Carmille Akande

Did Jesus Say Welcome Only the Documented Stranger?

My latest article for Christianity Today's Gifted for Leadership:  Can I Follow You As I Follow Christ?

When I arrived on September 3 rd on the mission field in Ghana, West Africa, I hit the ground running. I arrived in the middle of the church celebrating its 18 th year in ministry. The ministry celebrated by hosting a camp-meeting. This camp-meeting included all branch churches, visitors, friends, and missionaries. It was a wonderful celebration. The days were filled with praise, worship, teachings, prayer, presentations, and tribal dances. One of my favorite parts of the services is when members of the church danced to African drummers; each tribe had a special tribal dance. It was simply amazing; the young and old danced with joy. The professional dancers pulled me and another young lady out to dance, let’s just say I have a lot to learn about African dance. It was so much fun! On top of the dancing, we were challenged everyday by great speakers. We prayed intensely and  worshiped  with reckless abandonment.  Throughout the week, the church (along wi...

Friends, here is a request from my friends in Haiti: GVCM  is conducting a peanut butter drive with the goal of filling a 40 foot container that will be shipped to Haiti for its orphanage and school children. The intent of the organization is to ensure that all children are receiving enough protein in their daily diets. They have noticed many children are attending school who appear to be malnourished. The ministry has decided that one way to address this concern is providing peanut butter sandwiches. The school in Haiti (Thomassique) has about 1800 students and the country is predicting a state of emergency this year due to the drought, that will result in a lack of food production, more malnutrition, and limited resources for children to attend school. The Haitian government has already agreed to allow the ministry to bring the container duty free! Please support this effort by donating jars of peanut butter. The peanut butter can be shipped to the Laparkan Warehouse in M...

I once heard someone say that hunger is not your stomach growling and deciding what you will eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Hunger is when you have stomach pains from hunger and you have no idea when, where, or if you will eat again.  Most of us have never known true hunger because we can easily go to our kitchens, a restaurant, or a food pantry for food. I serve with a ministry called Maranatha Power Ministries, Intl. who seeks to serve "the least of these." Every week in December leading up to Christmas, the ministry travels to several villages to feed hungry children and the disabled.  However, the reality is, most parents come to the party, as well. They are also hungry. The ministry fed over 24,000 people last year.  When I watched the video from last year, I saw a man crying.  The pastor told us that the man was crying because he had never had that much food to eat.  He's never had more than enough food on Christmas.  While many of us...

I once heard that God doesn't promise that you will never go through a storm, but He does promise to be in the storm with us.  I've learned that God doesn't promise that we will never go through pain, but He does promise to comfort us.  He promises to give us strength day by day. We question why we must drink the cup that has been given to us.  We look at television and the people around us and wonder why they seem to be happy and we are so sad.  We fail to realize that everyone is going through their own trial and tribulation.  Matthew 5:45 reminds us that, "...He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."  It seems so unfair.  I love you Lord, so why must I suffer so much? I had the privilege to have lunch with some powerful women of God this weekend.  We shared amazing stories of redemption and triumphing over painful circumstances.  I believe we were all amazed and shocked...

Remember hurt can make commitment scary:  http://www.giftedforleadership.com/2014/08/one_reason_people_wont_join_yo.html