ICR's September tour of Yellowstone National Park concluded amid thoughts of exhilaration and thankfulness, along with a look to the future.
The park itself, complete with excursions to Teton National Park, Fossil Butte, and Dinosaur National Monument, was a thrill. The geologic beauty, the weather, the animals, and the teaching all contributed to a wonderful experience. But perhaps the greatest blessing involved the people on the tour. God assembled Christians from all over America who combined to make this one of the best tours ever.
All this confirms my conviction that creationists make the very best Christians. They are typically much more committed to the Lord than any random sampling of Christians, and the fellowship was unsurpassed. ICR's sweet "clientele" on the tours exemplifies this. Each day began with a scriptural preparation for the day's activities, coupled with rousing singing of hymns and choruses. Travel time was never wasted, and lectures regarding the sites were well received. Several participants were on vacation, but neither they nor ICR ever intended the trips to be a diversion. They are educational and equipping experiences for Christians, empowering them to have serious ministries with people they encounter.
The tours started as an outgrowth of the ICR Graduate School in the sciences, but soon included interested non-students. Eventually we recognized them as an avenue to better communicate ICR's overall message and strengthen relationships with supporters.
This tour exemplified those goals. Over half of the tour participants had been on one or more of ICR's trips before, to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Mount St. Helens, the Galapagos Islands, England, or Israel. Numerous reports from previous tour attendees encouraged us all. People had used ICR's teachings to better communicate God's truth and message to their friends or churches. Some now desired to be involved in ICR research, and had the special skills to do so. Several indicated they had included ICR in their estate plans or regular giving programs.
Some wanted to know how they could better prepare to be effective communicators or where they could acquire photos for PowerPoint presentations. Cameras were clicking at every site with this in mind. My own recently-updated book The Young Earth has just such usage in mind. I have attended each of the tours and am a confirmed shutterbug. My files are stuffed with thousands of slides taken on ICR trips and research projects.
Accompanying the new Young Earth book will be a CD in PowerPoint format of three complete lectures containing scores of photos taken in Grand Canyon and elsewhere, which can be used for teaching purposes.
You see, ICR is all about education, not merely selling books or entertainment. Long ago my late father, Dr Henry Morris, adopted this as ICR's long-term strategy for impacting the world. But we want to support all creationists in their own ministry of creation education and creation evangelism, not just those who have gone on a tour. Think of it. An army of trained and empowered Christian creationists. Together we can educate--and transform--the world with the message of the Creator.
*Dr. Morris is President of the Institute for Creation Research.
Cite this article: Morris, J. 2007. The Fellowship of the Ministry. Acts & Facts. 36 (11): 3.
