Reaching the United Kingdom with Truth

The worldwide ministry of AiG is witnessing a global hunger for truth, and we have been increasing our efforts to respond in many ways. I’ll share more about those efforts later, but I first wanted to tell you about a dramatic outreach overseas.

I have just returned from what I believe to be the greatest creation apologetics outreach ever in the United Kingdom.

I have just returned from what I believe to be the greatest creation apologetics outreach ever in the United Kingdom. Organized in conjunction with our worldwide ministry efforts, our co-hosted UK Mega Conference was attended by over 1,500 people—most coming to all the sessions from Thursday evening through Saturday evening.

Over 100 pastors, missionaries, and other church leaders were in attendance (including one missionary to the Amazon people). The attendees came from Ireland, Northern Ireland, France, Poland, Albania, Romania, Switzerland, Hungary, USA, Australia, and India. There were also a number of Christian media representatives, including one from Holland.

Thousands of AiG resources were obtained by people hungry for the truth of God’s Word beginning in Genesis.

As you know, the USA has many ties to the UK. I have even visited the English port from which the Mayflower began its voyage to America.

I’m sure you, like me, are dismayed at the spiritual state of the United Kingdom—in fact all of Europe. Statistics indicate church attendance is down from 50–60% of the population a few generations ago to around 8% attending church at least once a month now! A Penguin Books survey also found around two-thirds of teenagers in England don’t believe in God!

One of the researchers involved in conducting such research on the state of the church in England was present at the Mega Conference. He told me that the situation in the church is even much worse than we think, and he is going to be sending me the latest sad research results.

I have often warned the US church that America is heading the same way as England if it keeps on the same path it is on at the present time.

A Part of Prof’s Legacy

The UK Mega Conference has such special meaning for me for two main reasons.

First, the founding chairman of the board of our creation apologetics ministry, which began in our home in Australia about 35 years ago, came from England. Professor John Rendle-Short was Professor of Child Health at Queensland University (Brisbane) and pioneered the diagnosis and treatment of autism in children. He was honored by the queen for this work. “Prof” (as we affectionately called him) went to be with his Lord in 2010 at 90 years of age.

Prof had emigrated from England to Australia, but he always maintained a deep love and burden for his native country. For example, he pleaded with me (nearly 30 years ago) to travel to England and help reach the English church and the nation with the creation/gospel message. This resulted in the founding of an affiliated ministry in that country, which later changed its name to Answers in Genesis when it became a sister organization of our AiG ministry in the USA.

On my first trip to the USA in the early ’80s, Prof came with me. We met with Dr. Henry Morris and Dr. Duane Gish at the Institute for Creation Research in San Diego. I still have many fond memories of that trip and the tremendous bond of friendship Prof and I developed.

Many of you would probably be unaware that Prof authored one of the first major books published by our ministry in Australia, titled Man: Ape or Image? This book dealt with the topic of theistic evolution and why a Christian cannot consistently believe in both evolution and the Bible (which is a big problem in the church in the UK).

In his early years, Prof himself was an ardent theistic evolutionist; however, after meeting the late Dr. A. E. Wilder-Smith, an ardent biblical creationist and scientist, and after being challenged by him concerning the Genesis account of six literal days of creation, Prof changed his position. He became an ardent six-literal-day, young-earth creationist.

Prof and I visited the UK a number of times speaking together in churches and other venues. Prof pleaded with me to continue our creation apologetic outreach in the UK, as he had such a burden for his home country. I promised Prof I would do that, and so my many visits to the UK over the years and this recent Mega Conference are, to me, all a part of Prof’s legacy.

A Whole New Level of Influence

Second, the Lord used my good friend Prof to burden me for ministry in the UK. For more than 30 years, I have spoken across the UK. On many tours, I traveled to church after church—a different location each night, sometimes for three weeks or a year.

Often I would travel to the UK twice a year for such tours. It was very tiring. I stayed in people’s homes, in bed and breakfasts, in places that were not very comfortable—but the mission to reach the church with the message of the authority of God’s Word beginning in Genesis was so vital.

