───A mini memoir
Borrowing
Faith
Fifty-Four Dollars and a Prayer
DR. RUTH VITSEMMO AKUMBU
She did everything they said would work.
It wasn’t enough.
SECURE YOUR COPY
Preorder Today
The story is written. The breakthrough is coming.
Podcast unlocks instantly in August 2026. Book ships October 2026.
Podcast Series + Physical Book + Bonuses If Available
Best Value Package • + $9.99 Shipping (North America)
🔒 Secure Checkout
ABOUT THE BOOK
She beat every odd.
The system still didn’t budge, yet she keeps going.
Borrowing Faith is a mini memoir by Dr. Ruth Vitsemmo Akumbu: a woman who left Cameroon with nothing, spent seventeen years at the bottom of Hollywood, then borrowed half a million dollars to earn seven degrees, only to find herself still fighting for a seat at the table.
This is not a story about someone who beat the odds. It is a story about what happens when you beat the odds, and the system still doesn’t budge.
Honest, defiant, and deeply human — for anyone who has sacrificed everything, done everything right, and stood in the wreckage, wondering why the breakthrough hasn’t come.
17
Years in Hollywood
7
Degrees Earned
$500K
Borrowed in Faith
WHAT IS INSDIE THE BOOK
She did everything they said would work. But, was it enough?
You have worked hard. You have sacrificed. You have invested in yourself, carried others, and kept going through seasons that should have broken you. And you are still waiting for the breakthrough that was supposed to come by now.
Borrowing Faith is for educators, professionals, immigrants, first-generation strivers, purpose-driven leaders, and anyone who has done everything right and still found themselves invisible, overlooked, or stuck in the in-between. If you have ever wondered whether your background years were wasted, this book will answer that question.
Most people in their hidden seasons do not lack effort. They lack words for what they are living through, and faith to keep going until the return arrives.
What you will walk away with:
A mirror for your own becoming
A reminder that your background years are not wasted
Permission to begin before you feel ready
Words for the season between what you survived and what you are still becoming
A reason to reframe delay as formation, not failure
An example of faith with receipts, not just inspiration
Borrowed Faith is not a metaphor. It is a survival strategy. When your own faith runs out, you borrow it from those who have walked ahead of you, from scripture, from community, from the evidence of your own survival. This book shows you how.
Dr. Ruth Vitsemmo Akumbu is an educator, researcher, author, and global leadership coach who spent seventeen years as a background actor, earned seven degrees while working full-time, coordinated a million-dollar humanitarian project, and founded a nonprofit that has served communities in Africa for over twenty years. She did not write this book from the mountaintop. She wrote it from the in-between, for everyone still climbing.
Get your copy today and borrow the faith you need for the season you are in.
CHOOSE YOUR WAY IN
Every entry point. One story.
All 10 podcast episodes unlock instantly upon purchase.
Ebook
Start reading in minutes. The full mini memoir is delivered instantly through Amazon—no shipping, no waiting.
$9.97
Instant Access
Podcast Series
10 raw episodes recorded before the book existed. 30–60 min each.
$19.97
Access drops August 2026
Physical Book
Your preorder copy ships directly to your door in October.
$29.97
+ $9.99 shipping
Audio Book
Full audiobook with emotions and voice behind the stroy
$49.97
Full audiobook when released
Monthly Membership
Full podcast library, all future book-related recordings, and member discount on events and future offers
$21.97
Cancel Anytime
THE PODCAST SERIES
10 Episodes. Recorded before
The book existed.
Raw, unscripted · 30–60 minutes each
Fifty-Four Dollars and a Prayer
Leaving Everything Behind
The Weight of the Next Step
The Background Years
What I Borrowed to Get Here
What Do You Have in Your House?
People on the Path
Protecting the Momentum
The Gifts I Almost Missed
Who Am I Beyond the Title?
BORROWING FAITH: FIFTY-FOUR DOLLARS AND A PRAYER
If any of these resonates with you, this book is for you:
This book gives you borrowed faith for the seasons when your own faith is tired. It helps you see that your background is not a barrier, your struggle is not wasted, and your in-between years may be building the very thing you need for your breakthrough.
Invisibility is not the end of your story. In this book you will discover why the seasons nobody sees you are often the ones building everything that matters.
The return rarely arrives on your timeline. This book will show you how to keep pouring when the results are nowhere in sight and why that pouring is never wasted.
You do not have to choose between your people and your purpose. This book will show you how to honor both without losing yourself in the process.
You were not made to spend your life convincing people of your worth. This book will remind you who gave you the assignment in the first place.
Credentials open some doors and leave others firmly shut. This book will show you what to do when the system refuses to move and you have to build your own way through.
You are not behind. You are on your own timeline. This book will give you the courage to stop measuring your journey against someone else's and trust the path you are actually on.
Every sacrifice has been recorded. This book will help you make sense of the cost and find meaning in what the waiting has been building inside you.
The in-between is real and it is hard and you are not alone in it. This book was written from that exact place, for you.
The next step rarely reveals itself all at once. This book will help you trust the door that is right in front of you even when you cannot see where it leads.
This book will not give you a formula. It will give you a witness. Someone who asked the same question, made adjustments and kept going.
STAY CONNECTED
Win a Signed Copy
of Borrowing Faith
Sign up and you’re automatically entered. The more people who join, the more signed copies Dr. Akumbu gives away — up to 5 winners.
Automatically entered to win
Up to 5 signed copies
Winners announced October 2026
WIN SIGNED COPY
Enter your email below to opt into the giveaway
Up to 5 signed copies. Winners announced at the October 2026 book launch.
No purchase required. Unsubscribe at any time.
GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS
No purchase necessary to enter or win. The Borrowing Faith Signed Copy Giveaway (“Giveaway”) is open to legal residents of the United States and Canada who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. Void where prohibited by law. To enter, submit your email address via the entry form on this page. One entry per person. Between 1 and 5 winners will be selected at random on or around October 31, 2026, based on total community sign-ups at the time of drawing — the more people who join, the more winners are drawn, up to a maximum of 5. Winners will be notified by email within 7 days of the drawing. Prizes consist of one (1) signed physical copy of Borrowing Faith: Fifty-Four Dollars and a Prayer by Dr. Ruth Vitsemmo Akumbu (approximate retail value: $29.97 USD). No cash or other substitution of prize permitted. Prizes are non-transferable. Odds of winning depend on the total number of eligible entries received. By entering, participants agree to these terms and to receive email communications from Dr. Ruth Vitsemmo Akumbu. You may unsubscribe at any time. This Giveaway is sponsored by Dr. Ruth Vitsemmo Akumbu and is not affiliated with, administered, or endorsed by any social media platform. For questions, contact info@ruthakumbu.com.