Exciting New Developments Planned for Creation Museum and Ark Encounter

And really, what we do proclaiming God’s Word and the gospel is part of an eternal legacy. So many people over the years have testified in various ways as to how the Lord used AiG to bring them to salvation. Who knows how many will be in heaven because God used this ministry to impact them? That’s a priceless legacy of eternal impact!

Buddy and his wife, Kay, were much more integral for the Creation Museum becoming a reality than many realize. When Mark Looy, Mike Zovath, and I (the three founders of AiG) saw the dinosaurs Buddy sculpted back in 1994, we recognized such sculptures could be used to get the Creation Museum underway. At that stage, Buddy and Kay earned their living by renting their dinosaurs for exhibition at shopping centers. But Buddy and Kay said they really wanted these sculptures to be used to win people to Christ and that they would be willing to donate them to the ministry—which they did.

It was a big step of faith for them, but God used this as one of the vital steps in the Creation Museum becoming a reality. And as a result, sometime later, Buddy began full-time ministry with Answers in Genesis, impacting thousands upon thousands of families. Buddy loved teaching children, and his legacy lives on through the Answers TV streaming platform and, of course, lives on at the Ark and Creation Museum through his many sculptures used to teach people of all ages from a truly biblical worldview perspective. His music also lives on in so many ways through various streaming platforms.

“God first, others second, yourself last.”

Buddy’s passing hit me very hard as he was one of my closest friends and was like a brother to me. We conducted so much ministry together, and he was such an iconic figure associated with this ministry. But this has made me think about legacy more than ever. I keep hearing my mother’s voice reminding, “It’s only what is done for Jesus that lasts.” She also always drummed into us, “God first, others second, yourself last.”

I’ve often said that the ministry of Answers in Genesis, the Creation Museum, and the Ark Encounter is a legacy of parents who taught us to stand boldly on the authority of the Word of God and reach as many as possible with the gospel. Yes, it is that, but it’s also part of the legacy of you, our supporters.

We could never reach the tens of millions of people each year that we do through all the various outreaches and the two attractions without God’s people who pray for us and support us financially, volunteer time, and in so many other ways. This ministry is part of all our legacies.

And knowing that, I have always striven extra hard to ensure this ministry never drifts from our mission or uncompromising stand on God’s Word. I often have people tell me how thrilled they are to see that this ministry has never wavered in its stand on biblical authority and evangelism.

As you know, at the end of each year, we prioritize a number of projects to help further the legacy of the AiG ministry so we can reach even more people. This year, we have three exciting projects, and one of them is directly connected to the ongoing legacy of Buddy Davis.

Let me give you a summary of these.

1. As many of you know, we will be moving our general offices out of the Creation Museum into the new HQ building (the old Toyota building the Lord enabled us to obtain) in a few months. We want the vacated space to eventually become an area designed to engage and impact children—a children’s museum. And we also want to install a special exhibit in the space honoring the legacy of Buddy Davis. This will all be part of a very needed expansion at the Creation Museum.

   The Creation Museum was never built for the number of guests now coming through.

   The Creation Museum was never built for the number of guests now coming through. And once we open the stunning conservatory exhibiting the plants of the Bible (an attraction in itself) and new zoo and outdoor stage this year, we believe the guest attendance will increase even more. We are desperate to have more space in the museum (a problem we praise the Lord for!).

   The existing café is often unable to meet the increased demand, and the museum can get very crowded at times. We have plans to build a new, larger main dining venue onto the museum and open up a lot more space inside the museum while we also work to turn the present office space into a children’s museum.

   
   

   It’s a good problem to have and these significant changes will allow us to impact the increasing number of guests pouring into the Creation Museum.

2. At the Ark Encounter, we also want to add more fun exhibits for children. And we’ve been trying for a number of years now to develop the fourth deck of the Ark—which features an outdoor overlook with spectacular views of the park and the surrounding countryside—but which is currently not permitted for public access. Also, our popular virtual reality (VR) attraction needs technology and equipment upgrades as items such as the moving seats are beginning to wear out (as everything does in this fallen world).

   

   So we have come up with an exciting plan to accomplish all of this at the same time. We want to move the VR experience up to the fourth deck. To do this, we have to add restrooms, air conditioning, and other modifications to allow those guests who do the VR experience to also have the opportunity to go outside on the special overlook walkway and enjoy the view. This would vacate the current VR building, leaving us a wonderful space—located right beside the carousel and playground—to dedicate to providing more for children.

   
   

3. The third project is a very interesting one with enormous potential for future impact. But first a reminder: technology is great, but it can be used for evil or good. For instance, AiG is on all the major social media platforms. People use such platforms for much evil, but we use them to proclaim far and wide the truth of God’s Word and the gospel and to market the ministry and all our outreaches.

   

   I’m sure we’ve all heard of AI (Artificial Intelligence). There’s no doubt this is becoming a major force in our culture in all sorts of ways. However, AI is based on human programming which contains all kinds of biases. When one asks AI questions, the answers are not necessarily based on convictions which come from God’s Word.

   We have access to expertise to build AI based on Christian assumptions, including our Answers in Genesis database. Such an AI tool would stand alone, like a ChatGPT for apologetics issues. It can also be used to enhance the Ark and Creation Museum with technology-based experiences for all ages (including children). For example, we are bringing Noah to life as a life-size animation who talks to guests, answering questions about the ark and the flood. We are already excited by the results of our early testing. The full potential of AI for apologetics is huge.

You can see more here:

The total cost of these projects is $20 million. We praise the Lord that the family foundation who has provided a matching grant for us for the past several years has done so again by agreeing to match dollar for dollar every amount given to these projects up to $8 million.

Because you, our supporters, enabled us to meet the match each year, the foundation decided they would once again provide this opportunity. And I’m thrilled to share that another family who was excited about these projects recently made a $1 million gift to jump-start the campaign. With the matching gift, that’s $2 million to begin the campaign—praise God!

That’s why I’m asking you to send a generous gift today to help us take full advantage of the incredible end-of-year matching gift opportunity. You may donate at AnswersDonate.com. And remember, your gift of any size to this end-of-year campaign will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $8 million through the end of the year!

I’m so grateful for your prayers and support—they are so important to enabling us to impact coming generations with the truth of God’s Word and the saving gospel.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.