Recently, my husband and I visited the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. It is an amazing piece of workmanship built to the dimensions found in Genesis 6. It’s massive. The builders of this present-day ark put a tremendous amount of thought and effort into its construction. Not only did they take into account provisions and storage needed, they spent a great deal of time on minute details for the pleasure of their visitors. My favorite was visiting the animal cages and not only seeing replicas of animals but also hearing the unique sounds of the creatures represented. Amazing.
Amidst the many displays on this three-level vessel, including a most eye-catching presentation of the gospel, I did not see one person looking bored or rushing through. No child tugging on their parent’s arm to leave. Rarely did I see anyone on their phone except to take a picture or google more information. Ninety-five percent of the visitors were engaged in conversation. Even little ones were pointing at the exciting things found in every direction.
One of the first remarks I heard as we entered was, “This couldn’t be right.” Later, I heard a little girl asking her mom, “Do you think you could fit all the animals in the world inside this?” Then there were the comments, “I didn’t know that.” “Were dinosaurs really on the ark?” “Is that in the Bible?” “Wasn’t the boat supposed to be built like a box?” Everywhere I turned people were talking about God and His story.
As we stepped on the bus to head back to the parking lot, I heard a woman say, “That was the most amazing experience.” Another chimed in, “That was sensory overload.” I couldn’t agree more. There was so much to see and so much to think about that I had 100 questions walking out. But couldn’t that have been God’s purpose? He gave people a desire to build this ark where it would be a conversation piece to a million visitors every year. That’s a lot of talk about God!
Listening to the conversations on the boat, no one had all the answers. Even the builders admit in their pamphlet they created their own version. But knowing the answers wasn’t important. It was okay that people disagreed with each other. It was even okay that people questioned if Noah’s ark ever existed. What was important was that people all over the boat and continuing out the door were talking about God and what He had done. We need to keep the conversation going! God wants us talking about Him! Because one day when we have all the answers, it will be too late to converse with an unbeliever.