Why Answers In Genesis Terrifies Me

11:35 AM - Jan. 18, 2006 - Add to the Wildness

So at this time of year, I find myself volunteering. It’s the Canadian winter. We call it cabin fever. Or "going stir-crazy." Or "housebound." Or "squirrelly." You get the idea. As a homeschool family, we’re like that a lot of the time anyway, but right now, it’s worse. Run for the hills, y’all.

One of the things I volunteered for last year was to help coordinate a speaking tour in Manitoba for an Answers in Genesis Canada speaker. It was pretty cool. The speaker happened to be the Canadian CEO, so now when I phone Ontario with strange questions, he knows why. He’s met me.

This year, two churches have arranged speaking days. They left an empty day in the middle. being a pack rat and clutter hound, of course my first instinct was to fill that space. So I booked a community hall in the city, a block from the university campus. Then I begged a friend to lend his sound system so the visiting geologist doesn’t have to strain his voice. Then I wrote a press release. The CEO in Ontario nodded and smiled and said, "Okay, send it out." I’m sure they must think I’m a fanatic. The truth is, I really love admin and PR. I am SO weird....

I tried to locate the university’s student newspaper online. They have a page, but being students, of course it was slanted. There was a sidebar of links, a header, and a main frame. All the links brought up the same page in the main frame. It went something like this: This is where the content goes. It will be great content when we get some. I wish we had some content. This is where the content goes....

The slant being, of course, that in their zeal for studentish humor, they had skipped some notable details, like a phone number, email address, or other contact information.

I called the main office and asked how to reach the student newspaper, mentioning the lack of contact info. The receptionist, without the slightest surprise, said, "You might want to mention that to them. I’ll give you the number, and then I’ll redirect your call."

I had a wee chat with the student on the other end, when my call got there. He revealed that the web page had been that way for a year, and admitted it was pretty sad.

"That’s the way it goes," I said. "Do you have a fax number?"

We ended up talking about the press release, and then I emailed it to him, since it turned out they did have email after all. I think he was going to run it.

My next stop is to talk to one of my friends who probably doesn’t feel welcome in my church (unfortunately). You see, he will probably be able to tell me how to get in touch with the city’s LGBT community. If you know what that means, you’re cringing right now. If you don’t know what that means, DON’T just go type it into your search engine. Just think of that TV show, Will & Grace. Do we want these people to show up? Yes, we do, even though here in Canada, they can get us fined for thousands of dollars and/or put in jail for "hate." It's more important for them to know someone in a church somewhere actually cares beyond just wishing they’d go back in the closet.

That’s why Answers in Genesis terrifies me. I end up doing things I would not do on a normal day. But they need to be done. The night is coming quickly, when no one can work.

Untitled Comment

What an excellent post! Good for you to try and reach out to the lost and those who the "church" sometimes (often times) shuns.

MomToTwo - 11:59 AM - Jan. 18, 2006

---