Jamaica | American-Caribbean Experience

ACE’s Four Impact Buckets Unite for Spring!

by American-Caribbean Experience | Mar 26, 2025 | Community, Discipleship, Education, Outreach

What a fantastic start to our 2025 outreach year in St. Mary, Jamaica! In February, our medical and dental teams served the community, providing exams, cleanings, fillings, and other essential wellness services.

This month, our ACE team, along with volunteers from the States, helped feed and care for many elderly and special needs neighbors who lack support. They also helped clean their homes. It was inspiring to see college and high school students make such a significant impact in the lives of the lonely and hungry. In just four days, we received an overwhelmingly positive response to our staff and volunteers’ loving hospitality.

The Ricardo Ranch

While love, care, and support are essential, nothing compares to the impact of a dedicated team like the one from Ringgold Baptist in Ringgold, GA. Each year, they generously offer their construction skills to address a critical need: providing safe, dry housing for those in need.

This year, they supported Ricardo, a construction worker who suffered a life-changing accident when he fell from a roof and broke his neck. Despite being paralyzed from the waist down, Ricardo’s spirit and hope inspire everyone around him, making it hard for anyone to complain.

Thanks to ACE’s commitment and the many hands that joined in, we built Ricardo a new home. Just today, Ricardo moved in and can finally call this place home, all thanks to the generosity of those who dedicated their time to make a difference in his life.

Education & Edgehill

Many of you may remember that ACE is the primary sponsor for helping Edgehill School of Special Education meet its specific needs outside the classroom. This year, we aimed to transform a large closet into a computer lab, where 13 donated computers and a whiteboard will enable special needs students to access the world beyond their reach.

Construction began one day and was completed by noon the next. All that remains is for the electrician to install the electrical outlets, and then we’ll be ready for the students to embark on their journey to explore the “safe web.”

Our volunteers enjoyed reading, singing, and interacting with the classes during construction. It’s hard to say who had more fun at Edgehill—us or the students.

Help for Hampstead

Volunteers can’t discuss ACE without mentioning the “bucket brigade.” It’s true—ACE is known for tackling challenging projects in just a few days.

This week, Hampstead Primary School, one of our sponsored schools, requested our help to finish their multi-purpose court, which will be used for sports events and general assemblies. This month, we began constructing the seating for attendees.

This will be a full summer program, as it takes more than just a few days to complete. ACE is committed to our students and schools. If you’ve never participated in a “bucket brigade,” there’s still plenty of time to sign up. Many hands make the work light!

Hampstead Elementary School Construction Project

Fun and Discipleship during the Hampstead Elementary School Construction Project

Bucket Brigades at Hampstead Elementary School

Pigs & Microbusinesses

What do pigs and microbusinesses have in common? In some businesses, the answer might be a lot of fat. But not with ACE! The Green Life Farm pig pen business is thriving at Buccaneers, where Jamaicans flock to enjoy delicious jerk pork sandwiches and ribs.

Our pigs have outgrown their pens. So this month, with the help of volunteers from Kansas City Christian School, we tore down the old pens and constructed new ones—all in one day! This is what happens when you have seniors in tip-top shape doing the work. Our farm staff truly appreciated the assistance.

While most of the work is completed, we still have a few posts and some painting left. The pens almost look nice enough to spend a little time with the pigs… almost!

In other great news, we recently received a call from a couple we’ve come to love, Marty and Christa Bevel from Kentucky. They asked if they could assist on the farm for a month. Our answer was a resounding YES! We met Marty and Christa years ago and invited them to visit ACE about four years back. This time, they felt called by God to help us, and we couldn’t be more grateful. God always brings us the most incredible help!

Spiritual Development

Marty and Christa are knowledgeable about pigs, chickens, cows, and all things farming. More importantly, they have an incredible love for Jesus, which shines through in everything they do.

The Jamaican staff at the farm has fallen in love with them and even asked them to stay longer. Marty leads daily staff devotions to start the day, while Christa invests in the ladies on the farm and our ACE staff. We have all come to love them and will miss them when they return to Kentucky. But we’re keeping the lights on for them and expect a return visit. Please pray for a longer stay!

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God’s Miracles at Long Road Clinic

by American-Caribbean Experience | Feb 24, 2025 | Outreach

It had been a full year since any medical or dental team had been able to make the hour-and-half-long journey to the Long Road Clinic in St. Mary.

So when our ACE providers recently made the trip, they were met with many grateful smiles and sighs of relief. We were told that ACE has been the only professional medical team willing to take on the washed-out roads, trekking for miles to serve our little community.

