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On this Christmas Day I am filled with overwhelming joy thinking about God’s faithfulness.  Yesterday we had a Christmas Eve party and had the kids build a fire for roasted marshmallows.  They scurried down the rocks with their friends and went romping though the bushes to collect twigs.  As I looked out at them I thought about how it is just a month shy of 2 years ago that we camped in that same spot. We had felt the Lord leading us to invest more in this village community &

When we moved here 8 years ago, after the twins were born, Kossi and I would often find ourselves with tears in our eyes trying to take care of two newborn babies in a new country with little support. It was so, so, hard. We felt so isolated and alone, just trying to survive. I remember one day through teary eyes telling Kossi “I know God has great plans for us, we just have to be faithful in each season”. And that’s what we have done. Today we celebrated the launch of the fa

On Monday we launched Family Hope International’s first food distribution in the village. I had the privilege of taking family photos for the sponsor families in the US. I watched as a crippled woman crawled up the stairs to the location of the photo, other women hobbled in their achy bones and bare feet. I fumbled through trying to ask them to smile in Chichewa. Some faces lit up with joy, while others were barely able to force a smile through their leathered and tired skin.

<p>On Monday we picked up a team of Family Hope International members who work in Africa’s largest slum, Kibera. We had a beautiful week with them. We spent a lot of time sitting with families in the townships of Blantyre and in the villages 2 hours from the city. We spent time laughing in between<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2025/07/06/entering-in-to-the-unknown/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;Entering in to the&nbsp;unknown&#8221

<p>What is ministry anyways? What is being a missionary? Some view it as going door to door evangelizing, or planting a church, holding Sunday school classes for children. For as long as I can remember (besides my nasty teenage years) I have felt my purpose was to love and be loved, following the greatest commandment<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2025/05/22/being/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;Being&#8221;</span></a></p>

<p>Do the best traits about your significant other sometimes bother you? Kossi meticulously takes care of his car. If he hears the slightest sound he will have his mechanic over before the sun sets-because yes, in Malawi mechanics come to the house. Sometimes taking care of a car in Malawi feels like a part time<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2025/02/04/car-problems/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;Car problems&#8221;</span></a></p>

<p>We are so close to being done with our house on the hill we can hardly wait. The carpenters have finished 90% of the deck. The mohogany floors inside the house and outside have now been varnished, the concrete counters have been polished and sealed and the shelves &amp; cupboards are being installed this week<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2024/10/31/almost-settling-in/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;*almost* settling in&#8221;</s

<p>I’m popping on here to share some exciting news; Martine got baptized on Sunday. Her Sunday School teacher Jo, an Australian missionary, spent the last few weeks with her going through a baptism class. On Sunday morning I thought-shoot! I wish I would have bought some flowers to celebrate Martine, but the flower shop is<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2024/10/26/martines-baptism/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;Martine&#8217;s Bapti

<p>Sometimes we can carry ideas in our heart for years before they come to fruition. Hosting a women’s retreat was one of them. It’s something I have thought about for years, and when it finally came down to planning it, I felt overwhelmed. I’m someone who naturally has a hard time planning ahead. My most<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2024/10/26/womens-retreat/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;Women&#8217;s Retreat&#8221;</span></a></

<p>I&#8217;ve updated on our FB page and through newsletters, but our blog hasn&#8217;t seen the updates on the house! We are so close to being done. The borehole was drilled at the end of July, bringing water to the house! That has been a game changer, as we have been able to use our kitchen<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2024/09/23/house-on-the-hill/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;House on the&nbsp;hill&#8221;</span></a></p>

<p>Decent is the oldest of 11 children. He knows what it is like to walk for miles to school. He knows the feeling of having no food in the house to eat. He spent many childhood nights huddled up in a potato sack with younger siblings who often peed at night. He knows the struggle<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2024/09/23/decent/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;Decent&#8221;</span></a></p>

<p>I remember walking the short block from my apartment on Ohai St. to Surfing the Nations between 2011 &amp; 2014. Many days I dragged my feet, wishing I was living overseas. It&#8217;s funny because everything that I actually longed for was at my fingertips, but our hearts long for what we think we don&#8217;t have,<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2024/09/23/college-night/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;Revival&#8221;</span></a></p>

<p>April, May &amp; June have been three months packed with visitors, projects &amp; progress on our village home! We spent 3 nights up on the rock living off grid. The kids absolutely loved it. Sandpiles to play and dig in, bricks to build with, and an astounding sunrise and sunset morning and evening. We took<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2024/06/12/progress-on-our-fortress/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;Progress on our&nbsp;Fort

<p>In January we began to dream of building a house in the village of Agabu, which is 2.5 hours north of us. One of our partner ministries runs projects there and we have a growing desire to be more connected to their work, as we see the need for food security, education, healthcare and so<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2024/03/16/a-cottage-on-a-hill/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;A cottage on a&nbsp;hill&#8221;</span></a></p>

<p>Anyone that has been involved in ministry, especially in a youth group type setting knows there are many ups and downs. Last year we went through a really long &#8220;funk&#8221; in our young adult ministry. Our group wasn&#8217;t really in to it, and it just felt dull, and like trying to pull teeth to have<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2024/03/16/new-moon/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;New Moon&#8221;</span></a></p>

<p>This has been the driest rainy season. So many are worried as their farms aren’t growing well. There are already issues of hunger in the country due to the cyclone last year, and the future of the maize harvest this year is uncertain for many. I don’t make it out to visit Brother&#8217;s in Arms<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2024/03/04/maize-harvest/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;Maize Harvest!&#8221;</span></a></p>

<p>If I were to describe this season in one word, it would be experiment. I&#8217;ve been experimenting a lot in the kitchen, experimenting with recipes, routines, rhythms and traditions.  Several months ago I read a book called &#8220;The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2023/12/15/shabbat/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;Sha

<p>It wasn&#8217;t until I moved to Togo that I really began to love the Christmas season. My Canadian roommate and I bought lots of tinsel and Christmas lights and decorated our small dorm room. I looked forward to each night sitting in my lower bunk bed reflecting on the coming Christ with the glowing lights<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2022/12/15/advent/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;Advent&#8221;</span></a></p>

<p>I had been serving with Surfing the Nations in Hawai&#8217;i for several months. It had been my third return to be with them in 3 years. I attended Surfers Church, which at that point was being held in what is now the Coffee shop. There were a team of ministers from a church named Bluewater<a class="more-link" href="https://theakpis.com/2022/12/15/we-should-be-offending-people/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">&#8220;We Should Be Offending&nbsp;People.&#8