There are many reasons why people visit museums. Some want to learn about the past, while others are curious about the country they are visiting, or just want to enjoy art, culture, and science. Museums are great for meeting new people, learning how our ancestors lived, and expanding our minds. The Museum will display histories, timelines, and perspectives you may have never heard before, potentially altering the mindsets of people who have simply never been educated outside the mainstream culture. This differing perspective is something any well-informed person should have. When viewpoints are only taken from one’s own culture, they find themselves severely limited.
Local Impact
Children – We believe that students learn quite a lot from museums. In particular, enriching visits contribute to the development of children into civilized young men and women who possess more knowledge about the arts and sciences, have stronger critical-thinking skills, exhibit increased historical empathy, display higher levels of tolerance, and have a greater taste for consuming art and culture.
One of our directors has brought evidence for a Biblical creation interpretation of origins and natural history to public schools in Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Philippines through science assemblies in these countries. Students were left with books detailing this scientific viewpoint (similar to displays the Museum would house). End of the year standardized testing revealed that student’s science proficiency scores had improved dramatically (from the 40 percentile to the 90 percentile) because connecting science to their inherent faith in God greatly increased their desire to learn more about science.
Adults – A well-known and documented bias of the human mind occurs when only one viewpoint is promoted with any alternative viewpoint censored and suppressed. When this happens, people eventually become resistant and blind to any other possibility even when evidence is presented that shows that their beliefs could not possibly be true. This is happening throughout the scientific community do to one-sided evolutionary teaching. Any alternative that believes nothing turned into everything (The Big Bang), life forms by itself all over the universe (chemical evolution), and bacteria has turned into people over enormous time periods (biological evolution) is censored, ridiculed, and ignored throughout student’s education. Thus, both students and adults need to be exposed to the evidence for an alternative viewpoint that God has been involved in human history at key moments (the creation of the universe, the creation of very different forms of life, and the worldwide Flood). If these events are left out of our thinking, we are guaranteed to misinterpret cosmology, geology, geology, and anthropology. Adults exposed to the evidence supporting this alterative viewpoint are much more likely to make God a central component of their thinking and behavior.
Research published by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) found that “older adults” who attended cultural events, from museum exhibitions to the opera, reported better mental and physical health than those who did not. Reduced cost senior citizen annual museum memberships will be part of the museum plan. Older citizens can also benefit in other ways:
Older volunteers have a lifetime of skills and knowledge. Often museums make use of this in intergenerational projects. The idea is to pair older volunteers with young people. Together, the group develops a new museum tour that all the volunteers can deliver. The young volunteers ‘shadow’ their older colleagues. During the project, they learn from the experiences of the older people. They built new relationships and talk about what they had in common. Participants of all ages say that the program improves their skills and self-confidence.
Volunteers are key to the Museum. Volunteering in a museum is a way to meet new people, learn and use new skills, and to feel part of a community. For many, a volunteer role can be the motivation that they need to get out of the house and to keep active. A recent survey found that a large number of museum volunteers are over the age of 65. When volunteers have roles of value, with proper training and support, they provide an invaluable service to museums.
These projects show that when older people are included, they share knowledge and experience that is relevant to all generations. By helping older adults to stay active, both physically and mentally, cultural organizations can ensure that they continue to be valuable members of society. Feeling welcomed by the Museum will help them to stay active. This, in turn, has a host of mental and physical benefits.
Schools – Schools will have the opportunity to conduct field trips to the Museum. Field trips provide some of the most unforgettable moments in a student’s life. Not only does this activity break the monotony of classroom lectures, but it also offers students experiences that are not commonly encountered within school grounds.
Students who go on field trips become more adapted to life. A study conducted by the University of Arkansas found that students that participate in a field trip to a museum show increased empathy, tolerance, and critical thinking skills. Many people feel instinctively that there is value to a museum field trip. It’s good for kids to get out of the classroom a couple of times a year for them to see knowledge at work in the real world. It’s also beneficial for them to experience subjects like the arts and sciences that are frequently absent from the classroom.
