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Movies:
Hidden Secrets
One Night with The King
Radio: Jay Sekulow Live
TV: LivePrayer with Bill Keller
Books: Danger Road
Networks: TBN
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TBN's Acquisition Of 'Holy Land Experience' Theme Park Seeks To Change More Lives
June 9, 2007 ORLANDO -- Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the world's largest religious broadcaster and America's most-watched faith channel, hopes to change more lives through its addition of the "Holy Land Experience" theme park in Orlando, Fl., to the TBN family. Through the acquisition, TBN will bring an integration of the powerful living recreation of ancient Jerusalem with a cutting edge facility that will be used for television production, dramas, musical concerts, special events and movies.
"This marriage will bring an unprecedented synergy to both ministries and the production that is done there will be seen by a worldwide audience. TBN's involvement made sense, because both ministries are about changing and effecting people's lives. We've been doing that for 34 years," said Paul Crouch, Jr., TBN Vice President of Administration. "We believe this opportunity was heaven sent because it bought TBN an Orlando-based facility to fulfill it's local programming obligations for WGTL CH-52 and it will provide "The Holy Land Experience" with much needed promotion to bring more people to the theme park and Orlando as a whole."
The Holy Land Experience could well be considered Orlando's most inspiring destination as visitors experience a full day of discovery that takes them 2,000 years back in time to the world of the Bible. It brings to life ancient Israel as a unique, thriving world filled with fascinating exhibits and venues. Visitors learn about the Wilderness Tabernacle and the Great Temple; discover the amazing history of the Bible; explore the city of Jerusalem in miniature; see re-enactments of Jesus' ministry, His life, death, and resurrection; and feel the power and passion of our original musical productions.
WGTL TV, Channel 52, has a reach of over four million viewers in the Orlando and Cocoa Beach metropolitan areas with TBN's wide range of innovative faith-based programming. In October of 2006, TBN celebrated the inaugural broadcast of WGTL Ch-52 in Orlando with a dedicatory service attended by TBN founders Paul and Jan Crouch, Pastor Benny Hinn, Singer and Preacher Judy Jacobs hosted by Pastor George Cope and Calvary Assembly in Winter Park, Fl.
The combination of the production facilities and the Holy Land Experience offers Orlando visitors a powerful and unique faith based experience that can be promoted worldwide through the TBN network. The promotional capability can drive visitors to the complex.
"Some of the staff was asking what is going to be the immediate effect here at the park and my answer was 'I'm planning on you having more people coming through the turnstiles this summer,'" said Crouch. "Universal Studios does the same thing. We want the 'Holy Land Experience' to be a faith-based version of that."
About TBN
TBN is the world's largest religious network and America's most watched faith network. Each day TBN offers 24 hours of commercial-free inspirational programming that appeals to people in a wide variety of denominations. Beginning in 1973 as a single UHF station in southern California, TBN now reaches every major continent via 65 satellites and more than 12,500 television and cable affiliates worldwide. In the United States, TBN is available to 92 percent of the total households. Its website receives more than 27 million visitors monthly. For more information on TBN, visit www.tbn.org
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Christian News and Media Agency
2010-03-23 -- WDC Media News -- Twenty-four years ago, two fishermen and a 2,000-year old boat made history. The Sea of Galilee rarely gives up her treasures, but a four-year drought and a few other little miracles from above made it happen on Friday, January 24th, 1986.
“The Jesus Boat discovery is just like one of those stories from the Bible,” says Yuval Lufan, who discovered the vessel with his brother Moishale. “It seems unrealistic, yet it happened. Our discovery is one of those incredible Bible stories only it happened here and now, in this day and age.”
The Lufans discovered the boat while fishing in the Holy Land—near the Galilee seaside village of Kibbutz Ginosar—where Jesus Christ had lived for most of his life. Yuval Lufan and his brother Moishale are people of the sea, having spent their lives fishing and searching for treasure. Atheists for most of their lives, since the boat’s discovery the brothers have become firm believers in the existence God.
“We had so many obstacles and moments when we thought the boat was going to be destroyed, but just as with anything in life, we had to have faith to overcome these struggles,” says Lufan.
