Ancient Egypt comes to the Northern Rivers

Elly Conduit Alstonville Church

The Tut Roadshow mobile museum of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun recently concluded its tour of five schools throughout the Northern Rivers. More than 700 students in Christian schools appreciated the biblical connections to history, while the work of the Holy Spirit was also obvious in secular schools, inspiring students to invite their families to attend an upcoming weekend evangelistic event.

Owned and operated by Doctor Wayne French, the Tut Roadshow mobile museum is a black and red semi-trailer truck with King Tutankhamun’s gold mask displayed on it's side, providing curriculum-based educational programs for secondary school-aged children along the east coast of New South Wales. Students experienced exhibits within the semi-trailer displaying how archaeologists cracked the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic code to uncover the tomb of King Tutankhamun, what was discovered within the tomb, and how it connects to biblical narratives, culminating with interactive activities to cement their learning. Students were given the opportunity to view genuine artefacts and prints dating back to Messianic time, in addition to a life-sized replica of King Tutankhamun’s throne, the Rosetta Stone, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

PHOTO: 1 Participants learning about different ancient Egyptian symbols. //

2 Participants enjoying some Egyptian artwork. // 3 The exterior of the Tut Roadshow mobile semi-trailer truck.

// 4 The pinnacle challenge, one of the many children's activities available. //

5 Participants engaging with artefacts.

The Tut Roadshow Community Event Sabbath program was held at Blue Hills College in Lismore and maintained a distinctly spiritual tone with strong Biblical connections, sermonettes, worship music, children’s Bible stories, health messages, Christian literature gift bags, free Bibles, Bible study offers, and free food. Workshops included creating a clay seal, learning how to examine and identify a skull, Egyptian hieroglyphics, numbers and measurement, tomb painting and cartouche writing. On Sunday, there were additional activities including jumping castles, a bubble clown, indigenous art, the Pinnacle Challenge, face painting and food.

The Tut Roadshow Community Event was a remarkable success and we were blessed by the involvement and dedication of around 40 volunteers to reach more than 400 members of our local community. Throughout the event, 17 people signed up for a free Bible and Bible studies. The community also learned about the hospitality and love Jesus demonstrates through members of His church.

Under the guidance of Pastor Dada Fialho and supported by ADRA as well as the Alstonville and Ballina Churches the events provided a positive and hope-filled community event for the flood-affected people of the Northern Rivers. With communities still in disarray it was important to the local churches to give the community an event that highlighted a great message of hope for the future, salvation in the good news of Jesus Christ.

After almost a year of planning, grant applications, committee meetings and rallies for community support, the week-long Tut Roadshow tour of schools ended on the weekend of May 6 and 7. The Tut Roadshow truck left a lasting impression on the students and community members, connecting them to the rich history of Ancient Egypt and the message of hope found in the Bible.