to-day work that comes with it. When she got home, she wrote a little journal entry about her time here. With her permission, we thought you would enjoy her perspective and outlook on life. I know we did. Thank you, Melrose, and we look forward to seeing you in Jamaica soon.

Blessed

Do we go on mission trips to serve or be served?

Do we go on mission trips to bless or to be blessed?

I thought I knew the answer to that question.

I did not.

The last night of the prayer conference, I asked the women in my small group to list their prayer requests so I could take them home with me. You might think the women would ask for prayer for things that might make their lives easier, but they asked me to pray for them to know God better and serve Him more.

The Jamaican people we met have very little, yet those who know Jesus praise Him through circumstances we cannot imagine surviving.

Their requests humbled me:

“To listen and follow God’s way, not my way.”

“Give me opportunities to be Your servant and an example.”

“To serve God more.”

The women I was supposed to serve, served me.

The women I was supposed to bless, blessed me.

“You will be blessed when you come in and you will be blessed when you go out.” ~ Deuteronomy 28:6

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Our Community is Transforming

by American-Caribbean Experience | May 23, 2022 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Education, Outreach

ACE’s vision from the beginning has been “changing lives and transforming communities” one person at a time. One of our most needy communities that lines our farm property is Hampstead, and one woman we met there through our sponsorship program is a testament to that transformation.

Meet LaToya Newell, a sponsored child’s mother who received a home several years ago with her four children. LaToya used to be what we call a haggler. She would buy our things from thrift shop and other shops, then flip them to make income for her and her family. Hard times fell on LaToya, who also has a special-needs child, and much of her income shut down.

Until…

ACE needed an animal caretaker at our micro-business, Green Life Llanrumney Farms. For those of you who don’t know the story about the farm, in short, it’s for ACE to incubate small agriculture businesses for our local families who are unemployed and want to work but have no training or ability to compete in the tourist trade market miles away.

That’s where Ricky comes into LaToya’s life. Ricky is one of six horses GLLF has on property to be trained to round up cattle when they get “way up in the bush” and LaToya is going to teach him! At first, she was very nervous about being close to such a big animal (her first time). But after the introduction, the bathing, the saddling, and then the riding, she’s getting to be a natural – a real “Jamaican Cowgirl,” says LeRoy, our horse trainer in St. Mary who is working with her.

LaToya said it is great therapy for getting back to the simple things that really make a day at work fun and fulfilling. It started with a sponsored child, then a family, a home, a skill, a future. Thank you, sponsors, for changing this life and ultimately transforming our community one person at a time.

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ACE goes DEEP and not WIDE

by American-Caribbean Experience | May 23, 2022 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Education, Outreach

How many times have you heard ACE say “ACE goes deep, not wide” about the way we do life with our community? In three decades, we’ve never changed that direction of depth vs width. We can’t reach every single person in St. Mary, but we hope that those we DO reach and invest in – emotionally, spiritually, financially – will be changed for the better as they then go out to help others.

Do you remember little Orlando from Bonny Gate? We remember meeting him when he was in third grade at Jackson Primary, one of our first sponsored schools. Orlando would run up with eggs in his hand to give us from some of his wild chickens in the yard.

As you may know, that little boy grew up and became the caretaker of Pastor Kermit until he passed earlier this year, and now Orlando’s farming again.

He was one of ACE’s first recipients of a loan with which he purchased his first cow named Betsy. Orlando now owns thirteen cows and sells them to grow his other farm business – pigs. Just this month, he called and asked if we needed any piggies as his pigs Penney and Peggy both had 14 babies each. Now that’s a record!

The farming experience has not only been educational and profitable for Orlando, but it’s been a spiritual journey as well. When Orlando first began to raise pigs, he had a big beautiful one named Tamarind. A man in the community with a reputation for being cruel poisoned Orlando’s pig out of jealousy. Tamarind died a horrible death, and Orlando was devastated and very angry. Years later, as the wicked man lay on his death bed, he asked for Orlando to visit him. Orlando didn’t want to go, but his curiosity got the best of him. The man asked his forgiveness.

