Reaching Teachers

The presence of a booth staffed by Answers in Genesis has become such a regular occurrence at the annual convention of the National Education Association (NEA) that even the most hard-hearted convention veteran doesn’t even look twice anymore. At the convention in 2006, familiarity did not mean hassle-free.

Considered to be the most liberal union in America, the NEA is a membership group of public school teachers and administrators.

Since the NEA was supporting homosexual marriage at the convention, AiG displayed a banner declaring: “Gay marriage: Who determines what marriage should be?” with the answer: “Genesis is literal history; God created them male and female” underneath. AiG workers also placed booklets on gay marriage on their table for convention-goers to pick up.

NEA leadership was pressured into asking AiG workers to move these booklets to a back table; however, one AiG staff member graciously presented a NEA leader with the convention’s by-laws that permitted the distribution of materials.

It was a somewhat tense situation, but NEA leaders did not press the issue. Thankfully, God allowed several thousand free DVDs, books, and booklets on origins, the beginning of life, astronomy, dinosaurs, and many other topics to be distributed to educators, exposing many to the gospel.