Creation Ministry Delivers the Goods to Hurricane-Stricken Town
by Allie Martin
September 30, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Kentucky-based ministry has joined relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and thousands of public school students in one Mississippi community are the beneficiaries.Earlier this week, employees of Answers in Genesis (AIG) -- an apologetics ministry based in northern Kentucky, near Cincinnati -- delivered a tractor-trailer loaded with 4,000 sets of school supplies to the city of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The ministry had a weekend conference scheduled at First Baptist Church of Ocean Springs for the week after Hurricane Katrina, but those plans were changed by the powerful storm. Instead, says AIG president Ken Ham, there was an opportunity to help in the aftermath of tragedy.
Ham shares that twelve AIG staff members -- "we call them the 'twelve disciples,'" he says -- traveled to Ocean Springs in a convoy. "They went to the local public schools and the superintendent and the teachers, and they handed them the 4,000 sets of school supplies," he says. Included with every pack of school supplies, which included such things backpacks and notebooks, was a card with the gospel presentation.
Ham says the relief effort offered opportunities for evangelism. He recalls one particular situation when the supplies were being unloaded.
"One of the teachers said to one of our staff -- 'So I suppose you've stuffed all your religious literature in these, too, have you?'" Ham says. "Our staff member said 'Well, no, we just put a card in there saying "With Christian love, from Answers in Genesis."'
The teacher, Ham says, went "very, very quiet" -- then later on asked for more information about the ministry and its beliefs. "We believe that as a result of showing that sort of love that people are going to listen," the AIG president says. "We trust that their hearts will be melted by that love, and that they'll listen to the gospel."
According to Ham, the people in the area were overwhelmed by the love shown through their efforts. "We want people to understand that we're not just an organization about creation and evolution; we're not just talking about the age of the Earth and fossils -- of course we talk about those things. But we're Christians -- and as Christians, we wanted to show love to them."
AIG says the entire effort was funded through donations from AIG friends and supporters around the world, including Australia, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, South Africa, Britain, and the U.S. Details on the school supply relief effort are available on the Answers in Genesis website.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