ACE provides the opportunities, and opportunities provide life lessons and purpose. We are very proud of our young men like Orlando; no matter how many challenges pull them off the path, they get right back on and do what they are called to do. In Orlando’s case, that’s farming, which creates a business for him and food for others. Our investment in relationships runs deep, and that will make all the difference.

Please keep Orlando in your prayers as he still struggles with the loss of Pastor Kermit whom he called “father”. He still has us and we will be there for the long haul.

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Child Sponsorship Fun & Friendship!

by American-Caribbean Experience | Mar 29, 2022 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Education, Outreach

Curfews and mask mandates have ended! ACE is so happy to restore something we always did before the COVID years, and that is to hold a pool party for our sponsored students and staff families. Our friends and volunteers from the States took full advantage of the opportunity to bring smiles and laughter to our community families. It’s these little things that bring back the normalcy in the lives of children and their parents. Why worry when you can swim!

On a personal note, last summer, a college student came down with a team and learned about our sponsorship program. After returning home, she sent an inquiry through our website and was matched up with a child on our sponsorship list. When Emily returned to Jamaica in March, she was able to meet with Neilo live and in person! They had a great afternoon of getting to know each other.

As Emily shared at her group’s debrief at the end of the day, every month when she sent in her support for her student, she wondered if she would get to see her sponsored child as sometimes organizations can’t always guarantee an in-person meeting.

ACE does. When Emily saw Neilo, instantly there was a great connection. She told her peers that it was her high for the trip to see how she’s making a difference in someone else’s life, seeing how she truly has impact. We think the Frisbee Emily brought Neilo might have been a winning factor as well, but there is no doubt that a new friendship has been made!

Never think one person can’t make a difference! There are real smiles and real stories behind every donation, especially in our Child Sponsorship program. And there is no experience required to be a sponsor — just love! Thank you all for the awesome support you give ACE through your sponsorships. It does not go unnoticed and we are grateful.

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At the Last Minute

by American-Caribbean Experience | Mar 29, 2022 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Outreach

As soon as the previous Men and Women’s Conference wraps up each year, we are already setting the date for the next one. So, 2022’s conference dates had been on our calendar since last March, with lots of interest brewing and the format in the making. Our friends from Trinity on the Hill continued to support the program (now in year 16) as the backbone of running the men’s side, Teresa was coming back with many other familiar faces to organize the women, and our long-time worship leader Paul was set to return, and then….

Suddenly, Paul had a huge schedule conflict which meant he sadly had to decline coming to Jamaica. Pastor Helen, who normally presents to the group, could not come again this year as she had family challenges which required her constant attention, and so many other conference veterans had to bow out due to other issues. While we understood, missed them and prayed for their busy lives, we wondered what God was up to. ACE was just weighing the decision to cancel when God gave us another way! Pastor Omar and Lady Stennet from Church on the Rock in Ochi (our local church) said they would be happy to take over the speaking and music this year! Hallelujah!

The theme for this year’s conference was “Stay the Course”. So many of us have had our world turned upside down and all around. Our comfort zones have been rattled, but, yet, God continues to call us to trust in Him and to stay the course on HIS path. He’s got this covered! When Pastor Omar was told about this theme, he and his wife jumped at it as it resonated in their own hearts that this is what God is calling us all to do.

Everything was executed beautifully, thanks to Teresa and Stephanie, our solid organizers, and our dear Roy who led his Trinity team. The music was great, the theme was something that every person needed to hear, and Roy and Marla got to watch great movies each evening by the pool with the kids under 12; watching animated movies that highlight Biblical stories is right up Roy and Marla’s alley.

Was the conference different? Yes. In many ways, it was better than ever. God led us down the right path to find the perfect people to speak the exact words we needed to hear. We filled our days before each evening’s conference working on the Peace House, helping out in ACE micro-businesses, baking and spending time in fellowship. The group that God brings together (and every year, this is true) is always the best, and we walk the road as a team, helping each other and all our conference participants to Stay the Course! Join us next year; the dates are set: February 25 – March 1, 2023!