We had some extra special volunteers at the booth this year. Dr. Jobe and Jenna Dee Martin from Biblical Discipleship Ministries once again made the trek from Dallas to be with us. Frank and Sue took a break from their ministry called “Troy’s Creation Ministry” to volunteer once again. And Dan Breeding from Creatures of Creation brought his family and his alligator to help spread God’s word to the NEA teachers. Below is an impromptu testimony from Dan as he prepared to move the alligator into the NEA booth. Watch it and you’ll be praising God for His faithfulness in this brother’s life!

 

Numerous teachers have stopped by who are unsure whether God created everything or whether the theory of evolution is true. However, many of them have taken materials and seem to be open to learning; so praise the Lord!

We had 200 complimentary tickets to the Creation Museum and selectively handed them out to folks who live near Cincinnati and had a desire to visit. By the end of our time, all of them had been given away; praise the Lord!

 

A teacher came up to one of our volunteers and proclaimed, “This is why students are failing science, because they believe this kind of stuff.” Watch the video to see the response she received. It is such a blessing to see fathers and daughters working together in the Lord to reach the lost with the gospel of grace. Ric and Tina have home schooled Arianna and now she is almost done with her college degree. They are gracious witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 

Just about everyone, including Arianna, had their picture taken with the T-Rex.

It's been quite a sight to behold, watching all these teachers and young children stick their arms, legs, heads, whole bodies in the T-Rex's mouth. Praise God we've been able to reach out to these folks who might otherwise not have stopped by our booth.

A very upset teacher threatened to "check into the legality" of what we're doing. This is not an uncommon occurrence. We probably get this type of response at least once a year. Of course the Creation Science Educators Caucus is completely legal and AiG donating materials and volunteers to help man the booth is completely legitimate. We have a copy of the NEA bylaws that state in part, "NEA affiliates, delegates, and caucuses shall be permitted to use the exhibit area to distribute material related to the Association's agenda, including material or information that is contrary to or advocates a change in NEA policy. Caucuses may distribute material or disseminate information prepared by groups external to the Association. Groups external to the Association shall be permitted to use the exhibit area to distribute material or disseminate information" (emphasis mine).

 

Praise the Lord for all the materials that went out to the public school teachers. Over 3000 DVDs, hundreds of Answers Magazines, etc. It was a tremendous blessing to have the alligator in while we could. The crowd surrounding our booth was unbelievable! Here's a picture of the booth tables toward the end of the day.

 

It seems an NEA official stopped by after a complaint by someone who was offended by some of our free materials. This was reminiscent of two years ago when the NEA tried to intimidate us into moving our "Gay Marriage" booklets out of public view after someone was 'offended'. It sounds like they realized we have the right, as an official caucus, to hand out materials that may be contrary to official NEA policy. So praise the Lord! Once again He has sustained us this year at this hostile venue.

 

Since all the DVDs are gone and the alligator is gone, we have more time to get into meaningful one on one conversations with folks, so we are praising the Lord for His timing on everything. Here's Tom talking with a teacher.

The NEA has a history of suppressing views contrary to their own. Here members from the Pro-Life Caucus tell of their history in getting their materials uncensored by the NEA powers that be. Thanks to their persistence, the Creation Science Educators Caucus and other conservative caucuses have the right to display and freely handout any materials it wishes, praise God! There was also a big pro-life demonstration outside the convention center today, so please pray that God would change hearts and minds concerning the terrible atrocity of murdering babies in the womb.

 

This security guard passed by our booth several times after his comrades booted out our alligator. He finally stopped to chat with Dr. Jobe and Jenna Dee Martin. They talked for about an hour.

A government school teacher uses an interesting choice of words to describe the Creation Science booth.

 

The security for the NEA kicked out our alligator. But not before the Lord brought huge crowds to gobble up almost all of our materials. All 3000 DVDs have been distributed for free to thousands of NEA members. Hundreds of Answers Magazine copies have been handed out as well. We only have a small pile of booklets that we are passing out now. Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue to pray that God would use the materials in folks’ lives!

The security people were having a pretty good time as well. All went smoothly, we made a quiet exit.

 

There is a booth at the NEA that is calling for the "separation of church and state". They give out brochures and pamphlets arguing for removing religion from government entities. A young woman came by the Creation Science booth to look at our materials.

 

 

Here's a picture of the "Americans United for Separation of Church and State" booth.

The alligator 'smiles' for the camera.

 

This second morning of the expo is hopping! Dan Breeding of Creatures of Creation and Wild Animal Encounters is volunteering at the Creation Science Educators booth and he has brought a LIVE SEVEN FOOT LONG ALLIGATOR! People are lining up to see, touch and have their picture taken with the gator. And while they are all here at the booth, we are giving away hundreds of "The Last Adam" DVDs to them. Many are very open to receiving the DVDs, so please pray that the Lord would move in their hearts as they watch this spectacular gospel presentation.

 

Praise God for great attendance which has resulted in over 1000 DVDs taken in the first day!

Next door to our booth is the “Blueberry” booth. Apparently it’s a wholesome kids program of some sort. Well our Blueberry man moseyed on over to take a picture with our T-Rex. It made me wonder who would win in a fight…hmmm, remember that T-Rex did eat only fruit pre-fall (which would presumably include blueberries).

