In the Beginning: The Most Needy

Ken Ham
Founding CEO
Answers in Genesis

The “needy people” question often pops up to us at Answers in Genesis (AiG). Critics ask, “Why spend millions of dollars to develop apologetics resources like Answers magazine, the Ark Encounter, and the Creation Museum when so many people have physical needs? Couldn’t those millions be better spent?”

But in the biblical worldview, the neediest people of all are those headed to a Christless eternity. Accordingly, no task is more vital than evangelism.

The kingdom of God contains various ministries. Thousands of Christian charities help the poor and homeless. At the same time, apologetics organizations exist that uphold the Bible and preach the gospel. For example, our life-sized Noah’s ark proclaims salvation through a modern-day vessel of salvation: Jesus Christ. Surveys indicate that about 30% of these visitors are not born-again. The Ark Encounter is not a frivolous amusement park. It is an evangelistic outreach.

In this sin-cursed world with so much suffering (due to the fall of man recorded in Genesis 3), Christians are instructed to be charitable (2 Corinthians 9:7; Acts 20:35). So, while it is chartered as an apologetics ministry and not a humanitarian one, AiG still manages to reach people who have physical needs. For example, through our vacation Bible school program, AiG provides meals to over one million children each year in collaboration with the Children’s Hunger Fund.

We have to wonder if those people who criticize us for our spending have ever sent a similar message to billion-dollar businesses that engage in frivolous entertainment (like Disney World and a soon-to-open, one-billion-dollar Universal attraction in Orlando) and complain that corporate money should go instead to help the needy. Why are Christians targeted to the exclusion of others?

Does this argument—that money used for Christian outreaches should be given instead to people with physical needs—sound familiar? In John 12 and Mark 14, Judas complained that a woman had spent money foolishly by pouring perfume on Christ instead of using the money for the poor. But he was wrong. According to Mark 14:6, the woman acted out of service to her Savior—and Jesus identified the woman’s actions as good.

This is a temporal world. Eternity faces all of us. Efforts to share Christ will reach souls who are truly the neediest: those heading to a Christless eternity.