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

Christmas and Celebrations

Christmas and Celebrations

Thanks to ACE’s dear friends, Tina and Luke, all of our sponsored students and friends celebrated Christmas in style! As the COVID syndrome continues globally, the Rebel Ministries team came through unafraid, full of life and energy. The last week of 2021 ended with lots of laughter and smiles as our team and staff hosted several separate parties across a few days.

The farm was our background for open air fun and storytelling. Students had cards and gifts from sponsors, and the celebration of Jesus’ birth was at the forefront! Most of all, it was such a “shot in the arm” of encouragement for ACE. Beyond the partying, this team worked so hard every single day, and it gave us hope for what 2022 will look like. Thank you all for making our end of year and first of year so fantastic

As for the rest of you considering coming to Jamaica, well, come on… we’ve got work for you and our staff is ready for some American humor! Are you ready for us? Let’s make it happen!

 

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Families & Friends

Families & Friends

July tends to be a very dry and hot month in Jamaica. This year is no different. However, as friends and families begin to come back down to serve with us, we only feel the warmth of returning (and new) friends everywhere!  We – your ACE family on the ground – are so happy to see you all.

A few of our recent volunteers were so kind to tell us some of their favorite parts about their trip, and we hope this will encourage more friends (old and new!) to plan a trip to St. Mary!

Marla’s Minute – How many “i’s” in Mississippi?

Marla’s Minute – How many “i’s” in Mississippi?

For the first time in years, Allen and I did something we wished we would have done before now: travel by car to see friends of ACE who have been MIA since the COVID pandemic hit.

We started out in Ringgold, Georgia, where we spent the night with some friends who, incidentally, are way ahead of us in the farming business. Chicken, horses, cows, fish, flowers, and plants… you name it and that’s what you get when you show up at the Greg and Sheila’s home!

From there we went to Cullman, Alabama, and were treated like family by our next host and hostess. If you ever wondered what a tool barn should look like, just ask David and Valery; they have everything you could imagine to “get ‘er fixed” on the farm. We moved on to Mississippi, where we saw our friends from Tupelo, Madison, and Columbus.

One of our personal highlights was in Louisiana with a friend’s mom and dad who, for many years, ran the Bauxite plant in Manchester, Jamaica, when ACE was very young. Sitting in their living room enjoying lemon cake and coffee, seeing all the Jamaican art and Jamaican décor, brought home the fact that, while life and people move on, God always brings up another generation to carry on the work behind the faithful ones who have served well. Thank you, Zack and Carolyn, for being a living reminder of this.

While we had wanted to stop and visit other friends of ACE in Louisiana, we found it just didn’t work out for one reason or another. We did, however, get to spend the evening with friends in Baton Rouge before heading home via Columbus. Believe it or not, we still stay in contact with the very first Intern ACE ever had: Laura Ladd. She is now fully grown (not old) with three almost-grown kids and a great husband, Breck, who is Senior Pastor of a Baptist church in Columbus. Did I mention Laura is an architect? She sure is, and she is designing our (soon to be released) plan for our Green Life Village homes.

We are back in Jamaica, feeling fresh and looking forward to what God has in store for us and our community. We know, after experiencing such hospitality, that we never have to worry… just enjoy the ride and know that God is in control. Thank you, friends, for reminding us that we are not in this alone, but we have lots of company on the bus called ACE.

Grateful for you all,

Marla, Allen and the ACE team

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A Silver Lining For Our Families During COVID

A Silver Lining For Our Families During COVID

Every once in a while you read something or see something on TV about how COVID actually helped someone in a way totally unexpected. This is exactly what has happened not just once, not just twice, but several times with our sponsors helping their sponsored children and their families. The children have not been in school, and most of the families, as you can well imagine, have suffered loss of income and many times have nothing to offer their children. Thanks to so many sponsors, ACE has been consistent in supplying food staples to the many families who have nothing to eat.

In addition, some of you, since you could not come in person, elected to send the funds you’d normally spend to come down to Jamaica directly to us to help these families! Beds, refrigerators, tables, mattresses, more food and a lot of love has been coming down this past month. Take a look at the smiles! We cannot thank you enough, and neither can your sponsored children and their families. 

While COVID may have changed how you’ve helped ACE from afar this past year, we still want to see your smiling faces in Jamaica soon! We may have some friends who want to say thank you in person!

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