Answers in Genesis: believing it. defending it. proclaiming it.

August 2001

AiG continues to expand:
New ministry assistant appointed

We praise God that the ministry of AiG(UK) is expanding: sales of literature and videos continue to increase, as does the demand for speakers at many venues across the UK and into Europe. All of which gets the message out, and increasingly spreading through the community. It is immensely encouraging to see more and more people waking up to the vital importance and relevance of the Creation/Evolution issue (and in particular, as it relates to the authority of the Bible) to the Christian faith.

However, while we praise God for this growth, the added workload for AiG(UK) has been considerable, so the appointment of Philip Bell as Ministry Assistant is an answer to prayer.

Philip (pictured right) is married, with four children (10, 8, 6 and nine months). He has a BSc in zoology from the University of Wales (Swansea) and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from Exeter University. Prior to joining AiG in July, he taught secondary school science (particularly biology) and religious studies. He has also had nine years experience in cancer/leukaemia research. As well as helping with the day-to-day administrative work, Philip will help Monty White with speaking, lecturing and preaching; writing articles for Creation magazine and the Website; helping to produce the Answers Prayer News; and answering technical enquiries.

Conflicting voices

Phil says he first ‘asked Jesus into his heart’ at the age of four. His parents brought him up to believe the Bible ‘from cover-to-cover’ and he stuck to a straightforward view of Biblical Creation right through his secondary schooling. However, during his A-level biology studies he began to adopt the evolutionary ideas that he was being taught. Ironically, it was mainly because of his later undergraduate studies in zoology and geology that he began to question evolution from a scientific viewpoint. He was perplexed that his lecturers did not provide evidence for the various theories they were teaching, evidence he’d expected to be forthcoming at degree level!

Crisis point

This led him to carefully study the Creation account in Genesis 1-3, comparing the plain Scriptural statements with evolutionary scenarios. Philip describes this as a crisis point in his faith. “On the one hand, my walk with the Lord was stronger than ever before and my love for the Bible was increasing. But now I realised that the Biblical and evolutionary accounts of life’s origin were mutually exclusive! Either evolution was false or Genesis couldn’t be taken at face value, in which case, the Bible was not truly inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16) as I’d believed. I thank God that I chose to reject evolution.”

Had Philip chosen to relegate the Genesis account of Creation to myth, he believes it would have been the death-knell for his faith. Rather, he says that “The realisation that God’s Word was completely trustworthy on scientific and historical matters gave my faith a tremendous boost.”

‘I’m really excited…’

Following university, Philip started working as a clinical scientist in Bath and married his wife, Llinos, the following year. Throughout his years in research, he maintained an active interest in creation issues and became increasingly involved in Christian education, finally leaving Bath to do his teacher training. Last year, he contacted the AiG(UK) office in Leicester with a view to promoting the work in and around his home in Kent, little realising that his letter would eventually lead to full-time employment at Leicester. “Years ago, I told Llinos, ‘I’d love to work for an organisation like Answers in Genesis’ and now, here I am! I’m really excited about being part of such a vital ministry.”

Thank you for your support to date, which has helped Answers in Genesis to grow to this point, and which has encouraged us to step out in faith to see the ministry brought to a new level in this way. Let me share briefly with you a testimony as a result of AiG ministry, so you are aware of just how much people's lives are affected through getting the message and materials out more and more.

David A writes:

'Thanks to two wonderful people whom I now class as good friends, I have finally returned to the Lord. [They] loaned me a copy of Creation magazine, as they could sense that I was at the point of needing help. After reading this wonderful magazine, searching your [internet] site and praying to our Lord, I opened my heart to Him again and allowed His love to sweep over me. Praise His name. As an ex-evolutionist it was your magazine and the answers it gave that caused my heart to change. I thank and bless you for the work you are doing.'

Isn't that thrilling? It's only one of many hundreds that keep coming in, worldwide, from the results of getting Christians to believe the Bible and stand up for it. And to think we have only just 'scratched the surface' here in the UK in terms of getting believers armed and equipped for 'creation evangelism', logically defending their faith as they reach out.

Thank you so much for standing with us as we keep going and growing, to His glory and the winning of more for His Kingdom.

Dr A.J. Monty White

Chief Executive