Outreach | American-Caribbean Experience

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!

Lashauna headed to the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

Lashauna at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

the crowd at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

attendees at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

concessions at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

worship at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

attending the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

preaching at the 2024 Men's & Women's Conference

2024 Men's & Women's Conference attendees

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Answering The Holy Spirit’s Call

by American-Caribbean Experience | Feb 26, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Outreach

In 2009, my wife and I took our first trip to Jamaica to serve with ACE. I recall our uncertainty on the long roller coaster ride from Montego Bay to Galina Breeze, survived only by the assistance of Dramamine. The main highway looks a lot better now than it did back then! We didn’t know what to expect or if we were even qualified to be there. We sat down by ourselves at a table in the corner – exhausted and questioning our sanity. A wide-eyed, recently married couple in our mid-twenties, we must have looked quite pitiful at our table surrounded by empty chairs.

A lady we did not know joined us. She sat down, introduced herself and we found ourselves having dinner with the founder of ACE. Through the course of our meal, we heard her origin story of how she found herself in Jamaica to begin with and how ACE had come to be. For some reason that I still don’t understand, at the end of our conversation I told her, “Well, we are in!”

Anyone who has served with ACE knows that there is a presence of the Holy Spirit there that is both palpable and beyond comprehension. Even though I didn’t entirely understand what I was saying in that moment, the Holy Spirit was pulling us in and making it clear that we were a part of this now. It took one meal and less than an hour.

Fast-forward to 2024 and we had the privilege of serving with ACE on a combined medical and dental team from February 3-10. The team consisted of doctors, nurses, dentists, hygienists, and servants from multiple states and even New Zealand.

Aches and pains, high blood pressure, diabetes, and dental abscesses were the primary diagnoses for the week and a multitude of patients were served with both medical but also spiritual care. In turn, the team was cared for with gratitude and the occasional gift of fruit from our patients. I always leave for home after a week in Jamaica feeling as though I had received much more than I could give.

However, the theme for the week was that of Hope, both present and future. I saw ACE staff that had grown and become leaders. I saw multiple generations of families serving together, including a dentist and her daughter, a physician and his family, a nurse with her son and a pastor from a church looking to establish a relationship with ACE for the first time.

I thought of Psalm 127: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” ACE family, your labor has not been in vain. The Lord has built this house! He brought up the founding generation of ACE, and he is bringing up the next generation to carry the mission forward. If you find yourself alone at the dinner table surrounded by empty chairs and wondering where you fit in, this is your invitation. God wants you in as well!

Josh & Jess Klepinger

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The Smith Family Next Door

by American- Caribbean Experience | Jan 23, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Outreach

ACE hosts site trips, which invite leaders to experience what ACE does and our “why” in Jamaica. Our most recent site trip happened last October, where we met Jennifer and Mitchell Smith. They are just starting a much-needed ministry called Wet Feet. But in the process, ACE invited the Smiths and their family to spend six weeks with us at the Campus, where they could rest and prepare for their weekend retreats in the States. And did we mention they also helped ACE with the farm, as well as outreach at ACE?

While we really didn’t know the Smiths when they arrived, we officially consider them an extension to our ACE family as they head back to the States this week.

To the Smith family, thank you for investing your time and talent with us and our National team. We will keep the lights on for you at the Campus, as we anticipate your return soon.

If you would like to know more about Wet Feet Ministries, go to their website or contact the Smiths at jennifer@wetfeetministries.org. God continues to raise up families that love Him and loves others., and we are so thankful to witness it happening in and through ACE as well.

little boy helping with christmas decorations

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The Mission & Vision of ACE

by American- Caribbean Experience | Oct 26, 2023 | Community, Discipleship, Education, Outreach

We’ve just released our latest video detailing the mission and vision of ACE. Even after 35 years, we’ve remained focused on our four main impact areas — education, wellness, micro enterprise, and spiritual development.

Please take a moment to watch the video below and discover what we’re currently doing to strengthen each of these impact areas.