Many other speakers from AiG have also visited the United Kingdom—and we have conducted several pastors’ breakfasts and other conferences over the years.

Really, last month’s Mega Conference was built on the hard efforts of so many people over the years. The Lord had raised up special dedicated servants (like the late Graham Scott) to help us get this message into the UK. The AiG ministry in the UK is small, but it has dedicated staff who sacrifice beyond what many people would even realize because of their burden to see AiG’s teaching have an impact on their nation.

I believe this Mega Conference is a culmination of years of hard work and prayer.

I believe this Mega Conference is a culmination of years of hard work and prayer—something Prof would have so loved to have seen. But I also believe the Lord is burdening us to take the ministry in the UK and Europe to a whole new level of influence.

Already, as a result of the conference, missionaries and others are pleading with us to have AiG resources translated into their languages.

Our Worldwide Ministry Is Growing

But this brings me to a very important point I ask you to please contemplate.

God has greatly blessed the ministry in the USA. I had so many people in the UK say they would so love to see a Creation Museum in their nation. In the USA the Lord has blessed the culture with not only the Creation Museum but also the coming Ark Encounter.

And while we have asked you to support the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum and many other outreaches of AiG with your prayers and financial support, we are also involved in many other programs—including reaching the UK and many other countries with the creation/gospel message. Our worldwide ministry is growing.

Below is a small sample of how our worldwide outreach efforts are growing in response to the increasing global hunger for the truth of God’s Word beginning in Genesis:

• In the past 18 months we have completed conferences and trained hundreds of pastors in eight Latin American countries. We have also recorded radio and TV programs in Spanish to be aired throughout North and South America.
• More than 20 AiG books and booklets have been translated into Spanish, and the Creation Museum has hosted special Spanish-language days. We are expecting over 500 Hispanic guests for our next Latin Day at the Creation Museum in November.
• We are helping people in Italy, Poland, Malaysia, Spain, and Russia to develop and grow their creation apologetics ministries.
• AiG is partnering with the Slavic Gospel Association on new translations of our pocket guides for distribution throughout Russian-speaking countries.
• Working alongside the Children’s Hunger Fund and the Slavic Gospel Association, we produced 900,000 creation evangelism tracts in five different languages. These tracts are read and given to people as they receive compassion food packages. Since we made this a mission outreach option in our latest Vacation Bible School program, over 500,000 meals and creation/gospel tracts have been provided, making this a mission of both help and hope!
• We are currently working on conferences for Mexico, Peru, Korea, Italy, and a series of conferences in four major cities in India. Training conferences for over 1,000 pastors in Nepal have also been confirmed.

Just as I was writing this article, our office received this email from the UK:

Just a thank you . . . for organizing an excellent Mega Conference this weekend. My wife and I were speechless by the end of the three days and left very much convicted and encouraged.

I heard many testimonies at the UK Mega Conference. As I was walking out of the auditorium one man said, “Your ministry led me to the Lord.” A pastor told me his church is using AiG’s ABC Sunday school curriculum, and said it’s by far the best curriculum the church has ever used. So many young people came and thanked us for providing them answers to help them in their struggles as their Christian faith is so vehemently attacked by their professors/teachers.

On the afternoon of the UK Mega Conference, a creation scientist who I featured in a video clip during the Bill Nye debate in February gave a presentation. Dr. Stuart Burgess is a professor at a secular university in the UK, and is head of his department and a renowned scientist having developed cutting-edge technology. He has also been attacked for his stand on God’s Word.

I have never seen an audience in the UK do this—but after he spoke, they rose and gave him a standing ovation! It was really the climax of the Mega Conference as people had been so enthused with all they heard, then recognized that if someone like Stuart Burgess was prepared to make such a public stand for God’s Word beginning in Genesis, they needed to do likewise!

What a buzz there was through the auditorium—and it only grew from there! I really do believe this Mega Conference will have a great impact in the UK. Please pray with me to this end.