At the Museum, they will learn of the history of the local area and nation, as well as other information as described in the Museum Content section. The Museum could also offer internships to students from local schools. Internships are a powerful way to help students learn critical thinking skills, life lessons, and focus their individual goals for adulthood.
Churches – Science and religion are not adversaries. The Bible teaches that God is incomprehensible, yet God is knowable. In other words, humans cannot possibly know everything about God who is infinite, but we can grow in our knowledge of God. Science is simply studying creation and how it operates but this knowledge is one of the ways in which we can grow in our understanding of God. Science is not about disproving the existence of God, but helping us to better understand the ways in which He orders the universe. It’s hard to look at the natural order of our world and believe that somehow it is the product of a completely random phenomenon. Science and religion share an interest in the pursuit of truth and greater knowledge of our origins.
Churches will be positively impacted by the Museum. The Museum will promote unity between the churches of Cancun and the surrounding area. We are working towards a similar goal of showing evidence for God’s creation and ultimately God’s purpose for humankind. We will work jointly with Catholic and Protestant churches. Why? Because the Museum is a non-denominational entity which does not address denominational differences. Yet all denominations, and major religions, have as a foundation the understanding that there is a Creator God. The Museum reinforces this believe by showing observable scientific and archeological evidences supporting this creation reality. The Museum must work toward a redemptive and service-oriented view of business that seeks, ultimately to provide goods and services that enable communities to flourish and give employees the opportunity to participate in purposeful and meaningful work.
Businesses – A large number of local businesses will benefit from the Museum, from the construction companies to the suppliers of all the materials needed to construct the building and exhibits. As the project progresses more and more businesses will be needed to keep the Museum running. This benefits many local businesses. These benefits trickle down to the individual worker, which in turn helps support more local businesses.
Community – Building a science museum means creating more jobs. This not only allows people to work closer to home, but also improves the quality of life for the community by increasing city revenue, creating a more self-sustainable community, and connecting the community together.
The Museum will also bolster local culture and identity through its many exhibits featuring the local history, anthropology, geology, biology and many other fields of study. This will allow for the community as a whole to embrace the Museum as its own, and take pride in it.
Just as local business success is closely tied to community success, the culture of a local business and the culture of a community often directly influence each other. Local businesses play an integral role in their community. The Museum will support as many local businesses as possible.
The Museum will practice environmentally efficient and clean ways of doing business. The green business model, while ensuring ample revenue, prioritizes minimizing the company’s environmental impact instead of maximizing its profit. It may involve restricted use of fossil fuels while emphasizing power supplied by solar panels and other approaches to reduce energy consumption.
The Museum will develop and encourage entrepreneurship and independence of local businesses. Variety in the type of businesses adds to a community’s character.
The Museum will have a great impact on the community, from promoting environmentally friendly practices to boosting the local economy by creating more jobs and revenue.
Tourism impact
Tourism ranks as an important industry in each location we are involved with. Tourism has been used as a major tool for growth and development in these countries. One of the effects of the Museum will be an increase of tourism traffic – especially from surrounding countries.
Within The Museum – gift/souvenir shop, restaurant, coffee shop, other vendors. These will all benefit from tourists to the Museum. Based on other museums, a large percentage of a museum’s overall revenue comes from the gift shop sales.
Outside The Museum – souvenirs vendors, food stands, and other vendors will want to partake of the large number of tourists that visit Samson. Space will be available for these vendors.
Hotels – Local area hotels will benefit because tourists need to stay somewhere!
Restaurants – Local area restaurants will benefit because tourists need to eat somewhere!
Economic Impact
Economic impact analysis predicts the economic effects upon a regional or state economy of a new business location or a new project venture occurring in the state or regional economy. We believe that The Museum would have a substantial impact on the economic climate of the area where a Museum is located.