Displays of Gratitude for Backpack Distribution Days

Displays of Gratitude for Backpack Distribution Days

by | Aug 26, 2024 | Education, Outreach

Long-time volunteer Arlene is currently in Jamaica helping ACE with our annual Backpack Distribution Days as we kick off a new school year. The following article is Arlene’s recap of this year’s event.

If it’s mid-August, then it must be time for me to journey back to Jamaica for our annual Backpack Distribution Days. It’s that hectic, crazy, fun three days when we give our students their new backpacks, complete with school supplies, ready-made uniforms, and/or fabric for ones that need a seamstress. Despite the heat–and yes, it’s very hot this time of year–it is something I look forward to every year.

The process starts with the students expressing their gratitude to their sponsors. We alternate each year between having them make a Christmas gift and writing thank-you notes. Our primary students are given a card with a picture to color and then inside, they write their thank you note. Our Second Story students, high schoolers grades 7-11, write their thank you notes on a store-bought note card. When they have finished this, they go to the next station to have Mr. Gooden review our contract with their parents. This contract lists our requirements for the students in our program and helps hold them accountable.

The next stop in our Backpack Distribution Days event is always the childrens’ favorite part—getting their backpacks. (See below for a couple of photos showing the children’s delight when looking into the backpack.) Of course, my favorite part in all of this is that I get to interact with each of our students while I take pictures of them including full-body photos for their personal page in our database and head-shots for their sponsors’ Christmas gifts.

Out of 157 students, there are always those reluctant few who just won’t smile, no matter how hard I try! And on the other side of the spectrum, we always have those charmers who want to do some extra poses. But the most noticeable takeaway each year is how tall they’ve grown. Some of our young men are now so tall that I jokingly said I might need a stepladder next year to take their head shots.

This year, in addition to the school supplies, each family went home with peanut butter, jelly, and two packs of fortified rice. We are so grateful to our friends in the States who purchase these rice packs for us. They are definitely a gift of mercy and love.

What stood out to me most this year was the overwhelming gratitude of our parents for our assistance in helping them care for and educate their children. One mother was so grateful that she had her child put on his school uniform to have us take and send pictures of him to his sponsors thanking them.

I am so thankful to God for the strength and stamina He has given me that makes it possible for me to return each August to be a part of Backpack Distribution Days!

Backpacks lines up for our Backpack Distribution Days
A Student in our ACE Child Sponsorship Program Receiving a Backpack
jamaican student
ACE student receiving a backpack
ACE student receiving a backpack
ACE student receiving school supplies
jamaican student
Student Receiving a Backpack
jamaican student
jamaican student
ACE student in our child sponsorship program
ACE student in our child sponsorship program
ACE Backpack Distribution Days
Student in our ACE Child Sponsorship Program
RETURN TO NEWSLETTER
Marla’s Minute: Let’s Hear it for the Boys

Marla’s Minute: Let’s Hear it for the Boys

by | Jun 24, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Outreach

Let’s hear it for the Boys…….

Remember last month’s Marla Minute when I said I was getting old? Well, this proves it. One of my many favorite songs during the 1980s (and many of you weren’t born yet!) was a song called “Let’s Hear It For The Boy”. Since Father’s Day falls in the middle of this month, we want to reflect on ACE’s admiration for the men and boys that help us at ACE.

In Jamaica, as in the states, we know that if it were not for the strength of men who come down to serve, all of us on the ground at ACE would have a much more challenging time in completing our many tasks that spring up. Just ask Allen; he is the tractor driver, who not only repairs the tractor, the bobcat, and the billy goat (as we call our large grass cutter) but drives them all when no one is around to help out. He sees firsthand the work that gets done when a strong team is serving. During one of our June weeks, we had 25 boys-to-men coming with our friend Tina’s team. These men, along with others throughout the month, have helped our men at ACE and on the farm finish the many hard and heavy things we don’t have the hands or feet to do. 

Before you ask, we are not forgetting our strong committed girls and women who are the experts at supervision and clean up after these guys complete the heavy lifting… and even do some heavy lifting themselves! It takes the unique talents of many to finish a project, and to all of our volunteers who give up their vacations and time at home to do the hard work here in St. Mary, we are grateful!

I know, it doesn’t fit our time in history to make these statements on the specific talents and strengths of men versus women. The world seems dead set on erasing our differences, but we are reminded that, to honor God, we are not to conform to the things of this world, “but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

Thank you, Allen and all the men that choose to make a difference, at ACE and at home. We hope you had a wonderful Father’s Day!

RETURN TO NEWSLETTER
30 Years of Growth

30 Years of Growth

by | Jun 24, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Outreach

“30 years of growth and some things never change”. That’s the thought I had this past week as I mixed concrete at GLLF with my team of 27. You may be thinking that I was bemoaning the opportunity that lay ahead of me, but I really wasn’t. I actually love cooking in the Jamaican sun while mixing concrete, by hand, surrounded by my family and team. It sure beats sitting in an office staring at a computer all day!

This summer was my 30th year serving with ACE, so I was very nostalgic all week long. I met Marla as a high school student back in 1994. She took me and a small team up around Mandeville to a place called Bethel. We spent ten days serving the local community in the same ways that many of you have since.

