Young at Heart Ministry: Ark Encounter

This week we enjoyed a good trip down to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky. This Ark is built by the Creation Museum people and is built to the Biblical dimensions. The purpose of this structure is to show how it COULD have been done and perhaps how it could appear inside the ark.

This ark has three levels plus an upper deck, which is not completed, yet. This is the outside appearance, however I don't think this is completed, either. The appearance of the other side shows. perhaps, how the completed exterior may appear.

I'm not sure what that material is but it appears to be something like reeds or maybe wooden shingles. The structure up the backside of the ark is for stairways and elevators. Generally, people move from deck to deck via ramps, however there is an unmarked elevator available, if you ask for one.

The ramps were not steep and were easy to use, however it might be better for some to use the elevator and go to the 3rd level then move down the ramps. For me that was actually worse, because of my knees. Once you arrived at a new level, there are displays and cubicles for the animals, etc. For example there were cages for all kinds of animals with the feeding and drinking fixtures, as shown above. There was also storage for the food and water and living quarters for Noah's family.

This image shows the family praying and giving praise to God, who saved them on the Ark.

The ark structure is the largest timber structure in the world. This shows one end of the ark from inside. In addition to the cages and storage for supplies and food, there were a good number of informative displays. The picture below illustrates one display of Arks as we see them in children's stories, etc.

There were more living quarters and working places. Even shops for repairing the ark.

This picture represents some of what was going on during time time immediately prior to the flood, such as idol worship and human sacrifices to those idols.

Now, I know that you are saying, "Where are all the animals?" They had a good number of animals, some of which were slightly recognizable. Remember, God and Noah brought a pair of each "kind" of animal, not a pair of "all" animals. These are the animals in the Ark. They also had a small zoo outside to show real live animals.

Another set of displays that I enjoyed were the early Bibles. These were on loan from the Museum of the Bible

One display and Bible that I enjoyed was from Ethiopia, because our daughter and her family adopted a little boy from Ethiopia.

One of the big needs, unless God put all the animals into hibernation, was the provisions of food. I already showed how they stored food in jugs, etc. However, they also demonstrated a way that they could have even grown their own food.

Finally, we know that Noah sent out a dove to find out of it was OK to open the Ark and send the animals on their way. He did this with the dove. It returned with an Olive branch!

Now, I know you are saying, "Well, how did WE eat?" Actually, we ate pretty well in Zamara's Kitchen. Zamara is the name they gave for Noah's wife, according to ancient documents (other than the Bible). Zamara's is a separate two-story building which has a seating capacity of up to 1,500 people. They have it set up to work similar to some of the Disney food facilities, we order in a central location and get our food then go to tables. It worked well and the food was OK.

Now, for some of my other thoughts - I enjoyed visited the Ark Encounter. But, I have some concerns. 1) It is not really handicap friendly but I know they disagree. The ramp system could be a problem for us older people and think about walking a couple of miles. 2) We were there on a day when attendance was not heavy but were frequently delayed seeing some displays because of congestion in the isles. If it was a heavy attendance day, this could become a big problem. 3) Signage is currently minimal, but will surely improve. 4) I received confusing instructions about leaving and returning to the Ark during a lunch break. Their instructions where that we needed to return via the main entrance queue, which would be very inconvenient, with a longer walk and waiting in the queue. We exited from, and returned to, the gift shop without any issue. I was told that was not really permissible by they're Ark Encounter on their Facebook page. 5) Some areas are not yet completed. I mentioned the exterior and some displays but there will eventually also be an observation deck, perhaps with more food service. There is also a ZipLine (not my thing) and it was also not yet in operation. This could put off some of the younger people.

So, would I take another Young@Heart group in the future. Probably not! But, I do recommend it for younger people.