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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Marla’s Minute: Melrose is a Rose

Marla’s Minute: Melrose is a Rose

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

Our Community is Transforming

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

ACE goes DEEP and not WIDE

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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