missions | American-Caribbean Experience

Marla’s Minute: Beryl, Blessings and Beets

by American-Caribbean Experience | Jul 29, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community, Outreach

All we can say here on the ground at ACE in Jamaica is……whew!!! What a surprise hit we received from Hurricane Beryl. Who would have thought, this early in the summer? As we watched Beryl coming towards us, all hands on deck began preparing for the storm. God answered all our prayers throughout the Nation by turning Beryl slightly away from us getting a direct hit at the last minute.

We were fortunate the 97-year-old hotel stood her ground and only a few trees and small roof tiles went down. However, the generator that sustained a fire almost 10 months ago was no help. We sat without electricity for over a week. The fortunate part is that we had no guests or volunteer teams the week Beryl went through Jamaica.

Green Life Llanrumney Farm, on the other hand, took a greater hit of destruction than we expected. As Beryl passed by Jamaica south of Kingston, the rain poured into the downtown area, but St. Mary and the farm seemed to have caught mostly wind. All our inside and outside roads to the pastures, Greathouse, village etc., disappeared into the thickness of bamboo. It was a reality check for all of us as we realized we had no place to go with cattle and other livestock. And then…

God showed up with shovels of favor. Friends of ACE from all over the US and Canada began asking our US office, how can they help. What do we need? And funds helped us get going with parts for the tractor and chainsaws that we desperately needed. Most of all, ACE friends helped us get a team of three men down to help Allen begin to clear the inside roads. As I write this, there still isn’t any power at the farmhouse. Huie got the pump working again down by the river, so we can pump water for the cattle.

Our greenhouse was destroyed, but we didn’t have any growing towers installed yet which could have been devastating. While we are praying for more manpower to help us, we have our summer volunteers coming in to help Allen and Foster clear the roads, repair the fences, replace broken tables and, yes, even help us begin our mid-summer planting. This time, in addition to the above ground crops, we are going under with planting our beets. At least they can go through a hurricane without much damage.

So, yes, we had Beryl early, but we got to see how God blesses us with our friends who care and love ACE. Needs? Oh yes, we have lots of them. Please see our prayer requests and know that we are so grateful for you all and the generosity you have given ACE.

Keeping up the God work,

Marla and Allen

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30 Years of Growth

by American-Caribbean Experience | 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.”

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The Harvest is Great

by American-Caribbean Experience | 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.

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Trust God’s Calling

by American-Caribbean Experience | May 24, 2024 | Community, Discipleship, Outreach

Chelsea Peterson served on ACE’s iQuest internship program in 2014. But the journey to get there brought about its own set of challenges and need for dependence on God. The following is her story that she shared with our team.

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of my time as an iQuest intern at ACE. When I look back at everything God did that summer, even before I was accepted into the program, I am amazed at His goodness and faithfulness.

I am type A personality through and through. I want everything planned to a “T” before I ever commit to saying yes to something. Some call it a control issue, I like to say I’m just very organized… Flash back to 10 years ago, when I felt God calling me to apply for the ACE internship going into the summer after my second year of college.

I had been to Jamaica twice already for a week at a time the previous two years, and I KNEW without a shadow of a doubt that I was going to get that internship. I had never been more sure of something God wanted for my life before.

And guess what? I didn’t get in.

I honestly can’t remember the reason I was told; something about someone who was supposed to intern the year prior but had to back out was able to come this year. Needless to say, I was devastated. Not even particularly because I didn’t get in, but because I was so sure that’s where God wanted me to be. Oh, and now I had to totally reorganize my plans for the summer.

A couple of months went by, and I had started filling my upcoming summer with a job, family beach trip, and different outings with friends. And just as everything started coming together, I got a call from Marla. Another something came up, and the internship was mine if I still wanted it.

Of course I wanted it. But my controlling mind was freaking out. So many logistics to think through – now I have to cancel all my summer plans, plan and pack for the internship, AND raise the funds to be able to actually get to Jamaica. All in about a month.

Somewhere in the craziness of all of the preparation, it hit me – God was already working in my life through the months leading up to the internship.

Where I felt unequipped and even unwanted since I wasn’t originally accepted into the internship, He was gently reminding me that I had the internship all along. Because it was His plan for me. He just needed me to release control and trust in Him and His timing, not my own.

Not surprisingly, God came through in every way, helping me raise the funds I needed, get everything in order, and have the best summer of my life. A summer that pushed and challenged and strengthened me in every possible way – physically, spiritually, emotionally, professionally, mentally, etc.

And I wouldn’t change it for the world.

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Marla’s Minute: Still Seeing God At Work 36 Years Later

by American-Caribbean Experience | Apr 29, 2024 | Book A Trip, Community

I’m Old….

That’s what I was thinking inside my head as I was standing beside a group of teenagers and college students this spring. We began the famous bucket brigade slinging gravel onto ACE’s greenhouse floor. The fact that ACE has aged about 36 years since the beginning shouldn’t impact me at all physically…or am I just off in my addition?

Either way, it’s still happening…those extra minutes of staying in bed before starting the day with pops and cracking in the joints. Getting to the work site only to see that our Jamaican ACE staff already got the volunteers briefed, lined up, and ready to go.

Watching the ACE staff take the lead and owning what used to be just a job is exciting and a promise coming true for me personally. More and more, I find I have time to read my emails, have conversations with the friends of ACE who come through our doors, and well, just savor the moments of a successful ministry that has grown in a direction no one could have foreseen.

Yes, I’m older; and perhaps to youth, I’m old. But most of all, I’m so proud of our national and U.S. staff that have played a vital part of ACE. The succession that ACE has planned for years is taking place, and I get to be a part of seeing God at work. It’s an answer to prayer.

My advice to you: don’t let time catch you waking up and wondering where all the time went. Rather, be intentional with your relationships, your goals, and your passions. Then, smile as God gives you the time to grow old alongside the new team that takes up the mantle and moves up front.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:8-9

Those of you coming to serve with us in Jamaica this summer, get ready! Jamaicans are running ACE like never before. And I’m so excited for you to see what a great and exciting time it is for ACE, all thanks to the Lord.