Please make a special note on your calendar and plan to attend our annual Creation Celebration in 2012.  It’s the fifth anniversary of this event, and FACT, the museum and Friends of FACT (including some area churches) are going to make this a Creation Weekend Celebration on February 10, 11 and 12.  We have invited Mike Snavely, president of Mission Imperative, to be our guest speaker.  Last March, Miriam and I were privileged to attend and speak at a creation conference in Houston, Texas.  Mike was one of the speakers and drew capacity crowds for the entire 3-day event.

The son of missionary parents, Mike was reared in rural South Africa, where his father was a bush pilot for a remote hospital station among the Zulu people.  Always fascinated by wildlife, Mike had a wide variety of “pets” growing up.  After graduating from Oak Hills Christian College in Minnesota in 1979, he returned to South Africa to work for the National Park Service in the world-famous Kruger Park.  After that he began a career as an African wildlife artist.  In 1985 he married Carrie Baum who grew up near Hershey, Pennsylvania.  Carrie attended Lancaster Bible College and was an executive secretary for the PA Turnpike Commission before becoming a full-time mom.  In 1986 Mike and Carrie returned to South Africa with TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) to teach at Durban Bible College.  After returning to the U.S., in 1995 they developed a creation ministry, utilizing wildlife and nature in a seminar format.  

Mike will be speaking Friday evening Feb. 10 from 7 to 9 PM at the Glendive Christian Missionary & Alliance Church, on Saturday Feb. 11 from 2 to 4 in the afternoon and 6 to 8 in the evening at the Glendive Evangelical Church, and at a combined church worship service at 10:00 AM Sunday morning Feb. 12 at the Dawson County High School auditorium.  Our Creation Weekend Celebration will culminate with a final session Sunday afternoon at the high school auditorium from 3 to 5 PM.  Admission to all events is free.  There will be a free-will offering taken each time to cover event expenses and to support the museum’s exhibit fund.  

Mike’s eight sessions will include these topics: The Pillars of Evolution, Aunt Lucy?, The Return to Genesis, The Hunters and the Hunted – Part 1 & 2, The Mystery of the Dinosaurs, Lost Secrets of the Ancient Civilizations and The Horror of the Flood!  Miriam and I can speak to his expertise as a speaker –   these are not dry lectures.  You will be laughing out loud more than once!  Mike makes his talks interesting and understandable by using PowerPoint, videos, puppets (and other props) and sometimes even live animal demonstrations.  So, mark your calendar now to reserve these dates and times.  You’ll be glad you did.