Mountaintop Experiences and Looking Forward

Now some have asked me, “How do we know these people were truly saved?” Well, we could ask the same question about anyone who professes Christ, as only God truly knows a person’s heart. However, what is encouraging to us is the number of people who contact us later in person, by email, by letter, etc. to give testimony of their salvation.

After one of the 40/40 concerts at the Creation Museum where Ray Flynn—the CEO of Abraham Productions who runs this 40-day event for us—had preached the message, a lady who had sat through the message and responded approached him. She said she was 75 years old and had been in church all her life, but she realized that day she was never born again. She said she prayed to receive Christ and now was overjoyed she could say she was a real Christian.

When Ray speaks at the 40/40 events (I spoke at 12 of the evenings this year), he always explains the gospel clearly as he gives a challenge.

After I give presentations at the Ark and Creation Museum, I often conduct a meet and greet where people come to say hi, have a book autographed, or get a photo taken. During one of the meet and greets, a lady told me that she was from California and was on a quest for truth. After visiting our attractions and then attending a 40/40 concert and hearing the gospel clearly presented, she said she responded to the gospel and her search was over. She said this event radically changed her life, and she was glowing with happiness.

We have heard many other testimonies as a result of 40/40, and we receive testimonies almost weekly from people whose lives were radically changed because of the AiG ministry, attractions, books, and so on. I often have people comment on my social media posts about how the Lord used AiG to lead them to salvation.

Right after 40/40 was finished in early September, we went to Cedarville University (one of the few Christian universities that takes the same stand we do on God’s Word and we can therefore partner with) to speak in chapel and conduct a Living in Babylon program. What a thrill to speak to 3,500+ students and faculty at their morning chapel and to around 3,500 for the public evening event.

During a couple of meet and greets, I had so many students tell me that their parents were impacted by AiG, many sharing they were just a few years old when their parents heard me speak and that’s why they are now at such a Christian university. The students gave me so many testimonies like one young man who said, “You have no idea how your ministry changed my father’s life. He still talks about it, and that’s why I have such a strong stand on God’s Word and am at this university.”

We hear so many testimonies like this. So as I write this letter, the last 40+ days certainly have been one of those mountaintop experiences. Now why did I say I love such experiences, and yet also said I groan?

Well, I’ve often found (and I’m sure you have too) that when we have mountaintop experiences in the Christian life, we then often find valleys as the devil wants to take that joy from us. But that’s how it is in this life, and we have to prepare for mountains and valleys. And I must admit, I’ve been through a lot of both during the past nearly 50 years of ministry.

But overall, I have to say the formation of the Answers in Genesis ministry and its many different outreaches and the opening of the two leading Christian themed attractions in the world (1. Ark Encounter and 2. Creation Museum) have been mountaintop experiences despite the valleys we’ve had to go through.

Now please note something. To me, the mountaintop experiences really climax in seeing the ministry’s impact on lives of people and the hearts and minds changed so there is rejoicing in heaven as sinners are saved (Luke 15:10). That’s always what the Answers in Genesis ministry has had as part of our core mission.

To me, the mountaintop experiences really climax in seeing the ministry’s impact on lives of people and the hearts and minds changed so there is rejoicing in heaven as sinners are saved (Luke 15:10).

And we want to see this life-changing impact on people grow! Our heart is to reach as many people as we can with the truth of God’s Word and the saving gospel. As part of our vision to do this, each year we prioritize a few projects for our end-of-year fundraising challenge.

We praise the Lord that for the past few years, various supporters and foundations have enabled us to offer a challenge match to fund these projects. Once again, a family foundation has agreed to offer us an $8 million match this year. In other words, every dollar given toward this end-of-year challenge will be matched dollar for dollar up to $8 million through December 31.

Because our supporters have completed such a match for the past several years, this family foundation was pleased to offer another match this year. And another family who is enthusiastic about our end-of-year projects made a $1 million gift to jump-start the campaign in September—praise God!

This year, we have chosen three projects for this match. Before I list these again (I mentioned them in my October letter to supporters), I need to remind you that the tickets for the attractions pay our daily running costs, staff salaries, and normal maintenance costs, but to expand or update these God-honoring facilities, we need to raise funds from our supporters.

Our three projects for the 2024 end-of-year matching gift challenge are as follows:

1. Since the Creation Museum and its Noah’s Café was built in 2007, the museum’s reach and popularity has significantly grown. Not only has guest attendance increased, but the amount of time guests stay on-site has grown substantially. The café has not been able to meet this increased demand.

   This means we need to add a larger primary dining venue to accommodate and serve more guests on the Creation Museum property, which will increase revenue. We will do this by adding a restaurant onto the Creation Museum, which will also free up the space currently occupied by Noah’s Café for exhibit and other expansions.

   • 
   • 

   We also plan to update the portion of the Creation Museum that contains the Main Hall and Dragon Hall Bookstore for expanded retail while improving guest pathways and flow to the exhibits and theaters.

   And with the opening of our next new major attraction at the Creation Museum (the conservatory consisting of four large glass greenhouses containing the plants of the Bible), as well as our new stunning zoo, this museum expansion is urgently needed.

2. With the impact of the revenue-producing Truth Traveler virtual reality experience at the Ark Encounter, we plan to relocate and expand the experience to the currently unused and unfinished fourth deck of the Ark. Guests and supporters have been asking us for a long time when we will develop the fourth deck we had built into the structure.

   • 
   • 

   This relocation will draw more people to the Truth Traveler VR experience as they make their way through the full-scale Ark—the main attraction of the Ark Encounter—enabling a greater number of people to be impacted by the biblical history and gospel message presented through this exciting VR experience. Additionally, this will free up the current VR building (adjacent to the playground and carousel) to be used for more children’s activities.

   The new location, with the ability to access the Ark’s outside viewing platform (which so many guests have wanted to experience), would increase overall guest capacity within the Ark.

   This funding will also help prepare for future expansion at the Ark Encounter, including technology and infrastructure.

3. As AI continues to disrupt various fields and become a key tool in many technology platforms, it is crucial that Christian ministries don’t get left behind. Current AI platforms have biases which are not always favorable to biblical teaching and fall short of offering a truly Christian product.

   AiG’s faith-based artificial intelligence project will lay the foundation for new, state-of-the-art interactive opportunities at the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter, with a special focus on children. It will also be used to create education tools that can be used to train children up in the knowledge of the Bible and apologetics.

   In the first phase, we are developing a Noah character (an “avatar”), which will be projected into spaces at the Ark Encounter. Guests will be able to speak to Noah and ask him questions about certain subjects, like the ark and the flood.

   

I can’t wait for so many more mountaintop experiences as we hear of many more people impacted for the kingdom as a result of these projects being completed.

I can’t wait for so many more mountaintop experiences as we hear of many more people impacted for the kingdom as a result of these projects being completed. But we need your help to make this happen.

That’s why we urge 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 online 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!

You can follow the progress and find out more about this special end-of-year campaign on our website at AnswersDonate.com. Here, I share a short video, and you can download a flyer about these exciting projects. You can share it with your family and friends to challenge them to consider supporting these gospel-proclaiming projects too.

I’m so grateful for your prayers and support. They enable this cutting-edge ministry to impact millions of lives 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.