The Adventures in Kentucky Begin!

Ugh—my first wrong turn of the trip.

I would have to make a game of counting missed exits—and of apologizing to my GPS. But even though I lacked a sense of direction, I did possess a sense of peace—the kind of peace that comes with realizing that someone, somewhere, is praying for you.

Friends around Canada had already let me know that they’d pray for today’s border crossing to go smoothly despite ongoing pandemic restrictions. I added my own prayers as I parked my car in the border lineup. Then my phone rang.

“Are you at the Ambassador Bridge border?” asked the voice on the other end of the line.

“I thought that’s where I was heading,” I answered, “but my GPS took me to another crossing.”

“Oh, good. There’s a bomb threat at the bridge right now. So, if you get turned around, that’s probably why.”

Well then. We’d soon find out.

“Where are you headed today?” asked the officer when I pulled my vehicle up to the gate.

“Williamstown, Kentucky,” I replied, handing him some documentation.

“And what will you be doing?”

“I’m a speaker for Answers in Genesis Canada, a Christian non-profit organization. I’ll be working for my Canadian organization remotely from the Answers in Genesis headquarters in Kentucky for up to six months while speaking, filming, job training, and talking about a book I’ve written.”

After asking a couple more questions, he handed back my documents. “Have a nice day!”

First answered prayer of the trip!

Maybe I should start counting them too.

Lost

Several hours, 480 kilometers—I mean, 300 miles—and only a few wrong turns later, I finally made it to what my GPS assured me was the correct destination. But where was the building where I’d be spending the night? I made a phone call to ask for directions, squinting through the darkness to try to describe my surroundings.

“And you are in Williamstown, Kentucky, right?” the person on the phone clarified.

“Yes! At least, I’m pretty sure. But being lost is normal for me.”

After a rambling country drive and another call, I finally arrived at the correct landing pad. At this rate, I could only imagine what the next day would hold—let alone the next few months!

Culture Shock

The next morning, I strode into the foggy streets to start exploring. As buildings, signs, and houses began materializing through the mist, I couldn’t help noticing the many references to the local culture’s Christianization. The churchy puns emblazoned on clothing in store windows, the “Blessing Box” on a street corner, and the life-sized cross in a front yard all bespoke a cultural climate far different from my own. Walking down the street in Canada, I’m far more likely to see references to the nation’s highly secular humanist religious system.

I’m sure many other corners of America more clearly reflect Western culture’s slide from Biblical values—a slide that stems from culture and churches turning away from the authority of God’s Word beginning in Genesis. But here, the more blatant of those reflections seemed absent. So did the scent of recreational cannabis I’d often noticed in Canadian cities. Then I heard a sound that I couldn’t recall ever hearing in a Canadian neighborhood—the pop-pop-pop of a gun engaged in target practice.

Toto, I thought, We’re not in Kansas anymore.

Courageous

A few hours later, I slid back behind my steering wheel for the most exciting event of my visit yet: the screening of the movie Courageous Legacy at the Ark Encounter.

“Hopefully I won’t end up in another state,” I’d joked on my way out the door. I then missed my highway exit, took a 20-minute detour, entered a wrong parking lot, and contacted a friendly construction pylon before finally reaching the Ark. But at least I stayed in Kentucky. And I did arrive in time for Courageous.

The movie, with its theme of biblically discipling the next generation without compromise, reminded me why I’d joined Answers in Genesis. I want to help disciple young people to stand on the truth of Scripture in a culture that tells them that God’s Word is wrong about the real world—a culture that rejects the foundation for truth, justice, morality, and human rights that a biblical worldview provides. That kind of discipleship is a mission for the entire church, and it’s a mission that does indeed require courage.

What further adventures will unfold as I travel the next kilometers—I mean miles—in pursuit of that mission?

I’m not too sure. But I do know that God will (thankfully) be the One steering. And he never takes a wrong turn.