In the Eye of the Storm

As tropical storm, Bill, deluged New Orleans with pouring rains, I joined four other creationist volunteers to unpack 24 boxes of books, booklets, CDs and DVDs to give away to the 15,000 delegates of the annual convention of the National Education Association (NEA), the largest union of teachers and administrators in American public schools. Five other volunteer creationists will be on hand starting today to help man the booth of the ‘Creation Science Educators Caucus’ (CSEC). The convention ends at noon on July 3rd.

The NEA is dominated by evolutionists, of course, and most teachers teach evolution as fact because that is what their college professors and textbooks taught them to believe. Most have never heard about the scientific problems with evolution or what the Bible teaches about origins. Thus through their teaching efforts the young people of America are continuously, year after year, brainwashed with the lie of evolution.

This is the eighth year in a row that the CSEC has had a booth in the hall of exhibitors. The goal is to freely give away about 10,000 pieces of written or video information and to engage as many delegates as possible in conversation about the fallacy of evolution and the truth of God’s Word about creation and to plant seeds of the gospel. We also want to be an encouragement to the small number of Christian teachers in the public schools. Many of them are compromised with evolution, so they need these resources also.

This is front-lines creation evangelism. We will seek to lovingly but boldly confront people and challenge their thinking. Past experience leads us to expect some intense conversations.

It is difficult to measure the impact of such ministry to ‘plow the ground and root out the weeds’ of evolution in people’s minds. But over the years the creationists manning the CSEC booth have heard little snippets of encouraging news. For example, a few years ago a science teacher, who is a Christian, wrote to one of the volunteers to share of her experience after being helped by the literature she received at the convention. As a result, she was equipped and emboldened to prepare a class lesson on the scientific problems of evolution (which is perfectly legal under US law for her to do).

As it turned out, the day she planned to do the lecture was the day her principal decided to do an in-class evaluation of her. She wondered, ‘Should I go with my plan and risk causing problems with my principal or should I give a different lesson that will be sure to impress him?’ As she prayed about it, she decided to proceed with the discussion of evolution and creation. Half way through the class, the principal did something totally contrary to protocol for such evaluations. He came to the front of the class, stopped the teacher and, much to her surprise, said that he had picked up some literature at the NEA convention that had caused him to rethink this issue. He then spoke in support of creation.

So pray for the volunteers during these days (1-3 July) as they are right in the center of the eye of the storm of evolution assaulting the land. Pray that our words would be seasoned with grace (Colossians 4:5) as we speak the truth to people and that many will eventually come to know their Creator and the truth of His Word and His saving grace through Jesus Christ.