Guest Blog—Mike Zovath

Mike Zovath is one of the Vice Presidents of AiG–USA and is primarily responsible for the Creation Museum. Mike is on the board of AiG–UK and is attending their annual board meeting this week. He sends the following report:

Hello from the UK (not Kentucky Wildcat country, but Great Britain). I’m filling in on the blog for Ken today from Leicester, England, headquarters of AiG–UK/Europe. Ken and I are part of the UK ministry board of directors and I’m here for our annual general meeting. It's my first time at the new UK headquarters here on Morris Road. In September, they moved from an old lemonade factory to this very spacious and modern office/warehouse site. It’s a blessing to see them in the new digs—I know just how they feel coming from an old and cramped location to this place. Our staff made the same type move in September of last year and it was a tremendous morale boost for all of us. Our UK team is feeling the same boost as they settle into their new home.

It’s really exciting to see the growth of the ministry over here. Dr Monty White, the chief executive, has done a remarkable job of building on the foundation that was built by our first leader, Graham Scott. Ken has been coming to the UK every year for the past 14 years to help them build their support base and establish the beachhead in this very pagan country. I’ve been blessed to be here for the 12th year in a row and I’ve really fallen in love with the country and the people. I have been coming with Ken to help with the setup of sites and to assist the UK staff with book sales and other logistics (I’m also writing a book about the 50 best fish and chips shops in England).

One of my many other hats is Ken’s chauffeur while we’re here. It’s a blast driving on the “wrong” side of the road for a week or two at a time, and Ken has turned out to be an expert navigator. We really need expert navigation with the sometimes strange and confusing road networks here! We’ve had some great times driving to a new venue each day, setting up, Ken speaking, tearing down and driving to the next site and starting all over again. Its normally incredibly tiring but extremely rewarding, especially now as we see this ministry continue to grow and reach thousands all over the Isles.

We had a great board meeting, and good fellowship with Monty, Mike Bright, Geoff Dodge, Rev. Ian McNaughton (our chairman), and, by phone, with Bruce Brain. Ian and Bruce have been a part of the board for the 12 years that I have been associated with the ministry and they have experienced firsthand God’s rich blessings through the work here.

I arrived after an all-night flight from Cincinnati and a three-hour drive through maddening traffic jams on the motorways around London. It got even worse as I got close to the exits near the huge fuel storage fires that the Brits are still fighting. After I arrived at the new headquarters I got their version of the “Behind the Scenes” tour of the place and got to see the excitement of the staff in person. Later in the evening, Monty, Ian, Geoff and their wives took me to dinner. They wanted to surprise me with a special restaurant Monty found that served food portions the size of American portions—really hard to find over here. Only they were HUGE portions—what a feast! After dinner it was back to Monty’s house, where I talked with the men until close to midnight. It was a long day but we really accomplished a lot.

Today started early with board presentations and some amazing stats from Monty that show just how well AiG–UK/Europe is doing and how many souls they are reaching. It was very encouraging for all of us and will be even more encouraging to Ken with all of the time and effort he has invested here over the years. But what an eternal return on investment! Later in the day we went to a quaint and old (just about everything over here is old!) farm pub for a traditional English Christmas meal. It was one of the best meals I’ve had in the UK, and was topped off with real Christmas pudding! We went back to the AiG office and I was able to brief everyone on the progress of our Creation Museum. Back to the white house for coffee, and then off to Birmingham tonight to catch an early morning flight to Belfast.

I’m meeting a supporter who owns a carpet company there and has offered to create a special custom-designed carpet for our planetarium. He donated all of the carpet for the new UK offices as well. Patrick Marsh finished the carpet design earlier this week and I’m going to deliver it to the owner tomorrow. It’s incredible to me how the Lord is bringing so many supporters from all over the world to be a part of our museum project, and this supporter is thrilled to be able to be involved. It’s another win-win blessing in an incredibly long line of win-win blessings for AiG.

This one will be a short trip compared to most of our UK trips, but will be valuable and rewarding in so many ways. Please keep Monty, his staff, the UK board, and the outreach of AiG–UK/Europe in your prayers. The opportunities here are many and the impact is for eternity.

Thanks for letting me fill in for Ken while he’s vacation—and as Ken says, “Thanks for stopping by.”