Dr. Crandall meets up with Charlie Mann, the president of the Creation Science Educators Caucus. Praise the Lord for Charlie as he fearlessly heads up this important caucus dedicated to the truths of God's word.

 

Once again our booth which exists to uphold the authority of God's word is just a few aisles down from the "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Caucus." Also a hat for sale states "DON'T TOLERATE INTOLERANCE", which is obviously self-refuting. Please pray for these folks as they need the love and forgiveness for sins that is found only through repentance and faith in Christ.

 

On our way in we passed by a "Sexual Orientation / Gender Identification (SOGI) Committee Open Hearing" meeting that was to take place later that day. What a sad state the government schools are in. Please pray that our sharing of God's truth and His powerful gospel will change hearts and minds to submit to the Lordship of Christ that individuals might be saved. 

Dr. Crandall had the pleasure of doing multiple book signings throughout the day. He wrote the last chapter in "The New Answers Book 2" which is a presentation of the gospel of grace.

 

Here Aaron and his sister share their time of witnessing with a school teacher. What a blessing to have these young folks be so excited to share their faith in Christ!

 

There was about a two hour long conversation with this gentleman that ranged from creation/evolution to epistemology to sin and salvation. What a blessing to challenge the relativistic thinking of today's generation with the absolute truths of God's word. Please pray for him.

Jenna Dee Martin just mentioned that this year she’s already had some of the best conversations with teachers that she’s had in the last 7 years. Dr. Jobe Martin (of Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution fame) and his wife have faithfully volunteered for the last 7 years at this outreach. They are a real blessing to AiG and the Christian community at large. They are currently working on a new DVD called “Creation Proclaims!” They will be working with Dan Breeding on this new video. Please pray that this new show would be used by the Lord to edify the saints and challenge unbelievers with the truth of God’s word.

Here's one out of many folks who have taken their picture with our dino T-Rex head.

 

After having her picture taken with the dinosaur, this lady talked with Dr. Martin and received a few DVDs. Praise the Lord! The Lord is using this dino to really bring them in!

There's a fine line between boldness and sensitivity when witnessing for Christ. Here Tom talks about an amusing encounter.

 

A lady stopped by and talked with Dr. Crandall and actually gave a $20 cash donation to the Creation Museum! Praise God! She had stopped by our booth in previous years and was so appreciative of what the Lord is doing through this ministry. Dr. Crandall signed an Answers Book 2 for her and gave her a bundle of other materials. What an encouragement to all of us.

Dr. Crandall engages a trio of public school teachers.

Frank has a fascinating discussion with a man who has died nine times, traveled to the moon and was at the dawn of Creation.

 

Praise God that within the first two hours of the conference, there has been a tremendous response to the Creation Museum DVDs. Many, many teachers are gladly taking multiple copies of the DVDs to share with their students and other teachers. At this rate, we may run out of our 3000 DVDs before the show is over, but we have thousands of booklets and books to give away as well, praise the Lord!

 

We have had several folks who are eager to visit the Creation Museum and we’ve given out a dozen or so complimentary tickets so far. Thank you all so much for praying for this ministry, the Lord has been gracious to answer them in the affirmative. Keep praying!

Praise the Lord that He has given us another opportunity to preach the gospel of grace for thousands of public school teachers and administrators.  For the last twelve years Answers in Genesis has had the privilege of manning a booth at the annual National Education Association's national conference.  As in previous years, the Creation Science Educator's Caucus (started by a Christian teacher and avid AiG supporter) has invited us to participate in this outreach to about 10,000 public school teachers, principals and administrators. Through faithful supporters who donate specifically to AiG's "Education Fund", AiG has donated thousands upon thousands of free materials to this booth. We also supply many of the volunteers for manning the booth.

Each year we've had a different theme for the booth. Prior year themes include "Evolution Exposed", "Evolution Fuels Racism", "Refuting Evolution", "Propaganda in the Classroom", etc. This year's theme is the "Get Educated at the Creation Museum!" and we are giving away for free 3000 Creation Museum DVDs! In addition we are handing out thousands of other books, DVDs and booklets. We also have 200 complimentary tickets to the Creation Museum that we will give to folks who are interested in visiting.

In case you are not familiar with the NEA, it is the largest public school teachers union and it's policies are very ungodly such as being pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality, etc. Over the years AiG's presence at this secular conference has met with mocking, scoffing, taunts, arguments, debates, etc. At the same time, there are numerous Christians public school teachers who are very glad to have us here and annually come up to our booth to see what new materials we have.

Please pray for this outreach that many folks will hear the message of the authority of God's word and turn to Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. The gospel of Jesus Christ is preeminent at Answers in Genesis and this outreach is one of the ways that we are directly evangelizing the lost world. This is real 'creation evangelism' where the rubber meets the road.

Here are a few pictures taken while we setup the booth.

The brand spanking new booth before we unload tons of God honoring materials upon it.

 

Tom unpacking the hundreds of boxes of free materials that we pray God will use to change lives for His glory.

 

We brought a T-Rex head to gain interest and keep folks around a bit longer, that we might engage them in conversation. Pray that we'll have many meaningful conversations focused on Jesus and His word that proclaims Him as Creator and Savior.