Born in Denver and rooted in Parker, 1969 Scholar Pam Erwin has spent her life serving others, from decades in education to global ministry work. Alongside ministry partner Josue Akowanou, she co-led Truth Unleashed Ministries, supporting church planting, education, and economic development initiatives in Benin, West Africa. After the loss of her husband during a mission trip in 2013, Pam continued their shared work, helping expand a grassroots ministry into a growing network of churches, schools, and community programs. Today, even while facing terminal illness, she remains committed to service and sustaining a legacy that reaches far beyond borders. In this Q&A, Pam discusses the intersection of education and faith, and how that faith has shaped her life’s work.
1. You spent decades as an educator before deepening your work in ministry. How did your experience teaching shape the way you approach service and leadership?
The two “careers” are definitely related. I loved teaching! I saw many “light bulbs” go on for kids that thought they could not do math, and it was exciting to watch them mature and take on new challenges once math was not such a stumbling block for them.
Since I focused my life individually on students through tutoring, it made a wonderful difference in in helping both the students and myself feel successful. I could hear what they thought the teacher said and redirect them in the parts they had missed, so they could relay the foundations of math that continued to elude them and keep them frustrated.
Coordinating that with ministry efforts helped me to share my faith in ways that impossible within the schools, such as taking several students on mission with me and helping them grow in their faith because they knew they were safe at my table expressing themselves.
2. What first drew you and your husband, Dave, to international mission work, and why the place of Benin specifically?
We had learned to travel internationally, being comfortable in areas that did not speak English and communicating with smiles and hand signals. We wanted to travel with purpose and help people.
We were attending a small church plant. The pastor wanted leaders for international outreach so the small congregation would be actively involved. We had grown in our faith and desired to do this for the Lord, meeting with a team to pray once a month as we got to know each other. After 10 months, God connected us to the area of Benin, West Africa, through pastors. We waited on the Lord until we finally called Josue and Prisca because they had not responded. The problem was internet access and electricity. When they heard our voices and realized who they were talking to, the first words out of Josue’s mouth were, “You are an answer to prayer!” And they were the answer to all of ours! We continue to praise the Lord for all the answers He brings when we pray and wait!
3. After your first experiences in Benin, what surprised you most about the community, the culture, or the needs you encountered?
I was most surprised by how little I knew about Africa! In school, I learned it was a continent, but nothing else. The people we started meeting were living in poverty. But those who had found the Lord were very happy in spite of it all. They knew they had all that mattered. We came alongside Josue and Prisca on their mission from the Lord to save Benin for Christ, starting in 2002, with their first church. By working together for these last 16 years, since 2010, Truth Unleashed Ministries in CO with Hope for Youth Foundation in Benin, the Bethel network of churches, led by Josue, is now nearly 300 churches strong, plus award-winning K-12 and technology schools!
4. You recently completed your 15th trip to Benin. What stood out to you on this visit compared to your previous experiences?
For me, this was a farewell trip. I was so grateful my health held up and allowed me to go with a team. The flexibility and participation of the team was wonderful – speaking at the conferences Josue had set up for pastors and wives, teaching at the God’s Grace Schools, and visiting his farm property and Ouidah, the home of the slave trade. I was so blessed by those seeing Benin for the first time and how they really connected with what Benin is. Now they desire to play stronger roles in keeping this relationship going. It was awesome to spend time with Josue and Prisca. Josue has truly become my African son, as we have been through so many blessings and trials over these years. He has helped my faith grow more every day as we see the Lord at work in so many ways. It was hard to leave, but very comforting that I will see so many of these beautiful souls again when they join me in heaven!
5. How did your work in education influence the way you approached building relationships and programs in a completely different cultural context?
On our first mission trip to Benin, we participated in a church planting process Josue was just beginning. When there is activity in an African village, children show up to find out what is happening. Some ran away from us as they were very afraid; we were the first white people they had ever seen! But over the years, I developed many craft activities, games, storytelling with puppets of Bible stories, songs to learn in English, and more. It was so beautiful to play with these children! And it was very meaningful to their parents, who watched. It is not a cultural norm that adults play with kids, so they were very excited to see the smiles on their children’s faces!
6. What is your favorite place that you’ve lived in and why?
I have been blessed to travel internationally to many other countries, but my heart is rooted in Benin, and I have always come back to Parker, CO. Moving here at 10, I am almost a native, which is now rare with all the growth we have experienced! It has deep roots in my heart with family nearby, as well as so many friendships from school days, neighbors, and churches I have attended. My mom stitched me a plaque long ago: “Wherever you wander, wherever you roam, may you be happy and healthy and glad to come home!” I am!
7. Faith is clearly central to your journey. How has your faith evolved through both the challenges and the growth you’ve experienced?
I grew up without knowing Jesus. As I came to gradually understand more, through my husband and close friends, I finally did accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior at the age of 46. Even without me acknowledging Him, He was there for me, helping me through family deaths, job situations that were unbearable, and hosting four elders in our home as they were near the end of their lives and passed. When I did accept Him, He got all of me! He has always honed my servant’s heart, and I happily look to Him every day to serve Him in every interaction He gives me. He has allowed me more than two years of life to the fullest, in spite of my cancer diagnosis. I still feel good and am doing what He has for me daily!
Thank you so much for this opportunity to share my story! I pray it will bless many who read it and encourage them to grow stronger in their faith as they do their work. I am grateful God has given me this chance to share who He is to me and His love for all! Only He could make all the things happen in my life that have, and yet, give me a beautiful attitude to share with others about how to deal with death and face eternity, hopefully!
Thank you, Boettcher Family, for granting me the scholarship in 1969 that rocked my world! My dad went bankrupt in those preceding years, and without this funding, I may never have gone to college. I was very blessed to be the first Douglas County Schools graduate to receive this honor. The Boettcher Foundation has done amazing work to keep our talent in CO and serve us well, even as we follow where He leads to serve in faraway places! Thank you hardly seems enough to say!!!
