A Chinese businessman who converted to Christianity from Buddhism is declaring his faith in a big way by building a massive life-sized replica of Noah's Ark in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
Marc L'Hoir, who manages Sunset Cemetery in the city, revealed that businessman Wenqing Sun hopes people around the world will visit the "one-of-a-kind tourist attraction", which will cost an estimated $1.2 million.
"You know how many people go to Vatican City? How many people go to Jerusalem to the Wailing Wall? So once the word gets out and we start marketing it, I think it'll be a real tourist attraction for Moose Jaw," he said, according to CBC News.
L'Hoir revealed that Sun is so dedicated to spreading the Gospel around the world, he's already built such a life-sized Bible theme park in the city of Shenyang in northern China.
"He actually converted from Buddhism to Christianity and this is just part of his spreading the word of Christianity throughout the world," L'Hoir said. "This is part of his legacy he wants to leave behind."
Mike Wirges, who is the Rural Municipality of Moose Jaw administrator, noted that the theme park, which will feature an Ark 136 meters long, 23 meters wide and 13 meters high, will be finished in four years.
"It's not by any means anything you would attribute to a theme park, like rollercoasters or anything like that. It's just a passive park that people would essentially walk through," he said.
Recently, Creation Museum CEO and President Ken Ham opened a similar project in Kentucky titled "The Ark Encounter."
Built with the same measurements God gave Noah in Genesis 6:15, the ark is the largest timber-frame structure in the world. It's just over 500 feet long - one and a half times the length of a football field - about 50 feet tall, and 85 feet wide.
Inside, life-like displays and animatronics tell the Old Testament story of Noah, his family, the animals, and the flood that destroyed the world thousands of years ago.
Earlier, Ham explained that the Ark Encounter is a fun and exciting way to present God's truth to the word.
"More than ever, people need to discover the truth of God's Word beginning in Genesis and the saving Gospel of the New Testament. That is especially true today for teens and millennials (including those inside the Church)," he wrote earlier this year.
"Our culture needs to take a voyage of discovery and discover that: God's Word concerning the history of the universe and all life is true. God's Word concerning man's sinful state and his need of salvation in Christ is true," he added.
