Carmille Akande

I first stepped on African soil nine years ago. I traveled to Ghana, West Africa, for a short-term mission trip, and my heart was changed forever. After my amazing experience, I longed to be a full-time missionary. When the timing seemed right, I left my career, sold my car, gave away most of my possessions, and moved to Ghana. I loved every second of being a missionary, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. But only seven months into my time there, my dream appeared to be coming to an end. My body started ailing, but I kept working—I didn’t want anything to interrupt my calling. It was my hope that I would be there for the rest of my life. But at church one night, my pain became overwhelming. I looked to my husband and whispered, "I need to go. I’m not well." to continue reading...

This is an old article of mine, worth revisiting:  Has Accountability Disappeared from the Church?

I wanted to share this post with you. It broke my heart to read it. We must stand up against spiritual abuse and spiritual exploitation. A Heartbreaking Example of Spiritual Abuse

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...