Erwin Family News -Lord Willing, the Erwin Family is Traveling to India in September!

We are settling in very well in Gardner, Kansas, about 40 miles southwest of Kansas City. This is a small town that is growing but still has that country charm. Benjamin is able to walk across the street to a swimming pool so we are excited about that. We go bicycle riding along a nice trail that is close by and hope to go camping at Hillsdale Lake, which is 10 miles south of here. Janey is looking at some new treatments for headaches that look promising so we will keep you updated after her first consultation.

We ordered Benjamin's curriculum for next year. It is calledSwitched on Schoolhouse and is an online curriculum that will fit Benjamin's needs very well. It is a five-subject curriculum of math, language arts, science, Bible and history/geography. We also got a typing tutor module as well. We are excited to start him with this curriculum in September.

India September 2010
We are working on the details for our family to travel to India in September. Janey, Benjamin and I will travel first to our headquarters in the south in Tamil Nadu. Then I hope to travel to Rajasthan in the northwest of Inida. Plans are still being confirmed and, of course, we will need to raise about $4,000 for the travel. Where God guides, He provides, so your prayers for us are very helpful. I will be telling you more about our trip and how you can be involved in the coming months.

Influence! What does Amy Carmichael and Joesph Stalin have in common?

I have been researching a lot of world evangelism lately as I prepare to do a presentation at next month's Colorado Home Educators Conference (CHEC). I am finding some interesting statistics about the population of children throughout the world. In almost every country outside the U.S., Canada and Europe; children make up 50% of the world's population, but I find that only about 15% of mission dollars are spent to specifically reach children.
I believe we are living in a day that paradigms are changing rapidly. Greater efforts must be made to reach children throughout the world because they are #1 more open to the Gospel and #2 they have more time to listen. Most importantly is the fact that a child that accepts Christ at an early age and is properly discipled will mature with a Biblical worldview and influence their cultures for the cause of Jesus Christ.
As we look at history, every leader that has impacted this world, both evil and good, has been influenced by someone. Karl Marks, Joseph Stalin, Osama Bin Laden, Adolf Hitler and Napoleon were influenced by someone, and that influence caused massive destruction and death.
What if these men would have been influenced by Christ? What a different world we would live in. In the coming decades there will be voids where God's leaders must influence societies. Look at the impact in India of pioneers like Amy Carmichael and William Carey. There are many generations of Christians who have followed in their footsteps.
Serve India Ministries President, Brother Ebenezer Samuel, comes from the very state (Tamil Nadu) that Amy Carmichael ministered in and Brother Ebey descends from 5 generations of Christians and now is leading an effort to help plant 100,000 churches in the nation of India. As a young man, Brother Ebey attended Serampore College in Calcutta, the college founded by William Carey.
As I travel around the U.S. sharing the vision of Serve India Ministries, I hear from many people who are so overwhelmed by the world's needs that don't feel that they can make a difference. If you really want a good bang for your buck, look at children's ministry both here in the U.S. and in the world. Serve India Ministries is helping 4,000 children through its Stepping Stone Program. $3 per month per child goes a long way to impact a child's life forever and enable him or her to influence their community or their nation.
May God grant us the grace to influence our cultures for Christ with our work and our resources. May He give us the grace to raise our children to be influenced by Jesus so we can be salt and light to our communities and to the world.