WMU and the WMU Foundation honored Debby Akerman of Myrtle Beach, with a top award for service and leadership during the WMU Missions Celebration and Annual Meeting, June 10-11, at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter.
Dellanna O’Brien, left, former executive director-treasurer of national WMU, was on hand at the WMU Missions Celebration and annual meeting in San Antonio to congratulate Debby Akerman of Myrtle Beach on her outstanding leadership in missions.Akerman received The Dellanna West O’Brien Award for Women’s Leadership Development, which recognizes Baptist women who demonstrate an ability to foster Christian leadership in other women, display the potential to be a leader in their community and the world, and excel in missions education.
“I am truly honored and humbled,” Akerman said as she accepted the award. O’Brien, for whom the award is named, was also present and said, “I have had the privilege of knowing Debby for several years, and it’s been exciting to see her grow and mature as a leader while remaining so humble. She is an extremely worthy recipient of this award.”
A retired nurse, Akerman was chosen for her untiring devotion and exemplary leadership in women’s and community programs for more than 20 years in New England. She has continued to be a leader in South Carolina, where she and her husband Brad retired in 2000, sensing God’s call to a new place for living and serving.
Both a mother and grandmother, Akerman’s passion for missions education through WMU is evident in the many leadership and volunteer roles in which she has trained and mentored new leaders, developed strong organizations, and offered her nursing skills and other creative talents throughout the years.
Akerman is a past president of New England WMU and has served more than two decades as a Girls in Action (GA) leader, first in New Hampshire and then in South Carolina, where she currently serves as WMU director at Ocean View Baptist Church in Myrtle Beach.
Akerman is an associational GA consultant, training women to lead GAs in their churches and associations, and has been a national conference leader as well. Akerman currently serves on the South Carolina WMU Executive Board and is chairman of the personnel committee.
“The bottom line is that Debby lives, eats, and breathes missions,” wrote Steven Cromer, senior pastor of Ocean View Baptist Church, recommending Akerman for this award. “She sees all of life through that filter. She is forward-moving without being aggressive. She is inspiring without being intimidating. She is confident while remaining humble. She is a leader while carefully making sure she works as a team with the ministerial staff and other lay leaders.”
Akerman’s missions heart has led her beyond church walls and into the community. In New Hampshire, she developed a weekly morning missions program at her church that connected women with various city agencies such as the Red Cross and Meals on Wheels. There, she also began a women’s Bible study in a housing complex for low-income seniors and saw older women grow spiritually and come to, or rededicate their lives to, Jesus Christ.
Since her move to Myrtle Beach, Akerman has begun a Bible study at a local shelter for homeless women with substance abuse problems. Akerman meets with the women on a weekly basis, offering encouragement in their journey to a life free of addiction.
“Debby takes her time and means to come on a regular basis to take the women out to a safe place and teach them a better way to live through Christ,” said Libby Faulkner, CEO of Street Reach Ministries, the shelter where Akerman volunteers. “She teaches them how the women of the Bible lived their life. She comes here to feed the homeless and to speak a positive word to them. The time she and her husband have spent with these people gives them the hope that not many people have the time to give.”
The Dellanna West O’Brien Award for Women’s Leadership Development commenced in 1998 on WMU’s 110th anniversary and O’Brien’s 10th anniversary as executive director of national WMU. The award carries a $2,000 grant from a WMU Foundation endowment.