While building a life-size replica of Noah’s Ark in Williamstown, Kentucky, Ken Ham and his ministry, Answers in Genesis (AiG), have experienced religious discrimination.
The huge project, which will cost over $90 million, according to The Christian Examiner, is being built in accordance with the specific guidelines God laid out for Noah in the Bible.
The project, called Ark Encounters, is due to be completed and open to the public on July 7, 2016, a date which corresponds to Genesis 7:7, the Bible verse which describes Noah’s entry into the ark.
Ken Ham, who is well-known for his defense of Creationism and his Creation Museum, which is nearby the site of the ark replica, stated, “You know, it's been a big step of faith for AiG to build this life-size Ark. We have (and continue to have) all sorts of battles (as we did building the Creation Museum). But we are burdened to reach as many people as we can with the truth of God's Word and the gospel, and are undaunted."
Ark Encounters was initially granted a tax rebate of millions of dollars by the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority, but the rebate was later withdrawn in December 2014 when then governor Steve Beshear objected to giving a religious organization a tax rebate. The governor maintained that Ark Encounters was not a tourist attraction, but an project for religious indoctrination.
However, The Christian Examiner reports that the Ark Encounters project will bring over $4 billion to the region’s economy. The massive project has also created 1,000 jobs.
Workers have currently been lifting the huge crates filled with replicas of animals into the ark by crane.
"As we tastefully (but boldly) present Christian messages at the Creation Museum, we will do so at the Ark," said Ham, who hopes that those who come to see the Ark will be impacted by the truth of God’s Word.
"It's a message the world needs right now—one that will shine a bright light in a culture that is increasingly becoming spiritually dark," he wrote.
Photo courtesy: arkencounter.com
Publication date: November 13, 2015