Carbon-14 dating pinpointed the age of the boat to the precise time that Christ was alive and living in the Galilee. But further exciting clues about the Jesus Boat’s origins were revealed; the vessel had been constructed from twelve different types of wood.
“Normally, a boat of this style from this time period would have been built from two or three types of wood at the most,” says Alon Kossonogi, CEO of the Jesus Boat Museum Foundation. “Twelve types of wood was unheard of until the Lufan brothers’ discovery.”
Is this merely a coincidence? Twelve tribes formed the nation of Israel, and twelve disciples transformed the world. Twelve also denotes perfection in rulership. And some theologians believe that when we are under God’s authority, what we build will last indefinitely and unify others.
“I believe this discovery is more powerful than the science behind it,” says Lufan. “It’s something very unique that happens only once in a lifetime. Archeologists have never found anything ancient in the Galilee, so finding this kind of boat with all the uniqueness around it such as the twelve types of wood, the rare double rainbow that appeared on discovery day, and everything else that happened, it’s bigger than science; it’s a message from God.”
Some people say that a coincidence happens when God wants to remain anonymous, but a miracle happens when he wants to make himself known. Had it not been for a prolonged drought that had significantly reduced the sea level of the Galilee in the 1980s, the ancient Jesus Boat would likely still be submerged in mud where it had lain for nearly 2,000 years.
While the four-year-long drought was a blessing in disguise as it enabled the boat to be found, the excavators were presented with a grocery list of seemingly insurmountable problems to overcome in order to recover the Jesus Boat from the mud.
The first hurdle was the predictable red tape, logistics, and political negotiating to work through before excavation approval and government support were granted. And while there was a lot of drama around this initial step because time was of the essence and the excavators needed to act quickly to save the boat, miraculously the permission was granted in time.
But there was no rest for the excavators. Soon they were faced with armed opposition from members of a neighboring kibbutz who claimed ownership of the vessel because of its location. Eventually, however, the villagers backed down, realizing the boat was something “bigger than they were;” they swallowed their pride, and even lent a hand in the excavation.
The boat’s complex and dangerous rescue took place over an intense and perilous eleven-day, around the clock, period. As the vessel was unearthed, its extreme fragility had to be taken into account every step of the way, for the slightest touch might have destroyed the boat. There was also imminent danger of the ancient wood drying out, and crumbling to dust as a result of its sudden exposure to the air. Further complicating the recovery were the rains, which had returned on the very day of the boat’s discovery, causing sea level to quickly rise.
Many of those involved in the excavation tell the strange tale of mosquitoes that began to devour the boat as soon as it was brought into the museum to undergo the preservation process. Though the scientists were almost defeated by this perplexing problem as no one could agree on how to resolve it, Moishale Lufan—a simple fisherman—threw buckets of fish into the water surrounding the boat. The fish quickly dealt with the mosquito problem by eating the insects.
Interestingly, had the Lufans’ discovery been made a decade or two earlier, the technology wouldn’t have been available to ensure the boat’s successful excavation.
The Lufan’s discovery is now an historic artifact housed at the Yigal Allon Museum in Kibbutz Ginosar, Israel. A fascinating one-hour DVD documentary movie, The Jesus Boat Revealed, chronicles the numerous miracles surrounding the vessel’s discovery and excavation through interviews with the people who were there, such as Yuval Lufan. Appearances by numerous noteworthy people include Ehud Barak, former prime minister of Israel; Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN); and Jay Sekulow, American attorney and radio talk show host, to name just a few.
Experts in the field of archeology say that the Jesus Boat is one of the most exciting biblical finds to be unearthed in decades. With the release of both a book and DVD on the excavation, the Jesus Boat Museum staff and everyone involved in the excavation hope to inspire believers and non-believers alike to embrace the entire Jesus Boat experience.
“This discovery made me a very happy person,” says Lufan. “But this is not just a boat for my family; it’s something much more and beyond that, and I will cherish it until I rest, and go to see God.”
Media Contact
WDC Media
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