Reaching into Faraway Places

When the Creation Museum was opened, we did not envisage the wide-ranging impact it would have—and in ways we never dreamed of. This past week, we received an email from a pastor in a country that was formerly a part of the Soviet Union. It is fascinating to see how an article about the Creation Museum resulted in him contacting us to ask for advice. Obviously English is his second language, but if I could write in a second language as well as he does, I would be thrilled. Actually, I do speak in two languages—American and Australian. :)

As you read the following email, please pray for this pastor and his group (names have been withheld for reasons of protecting their identity in a challenging environment):

I am [a pastor from a country that was a former part of the Soviet Union]. Looking through [a] Christian magazine for October, I came across some interesting interviews with Mr. Mark Looy [AiG Chief Communications Officer].  It’s really exciting and so important that you have founded the museum of Creation and in this way you are reaching people, showing them the truth about God and the origin of life itself.   It encouraged me greatly as I got [a like] desire a short time ago. I have dreamt to become a PALEONTOLOGIST from my school years. I used to learn the information on my own, to buy books, and made dinosaurs using clay. But my parents did not share my interests, and they did not want me be a paleontologist, and I thought that it would never come true. But desire towards this topic has been inside of me all the time.

In the year of 1992 I got to know God, and in 1999 I became the pastor of the church.   Obviously, I did not believe in evolution, but I did not see any possibility to make anything in the sphere of my old dream either. From time to time I heard something about the movement of creationism, but no idea came to my mind that I could do anything in this sphere. About three years ago when my family and I were on vacation I was at the seaside reading a book.  In one of the chapters I read such a thesis: “your hobby has to be the tool of your influence on your generation…” Remembering my hobby I smiled to myself and thought that that phrase was not about me, because my hobby is so weird and is not useful for people at all. But it became a turning point, as right after it in my mind appeared the plan of application of my paleontologic hobby in the educational realm, and in sharing the Good News with people, society. I understood that I had got the idea from God how I could tell people about God in an extraordinary and progressive way.   That was the idea of making the movable exhibition which with the pass of time will become a Developed Creation Museum.

A group of like-minded people was formed quite quickly. We had meetings, prayed and gathered the appropriate literature on creationism. In order to make our exhibition not only based on  theory and pictures, we started to do diggings and gather fossils.  Today we have some big pieces of a huge fossilized tree (sequoiadendron, araucaria) ammonites, elf-bolts, and prints of fish, plants and corals, shells of different sizes and so on and so forth… I was invited as the speaker to the international conference on creationism which was held [in our country]. The main point of my speech was that the evolutional outlook captured both children’s and adults’ mind through the popular and exciting means: cartoons, movies, books, shows and TV programs. The most interesting thing was that everyone’s attention was captured by the bait – the dinosaurs.  If the evolutionists do it, we, Christians can and must do it to tell the truth and make it heard by the others by available and interesting methods…

Probably in the US no one will be surprised, but here in [this country] in [no] museum of Natural History anybody will find a single skeleton or replica of a dinosaur. Praise God for the wisdom He has given to us in this situation. To start with we decided to make the model of T-Rex skeleton in its real height which meets the museum exhibit standards.   In order to produce it we had been collecting the detailed photos of all the parts of T-Rex and its sculptures for a few months. Having got the prints of real height we began to reproduce it. Once we happened to come across the T-Rex Skull scanned by X-ray and made in 3D format. Thanking to it we managed to reproduce that skull of real size with whole its inner emptiness, and now we have got the moulds for producing T-Rex skulls of real size in needed quantity. We plan to complete the whole skeleton in this way. Besides that we began to buy real fossils and replicas for establishing the exhibition. Some museums asked us to make the replica of mammoth, wooly rhinoceros.

Though today we have some scientists in our team and we are conducting seminars in schools and other educational establishments, I see that it is not enough for making this vision be fulfilled. We strongly need professional assistance and experience in this sphere. The information about your museum and the work you are doing has become as a bright light amidst the dark night.  We ask you sincerely to help us promote this issue . . . I am aware that it is impossible to write everything in one letter, that is why if it is resounds in your heart, let it be the beginning or our dialogue and cooperation. I am putting down a few main questions. But if you have any other important topics, be so kind to suggest them to us please.

1)      What should the structure of the exhibition be? What should be represented there?

2)      What must the strong emphases be put on?

3)      What literature is recommended as learning materials?

4)      How is it advisable to prepare and estimate the guides?

5)      Who can conduct the excursion, lectures: professional scientists or anybody else who has needed qualities and has gone through proper training?

6)      Where one can buy, get or to exchange replicas of vivid proofs of flood…?

I am so thankful to God for you and I am looking forward to your reply.

Ken