microenterprise | 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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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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Paying off the Farm

by American-Caribbean Experience | Jan 27, 2022 | Community

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

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New Year, New Faces

by American-Caribbean Experience | Jan 27, 2022 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Education, Outreach

ACE is always changing! That is to be expected when people are involved in the lives of others, and this year will be no different in Jamaica.

Remember our own Anthony, the beekeeper? Well, Anthony is all grown up, out of school for the moment (he graduated), and he lives with his sister in nearby Hampstead. Always ready to learn a new skill, Anthony works with one of our men who repairs our pumps at the farm and makes a nice living. But what about the bees and the honey he left behind?

Introducing Romario, our new beekeeper! Romario was just beginning to start his own beehives in the Bonney Gate community, close to where Pastor Kermit lives. As Anthony was transitioning to a full-time job outside of ACE, he and Romario started working together at the Campus. While Anthony has the long-term training, thanks to local and foreign volunteers, Romario has learned to breed queen bees at lightning speed. We’ve been told by Mr. Haywood the Bee Master that this is quite a skill to do as the production of honey triples.

All we know is more bees means more honey and more honey means more sweetness pouring out of ACE! The business of bees continues for another passionate young man, and we already see him buzzing with success!

Thank you, David and Valerie, for donating the extractor. We have it set up in the Campus living room looking like a new piece of furniture. You get the first bottle we will harvest this spring.

This is what Changing Lives is all about for ACE. We are so proud of these young men growing up and pursuing their passion, learning new skills, and always changing for the better. And thank YOU for supporting our honey business. It’s just sooo sweet!

Click image below to scroll through photo gallery

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Marla’s Minute: Change is Good!!

by American- Caribbean Experience | Oct 25, 2021 | Book A Trip, Community, Outreach

If you’ve ever been on a volunteer trip with Marla or her staff, you will hear almost every day, “Change is good!” The rain might come and the outdoor work may stop – no problem, because ACE always has a plan B… and C…and D…and so on.

ACE is a friend to change and that’s why we believe we have survived these challenging few years. Long before COVID, we had in our Trip Guide what we called The 5 Statements of ACE.

Let’s review and see if any of these foundation quotes have been used in the past few years of change… and how these also may have helped you in your everyday life!

I’m here to serve and not to be served. This has been the real test… are we still serving God and each other versus having a pity party and wanting things to be back the way they were?
You can’t make it tough enough for me to complain. Anyone complain recently or at all this year?
I left all my expectations at home. Did you expect things to get back to normal sooner than it is? We sure did.
It’s just the way I like it! No matter what is served up, are you ready to change your outlook to enjoy the experience?
And finally, the one we love the most…
Flexibility is the key to success! My favorite tree is the palm tree. I’ve watched it bend when a hurricane hit us, and it almost touched the ground as it took the battering of the wind and the rain. After the hurricane passed, it looked sort of like me on a bad hair day… perfectly fine and all there but looking a little worn.

With each month that passes, we find we are more and more flexible to the changes that come through our doors, onto our island and through the news. It’s such a strong reminder that God is still in charge. He loves us more than we love each other and, most of all, He reminds us through unexpected change that, through Him, “it is well with our souls.” I hope you come to the same conclusion during your seasons of change, always remembering that peace comes from within, not from what surrounds us.

Oh, one last change to point out, one that we love: Galina Breeze Hotel has a new look! We decided it was time to upgrade our image at the hotel with a new brand logo and new colors. When you come down, let us know what you think of the rebranding. It’s just the way we like it… and we hope you’ll like it, too!