Many Hands Make Light Work

Many Hands Make Light Work

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!

A New Dawn, A New Day in Child Sponsorship

A New Dawn, A New Day in Child Sponsorship

Most of you know or have heard us mention Dawn, our Child Sponsorship Stateside Coordinator. She has worked diligently for nine years with our Jamaican staff via email and phone calls, coordinating sponsor/child relationships, home visits, and learning about the needs of the children in our program.

What’s amazing about Dawn is that you can mention a student’s name and she will know every detail about that child and his or her sponsorship. She’s a walking Child Sponsorship encyclopedia. Marla mentioned in a previous newsletter, how, even during a hospital stay, she had her computer open, keeping the sponsorship program current, without missing a beat. She has taken this role into her heart and truly makes this impact area of ACE shine.

So, we are so sad to announce that she is retiring in the next few weeks. While we know many great things await her and her husband as they plan their own adventures, we will miss her deeply. Transition is hard, but, in this case, the job is staying in the family in the best possible way — not just our ACE family but Dawn’s family!

Remember Amber, or rather Ms. Amba?  She is Dawn’s niece and an integral part of ACE’s history. Seventeen years ago, she came to ACE on a short mission trip, came back as an intern, worked on our Stateside staff, then volunteered full-time with ACE in Jamaica for five years, leading the iQuest program, teams and education initiatives. Amber has seen and done just about everything ACE-related, even helped with the initial setup of the Child Sponsorship program, as she saw the needs of kids and families through her interactions at the schools, even sometimes taking a child into her home.

The Child Sponsorship program and its processes have been streamlined over the years by all who have had a hand in it, both in Jamaica and in the states. How fitting it is for Dawn to hand the baton back over to Amber, now a mom herself, well-versed in the needs of the children of St. Mary and the workings of our ACE ministry. Welcome back, Amber, and best of luck, Dawn! We love you both!

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Back to School!

Back to School!

While the Ministry of Education is maneuvering the system and making changes daily, our students hardly seem to notice as they enjoy the official start of the 2023 school season. It feels great for us and for them to have a sense of normalcy finally. Smiles and laughs greeted us at our annual (again!) backpack distribution event, where we gave out book bags, supplies and books to each student in our Child Sponsorship Program. Thanks to our sponsors, the day was not only well received by the many students but their parents as well.

ACE staff seemed to enjoy the event as our own Arlene was present with her camera, taking pics of each child as they displayed their name on a sign to identify them after all this time. If you have ever had a child, you know they can grow rapidly from one year to the next – try two!! We loved to see how much they’ve changed and how ready they are for this new year ahead!

Remember all that PB&J we ask each team to bring down? Well, every student received their own PB&J to take home and share. ACE will always find a way to utilize what teams bring down, and this has been a long-standing traditional donation from our volunteers. Kids learn better when they are fed and happy, so we are starting the school year on the right foot, thanks to all of you!

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Until We Meet Again

Until We Meet Again

Pastor Kermit Jones was such a special man to all of us at ACE and our community. He transitioned to Heaven on January 26, 2022, at home with his daughter Enna and his long-time friend and caregiver, Orlando, by his side. 

We are still processing his passing and compiling the right words and stories to tell. He made us laugh when he said to remember his name like Kermit the Frog; his humor and good nature could always light up a room. His preaching and worship would inspire us, and his wisdom could fill endless books.

We are reading so many wonderful comments on our social media from all of you about your experiences with Pastor Kermit. Thank you for helping us remember him! We know God has welcomed him with open arms, for if anyone was prepared for his Eternal home, it was him. His life on earth touched so many souls and his memory will continue to do so. He will be missed.

Paying off the Farm

Paying off the Farm

Remember the ask ACE made to all of you the last quarter of 2021 to help us pay off the Green Life Llanrumney Farm? As you know, the farm is the place where all our micro-businesses will flourish to keep us hiring more and more Nationals. We want to keep you posted on how we are doing in raising the $700k needed by 2024.

Take a look at the graph to see how it’s going. Pretty impressive, we think. It’s also a faith-builder for ACE and, hopefully, for all of you who gave the funding to help us reach these goals. So far, with the help of many generous sponsors, we went over the $100k mark in 2021. Thank you!

If you are led to help us get to the $350k mark by summer and $500k by December, we would be grateful. After all, seeing is believing – and seeing is always a confirmation that it was completed in the supernatural world before it became visible in the natural.

Just watch what God will do this year… and it’s all good!

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28