Every ultrasound, every diaper, every child born is a permanent, irreversible win, whether or not the culture ever reports it. It was worth it. It is worth it. It will be worth it,”
Hank Erwin, a former high school football chaplain whose story inspired the 2015 movie Woodlawn, is no stranger to scoreboards. In his latest book, Erwin draws on decades of pro-life advocacy, public service and personal experience to argue that many supporters of the pro-life movement are keeping score the wrong way, focusing on the culture’s headlines, political setbacks and public narratives instead of the thousands of quiet victories taking place every day through pregnancy centers.
Inspired by Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart,” Erwin recently published Worth It: Every Life Has Purpose, Every Life Is Worth It. In the book, he shines a light on the life-changing work of pregnancy centers, showing how acts of compassion can reshape the future of mothers, babies and families.
“This book exists because I’ve watched good people burn out from measuring this work by the wrong scoreboard. I wrote it to hand them a truer one: every ultrasound, every diaper, every child born is a permanent, irreversible win, whether or not the culture ever reports it. It was worth it. It is worth it. It will be worth it,” he said.
Erwin, a former Alabama state senator and television and radio broadcaster, is the founder and president of the Great American Prayer Revival (GAP26), a national movement calling America to a Third Great Awakening. His experiences as chaplain to
the Woodlawn High School football team during the racially turbulent 1973-74 school year became the basis for the motion picture Woodlawn. Erwin often shared those stories with his sons, Jon and Andrew, who later directed the film starring Sean Astin
(The Lord of the Rings, Rudy) as Hank Erwin.
Woodlawn was one of several successful movies directed by Jon and Andrew Erwin, whose credits also include I Can Only Imagine, American Underdog and Jesus Revolution. Their first feature film, October Baby, tells the story of a young woman who
discovers she survived a failed abortion attempt and sets out to find her birth mother.
He recounts the sacrifice of his father, Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sergeant Henry “Red” Erwin Sr., whose willingness to suffer to save others becomes a picture of selfless service.
In Worth It, Hank Erwin includes his sons’ bold step of faith in making October Baby along with other stories of courage that mirror the work of pregnancy centers today. He recounts the sacrifice of his father, Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sergeant Henry “Red” Erwin Sr., whose willingness to suffer to save others becomes a picture of selfless service. He also tells the stories of Joseph’s decision to remain with Mary despite public shame, the Hebrew midwives' courage in defying Pharaoh to protect innocent lives, and decades of pro-life advocacy alongside his wife, Shelia, despite the personal and professional costs.
“Most of the courage this (pro-life) work requires will never win a medal,”
Erwin said. “My father received the Medal of Honor in World War II for carrying a burning bomb through a plane and saving the crew. The volunteer who sits with a frightened nineteen-year-old at two in the morning does something just as costly, week after week, with no citation and no camera — and I believe Heaven keeps a more faithful record of that than any newspaper ever could.”
In a chapter titled “What a Diaper Bag Is Worth,” Erwin reminds readers that the work of a pregnancy center cannot be measured by budgets or statistics alone, but by the lives changed through compassionate care. He encourages centers to communicate the real impact behind every gift, volunteer hour and act of service, helping supporters see that they are investing in mothers, babies and families rather than simply funding programs.
Throughout the chapter, Erwin returns to the central truth that practical acts of care, from providing an ultrasound to a parenting class or simply a listening ear, are tangible expressions of the belief that every life is created by God and worthy of love, dignity and protection.
In his role as the leader of the Great American Prayer Revival, Erwin sets 2nd Chronicles 7:14 as the movement’s foundation Bible verse, calling the United States back to God:
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Erwin believes pregnancy centers are one way God is bringing healing to the nation, “one mother, one ultrasound, one child at a time.”
As he writes, “The practical work of a diaper bag is, in the end, simply the visible form that theological truth takes when it meets a mother’s actual Tuesday afternoon.”
Find encouragement like this post, along with many more days like it, when you download Care Net’s 365 Days of Pro Abundant Life devotional. This devotional is a daily invitation to grow in your faith, understand the sanctity of life from conception, and be inspired by Christ’s promises.