FROM THE COUCH OF MUNCHKIN - OR WHO LET THE DOG OUT?_#5

Hey people, my Daddy needs a bit of a break today, so I am posting a blog today.

This posting is about a man who built Noah's Ark to the exact scale given in the Bible (yes, my Daddy reads me Bible stories once in awhile).


Johan Huibers, a Dutchman, built a working replica of Noah's Ark and upon completion, he opened it to the public in Schagen, Netherlands.

The massive central door in the side of the Ark was first opened to a crowd of curious towns people who came to behold the wonder. Of course, it is only a replica of the biblical Ark built by Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.
The ark is 150 cubits long, 20 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That is two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house. Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they enter the main hold.
A contractor by trade, Huibers built the Ark of cedar and pine. Biblical scholars are unsure of exactly what wood Noah would have used when he constructed the original Ark.
Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands using modern tools and with the occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005. On the uncovered top deck - not quite done in time for the opening - will be a petting zoo, with baby lambs, chickens, goats and one camel.
Visitors on the first day were absolutely stunned. "It's past comprehension," said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape.
"I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big," she said. there is enough space near the keel for a 50 seat film theater where kids can watch a video that tells the story of Noah and his Ark. Huibers, a Christian man, said that he hope the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands, where Church attendence has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years.
"Now that I am old and gray. . .give me the time to tell this new generation (and their children too) about your mighty miracles. Psalm 71:18.

See ya all soon,

"Munchkin"