Thanks to the gracious hospitality of the local Catholic Church, we were able to set up in our usual spot and provide much-needed medical, dental, and spiritual care to those who had been waiting for so long.

And then—just after we left—the road gave way. A complete collapse.

Had it washed away before we arrived, we would have never reached all of the wonderful people who needed our help. Had it collapsed while we were there, well… we might still be there!

But God’s timing is never early or late—He’s always on time. He held up the road just long enough for us to get back to Galina Breeze Hotel and, more importantly, to ensure every person in the community received the care they needed.

Thank you to all who make these clinics possible.

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Marla’s Minute: Unto the Least of These

by American-Caribbean Experience | Feb 24, 2025 | Book A Trip, Community, Outreach

The heart of ACE has always been and will always be focused on people. We call Jamaicans “our people,” “our seniors,” and “our extended families.” When you come to Jamaica to volunteer, you can rest assured that one of the days, if not two, will be spent in our community with one of “our people,” through our AMI visits.

This month made the top of the list compared to all of our previous Februarys for reaching out and helping our elderly and those in need. Friends bought food for distribution and helped clean up individuals and their living spaces. We even had friends assist our ACE staff by singing and reading to our elders. They were also treated to a gardening lesson or two from local yards.

Does it feel good to leave a home seeing smiles on our seniors’ faces? You bet it does! I just pray and hope someone will come visit me when it’s my time to rest. And hopefully have a garden of something to show or a song to sing.

Thank you, friends, for never growing tired of doing good for the least of these.

Blessings,
Marla

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Now That’s a Bunch of Bull!

by American-Caribbean Experience | Jan 28, 2025 | Outreach

Starting a micro-enterprise going into the cattle business was no joke, as we knew nothing about raising cattle. We went in blind. The lessons taught were hard to swallow. We made plenty of mistakes; but now, we are reaping the “beef steaks.”

Growing the herds, as well as discovering how to efficiently separate the heifers, bulls, calves, and pregnant mothers, were just a couple of lessons we had to learn. Pastures had to be recreated for them all. Our farm staff work tirelessly each day to feed, water, and restrain fences to keep the cattle in their pastures.

Due to the large number of bulls we had, we needed to sell some off. We sold our second set of bulls this past week, which will help us finance a slaughterhouse that will humanly butcher one cow at a time and is built to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Health. The funds raised will also allow us to create a “shoot” that will guide the cattle straight into the trucks, significantly easing the load off of our farm staff, as well as the cattle.

We could not have done this alone. Over the past several years, our teams have assisted us in making the pastures, clearing them out (especially after the hurricane), and building a holding area for the cattle. Thank you to ALL of our sponsors who believed in us over the years, assisted in purchasing the cattle, came down to give advice, and lent a helping hand.

God is in all of this and yes, it’s a lot of bull, but for us, it’s a also a lot of supernatural direction. We never do anything without asking for God’s coverage and guidance, and He has made it happen over and over again. Praise God! We have to take the bulls by the horns and sometimes by the tail. That’s just life, and we are so grateful.

Blessings,
Althia Foster

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Marla’s Minute: All I Want For Christmas

by American-Caribbean Experience | Dec 23, 2024 | Outreach

The economy has been skyrocketing to the moon these days. A single head of cabbage is approximately $20 US at the grocery store. While our farm staff plants as much as possible in the rich soil, ACE and its micro-businesses consume every vegetable grown. We even make natural drinks with our fruits. What is not used is given to our families in need with homemade soups and drinks. Needless to say, food is in high demand.

People ask us all the time what they can do to help. Lately, it’s all about providing and growing pure, clean food. ACE is preparing to grow food from 9 ft. aeroponic towers inside our greenhouse, which has been restored since Hurricane Beryl blew by in June. Each tower can grow food from planting to reaping within 52 days. We’ve done our homework and believe this will be a game-changer for all of us. Lettuce, carrots, peppers, micro-greens — you name it, we will grow it for the hotel, the food court, the neighbors, and the supermarkets. It will be a defining moment for all of us in 2025.

What do I want for Christmas this year? You guessed it, more aeroponic towers! They ship from Memphis, TN. Each tower costs approximately $850 US, including shipping. Our goal is to purchase 100 towers, and we currently have enough funds for 52 towers. Would you consider purchasing a growing tower for Green Life Fresh as an end-of-year tax-deductible donation?

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If you want to learn more about the aeroponic towers, you can check out this PowerPoint here or watch this video here.

Thank you for helping us focus on making healthy and real food for our community, so we can in turn build healthy and real relationships with the people we serve. Merry Christmas!