Thank you for being a part of our mission and helping us meet the educational, physical, and spiritual needs of people in St. Mary, Jamaica. There’s always a way for you to be a part of what we’re doing at ACE. You can volunteer and plan a trip, sponsor a child, or show your support with a financial donation.

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Marla’s Minute: Generational Blessings

by American-Caribbean Experience | Jun 26, 2023 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Outreach

Earlier this month, ACE hosted a choir group from Augusta. This was somewhat new to ACE as we are used to having volunteers coming to work, sweat and serve. What a special blessing to not only see the projects done with love, but to hear in song their servant hearts.

During the week, one of the singers by the name of Carter came up to me one evening and asked if I remembered his big sister, Susanna, from 2010. Well, I have to say, remembering back some 13 years would be a big challenge for… well, let’s say anyone over 40, so I was honest and said no. Then he tweaked my memory with, “She was the high school student who, for her school project, took on the challenge of raising funds for the infirmary mattresses.” Immediately I knew who Susanna was!

My memory flashed back to the day when this high school senior said she wanted to make an impact through ACE helping our infirmary residents by replacing their 20-plus year-old warped mattresses. Of course, we said yes. Anyone who has served ACE pre-Covid at the infirmary understood why these particular mattresses needed to be retired and changed out for new ones.

Susanna single handedly replaced at least a dozen mattresses, allowing ACE to take the old ones back to Galina Breeze to wash, bleach and sun them in our green space down to the pool. After all the cleaning, we gave them to children in our sponsorship program who were sleeping on the floor.

I remember this time very well, and I looked at this handsome young man named Carter and smiled. Generational blessings. A sister that set an example for her brother to follow. Service before self.

I asked Carter if I could send Susanna a message; he smiled and said sure. As I wrote a small note to his sister – who now is married and just had a sweet baby – I thanked God that this young girl, now a mother, had such a great influence on her brother to come to ACE, and that I had the experience of witnessing that positive influence does make a difference in the family. Thank you, Carter, and thank you, Susanna.

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Many Hands Make Light Work

by American-Caribbean Experience | Mar 29, 2023 | Book A Trip, Community, Outreach

Many hands make light work

This old saying portrays a picture of what ACE has experienced this spring on the ground. For the first time in years, we have been blessed with many incredible volunteer teams in a row! Ranging from families, high school students, college teams, and a great mix of young adults, they came to help us get caught up on our many outreach programs. They worked tirelessly around St. Mary at the schools, on our farm, and even preparing for some new businesses and items coming online later this year. We’d love to highlight some of the many projects they worked on.

For those of you have contributed to many aspects of the Peace House, the update is that it’s almost complete! Yes, you have heard this before, but it’s true; we just had no idea how much back and forth it takes to complete a building like this. The final touch this week was the addition of the front doors. Thanks to some friends and donors of ACE, our doors were purchased and ready for painting. Granted, we still need a door opener and glass on the side, but just looking at these doors makes all of us swell with pride.

While all that was going on the Peace House, some of our volunteers focused on the Campus right next door, where our interns and long-term volunteers stay. It has been challenged for years with popping floor tiles and cracking in the main hall and the dining room. We decided to commission a group to chop it up and remove the tile, and what we found underneath was a beautiful terrazzo floor. It’s been there since the early 90s when the house was built. Anyone know how to make it come alive again? It’s dull but has potential. Every time we get this kind of help, we are pleasantly surprised at what our teams uncover. Thank you for making the old new again.

In the last few busy months, it’s been fun to see how our Jamaican ACE staff pulled together in such a great way to work with them and each other. Ms. Foster, our Executive Director, has done an excellent job training, teaching, and coaching all of us to work as a team. Charity and Brian Zalk and family have continually increased their availability on the ground with the ACE crew. Things are going so smoothly that Allen and Marla sit back and smile, pleased at how everyone is beginning to own their own lane. Keep all of us in your prayers as everyone is learning how to operate as a team.

Teamwork makes the dream work, another old saying… and in this case, we are so grateful for such a successful and fun start to the year!