Reaching the Young Through “Creation Evangelism”

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the honor of ministering to a number of young people. It’s fantastic to see them get excited about AiG’s message of biblical authority … and then to see them take it to use in their own outreaches.

As I thought about this, I was reminded that a ministry such as AiG needs to be constantly “working ourselves out of a job.” You see, if we aren’t training the next generation to take up the baton to proclaim biblical authority, well, when we’re gone, the ministry will fail.

Over and over again, I’ve recently had several young people come up after my talks to thank me (especially now that the new school year has started). These young people can now go confidently into their public school classes with answers.

A few weeks ago, Nick, a young man who used to be involved with satanism and drugs, shared with me how the AiG message had vitally helped him as a young Christian. In particular, he told me that he had “spent hours on the AiG website. It’s a huge help to me, so thank you.”

Nick’s email was such a blessing to me that I wanted to share portions of it with you here.

Hey Carl,

I have to start off by saying how great of a time I had at the creation conference, and talking with you. It was really awesome. An experience I’ll never forget. As you know, I go on the AiG website frequently, but it does not quite compare to actually being at one of the conferences.

After I was saved, I was very confused. So in my confusion, I kept asking God what the truth was. I chose to trust Him in leading me to truth (Psalm 118:8).

I read the Bible, trusting in God to teach me His way. He led me to others who share the same relationship to Jesus.

After a little while, I started having lots of doubts of what I believed: Is God really there? Is the Bible really God’s Word? That once again led me to have to ask God to help me with questions that needed to be answered.

Within two days of my prayer, on my favorite radio station WAWZ 99.1 [near New York City], Ken Ham was on the air for a short time talking about Answers in Genesis. I got so excited I went to your website, and my faith was restored.

I have no reason to doubt the existence and reality of God. God has also instilled a love for this ministry in my heart. I love AiG. Thank you, Carl.

Wasn’t that thrilling?

Ashley sent me the following report after her first week back in school:

“One of the best things was taking what I had learned [through AiG] and applying it to some of my classes. For instance, in my world history class, Mr O. asked about who believed in creation, evolution, or both? Then he had one person from each group explain why. I explained for the creation group, and he said that it was probably the best argument he had heard his whole teaching career. But he still thinks it is wrong!”

Praise God! We are told in 2 Peter 3 to be ready with an answer. It’s not our job to convict, only to share the truth. God will do the rest.

Now let me introduce you to another special young person. Nathan is someone who is an encouragement to be around, with a wonderful smile and a gracious heart. He recently shared with me about his latest missions trip:

‘ … despite my Christian upbringing, I never understood the importance of the creation story and the relevance it has for our world.

“I was surfing the Net one day, and saw a link to a sermon about the age of the earth, by Ken Ham. That seemed pretty interesting, because you don’t see too many sermons preached on topics like that! Well, after listening to about thirty minutes of Ken defending the Bible, I was hooked. Soon I found the AiG website, and started ordering and downloading anything I could get my hands on.

“From that time on, I kept myself updated with AiG’s website and Creation magazine.

“Last summer, I had the opportunity to live in Cairo, Egypt for two months, and to be a witness. As you know, the gospel message beginning in Genesis has been a powerful and effective tool for sharing the gospel here in America, but I didn’t know how people in Egypt, an Islamic country, would receive this message. I thought that maybe the people there would not be interested in science.

“But I could not have been more wrong. I was amazed. Not only were they interested, but, to my surprise, they were the ones bringing science into the discussions. In fact, almost everyone I talked with tried to use concepts like carbon dating or embryonic-recapitulation to defend the Koran and disprove the Bible. Thanks to AiG, I was able to quickly silence their attacks and share with them how real science actually supports the Bible, and that they had better listen to the rest of the Bible as well.

“One time, I was in a mosque, and met a number of people [including] a professor of Islam. The professor pulled out a magazine and opened to an article about man’s evolutionary heritage. He showed me a passage from the Koran that claimed mankind underwent these transformations between animals and the world (i.e. embryonic-recapitulation).

“Almost without having time to think, I told him all about Ernst Haeckel and that he had doctored his embryonic diagrams, and I recited all kinds of material that I had memorized over the years of listening to AiG tapes and reading articles online. He was stunned.

“Eventually one man leaned over and said to me, ‘I’d like to hear more about this later.’”

Beginning with creation …

“Each person I spoke with was amazed that Christians had real answers to their questions, not just some stories, and each time they wanted to hear more. It was because I began with creation and showed them that the Bible is relevant to real life if they would also listen to what the Bible said about Jesus Christ.

“The saddest part about my time in Egypt was that none of the long-term missionaries thought creation and six literal creation days were of any importance. ‘People need to hear about God’s love,’ they would say. That’s true, but we need to realize that a God of love is not consistent with millions of years of death and struggle.

“People all over the world are rejecting the Bible based on the ‘scientific’ claims of evolution, and it is time that the church woke up to that.

“The whole Bible message from Genesis to Revelation stands or falls on the foundation laid in the first chapters of Genesis. If the foundation is destroyed, what can the righteous do?”1

How exciting it is to see the next generation ready and prepared to share their Christian faith! That’s what AiG is all about: Equipping the saints to be obedient to God’s Word, and to have answers for their faith.

Would you please pray that support for the Creation Museum—now under construction in Northern Kentucky, USA—would come in at such a great rate that it could open sooner than later? I truly believe that this international center will become one of the most important tools that can be used to train Christians to reclaim the culture in this nation.

Also, think about joining us 22–25 July 2004 in West Harrison, Indiana, USA (not too far from AiG-US) for our first Creation College with Ken Ham, Dr Carl Wieland and Dr Jonathan Sarfati (and 11 other presenters). They will help you create effective presentations on biblical authority from the very first verse.

Or, consider joining me on a witnessing trip to the Greek Olympics 22 August–1 September 2004. Most of the time will be set aside for active witnessing (“creation evangelism”), but we will set aside some days to visit areas mentioned in the New Testament.

Yes, you can tell that AiG is an extremely busy ministry—worldwide. I trust you are excited to discover what the Lord is doing, especially in the lives of young people.