Some things have never changed: the heart and commitment that Allen, Marla and ACE have for the local community, a heart for service and compassion, which always finds creative ways to invest in those that need help but may feel uncomfortable asking for it.

For those of you that have been there, you know exactly what I am talking about. Many Jamaicans have a quiet need shrouded in pride that takes a bit of patience and perseverance to get to heart of, and ACE has that patience and perseverance.  

In 30 years, many other things haven’t changed as well but one that stands out to me year after year – and keeps me coming back, if I’m honest – is my team and the commitment that I have made to them.  

Team leaders, you will get this. Lean in with me for a minute and be encouraged. Our teams may change in number and gender. Our teams may change in skills and gifts. But the gift of exposing a new member to the ministry never changes. The joy of seeing a member return to that special island never changes. The awe of watching The Lord move among your group never changes, and feeling the weight, the good weight, of leadership never changes.

I’m always astonished at this universal truth; we go to Jamaica to help “Change Lives and Transform Communities”, but it somehow always ends of being my life that’s changed and my little community that’s transformed. “30 years of growth and some things never change.”

RETURN TO NEWSLETTER
The Harvest is Great

The Harvest is Great

by | Jun 24, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Discipleship, Education, Outreach

Before 2008, my perception of Jamaica was based on the cruise ship port in Ocho Rios and commercials for the huge all-inclusive resorts. All of that paints a picture of a thriving culture where everyone is living the dream life. It was not until June of 2008 that I really experienced the true heart and culture of Jamaica and its people.

In the beginning of 2008, Brandon, my son, who was 14 at the time, expressed an interest in going on a mission trip through our church. The idea of a teenage boy wanting to go on a mission trip to a strange new place, serving others and getting closer to God — who would say no? So, we started looking at the options, keeping in mind that my wife hates flying. We decided to investigate the trip to Jamaica, as it was the shortest flight option. After the first meeting with the trip leader, Teresa, we chose to take that leap of faith and sign up.

Fast forward to June of 2008, when we went down to Jamaica. Little did we know, our perspective of Jamaica was about to be radically changed for the better. Working with ACE, we all experienced the true heart and culture of the Jamaican people, from the schools to the infirmary and their homes. Being able to show God’s love to the Jamaican people and the joy they had was amazing.

Fast forward to today. It has been 17 years since our first trip to Jamaica with ACE. The work we did on that first trip touched our hearts in a way that kept us wanting to return, which led Brandon and myself to continue to do these trips. Over the years, we have gone with various size teams down to just ourselves and meeting up with other teams. The relationships we have created over the years with other US teams and more importantly the Jamaicans, has been a true spiritual blessing.

The experience ACE can show someone in the first year is eye opening on how God can work, but the true benefit comes from going back over the years to see how HE continues to use ACE. The work a team does in a week may not seem like much, but each week another team builds on your work and before you know it there is a house for someone to live in or a classroom for the children. Each year you see how that cornerstone that you put in is now a structure that God created through you. These trips not only allow us to bless the Jamaicans but also the people that go on them. My greatest experiences on these trips have been seeing Brandon getting baptized in the pool and because of doing these trips he was able to meet his now wife, Danielle. If we had not listened to God and did not take that first trip, I would not have a God-loving daughter-in-law and 3 beautiful grand babies.

As I look back over the 17 years at all the changes, I see how God has worked through us, a little bit at a time. It may be hot and the work hard, but it is well worth it for the spiritual reward you receive. I can testify that God is at work during that week because the things I am able to do could not be done without His power in me. The vision that Marla has for ACE has been amazing to watch blossom over the years. It has amazed me how God gives ACE the visions, and supplies them with the staff, volunteers and finances to carry out those visions. I also give a shout out to Allen. He has to be a godly man to support his wife, 1200 miles apart most of the year, for so many years.

The verse that came to me back in 2008 when this all started was Matthew 9:37: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few”. I have held this verse close to heart as I want to be a part of the harvest.

RETURN TO NEWSLETTER
Althia’s Angle: Preparing for a Full Summer of Teams

Althia’s Angle: Preparing for a Full Summer of Teams

by | May 24, 2024 | Community, Outreach

Last month, my husband, Foster, and I came up to the States for a much-needed break before we hit the ground running with a summer full of mission teams. We spent our time resting, gathering essential supplies, and preparing for the busy season ahead. 

Summers at ACE are always buzzing with activity as Galina Breeze fills up with teams of wonderful volunteers coming to help us further our mission. And it’s always fun to see the different energies, ideas, and progress each team makes when they come down.

Leading ACE as the Executive Director is both an honor and a labor of love. While there may be challenges and obstacles that get in the way, it’s always worth it when we get to see the smiles on people’s faces of those we help and hear their life-changing stories.

We are grateful for the opportunity to lead such an amazing organization and work beside incredible staff members and volunteers. Together, we’re making a significant difference in St. Mary, one mission trip at a time. Thank you, volunteers, for continuing to support ACE and obeying God’s nudge to serve our community in Jamaica. 

Let’s make this summer the best one yet!

RETURN TO NEWSLETTER