Fish-eating-a-fish fossil

On November 18, 2005, William and Agnes Minnich came to the museum and donated a one-of-a-kind fossil. Below is Bill's story of how he made the decision to donate this fossil to the Creation Museum.

I own the finest fossil of a fish eating a fish ever found in the history of the world. I bought it in 1976 and from that moment on it was mine. I owned it. It is my possession and mine alone. Thru the years the 50 or 60 friends and relatives that viewed this piece could not appreciate it. They said things such as, "that's nice---is it real?" I was frustrated to no end by those remarks, and it seemed as though I was the only one who truly knew how rare this specimen was and the odds of just seeing a specimen of this quality, much less viewing it in my own living room.

Getting up in age I decided to see a financial advisor who informed me that I should make an attempt to sell this specimen, "for as soon as you're gone your children will sell it and they won't get more than ten cents on the dollar for its value."

So the decision is now made to sell it. Where do you go to sell? E-bay of course. So I click on the E-bay web site and go to a category called fossils. I find 32 pages of fossils, which list literally thousands of items. In my mind and heart I instantly knew that just placing my fossil on one of those pages would be the greatest injustice and demeaning thing I could do. It deserved so much more than that. With that my wife watching television says to me, "go to your TV and turn on channel 4 they are talking about e-bay and the category of odd items." Well right after the TV segment I went to the computer, opened up the E-bay site, clicked on the category of odd items and lo and behold there it was, only two items for sale, just the place to list the fossil. We prepared the picture and the story behind the fossil and all the pertinent information. And now we are ready to start the auction process. One thing left to do---click on the button that says sell. With that an Instant Message pops up on the screen of my computer---interestingly enough it blocks the sell button on E-bay---and says, "How are you?" etc. etc. etc. It was from a very close friend of ours from church.

The lengthy instant message finally went on to say the following:

Bill: (10:57am) I made a decision that I would try to sell all my stuff on e-bay Bill: (10:58am) I will start with my fossil of a fish eating a fish in the category of odd items Wendy (10:59am) Why don't you donate that to the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum Wendy (11:00am) It is going to open next year. It clearly presents the gospel from the beginning Bill (11:00am) You know if it doesn't sell on ebay I will do exactly that Wendy (11:01am) You should look into the museum first and see what they stand for finally a museum with an explanation of where all the fossils came from & why we need a Savior Bill (11:02am) I am going to go to N Y and get an appraisal for that item and see how donations work Wendy (11:04 am) ..a plus ..your name will be on a little plaque at the museum & every time your grandchildren go there they will be proud of your decision Bill (11:18am) I will call you in a short Wendy (11:18am) ok

The exact moment I hung up from that instant message something happened to me. The Lord spoke to me. In an instant that fleshly feeling of power and possession, it's mine, mine, mine left me, and a new feeling instantly came over me. A feeling that I no longer owned or possessed this specimen, that I was only the Lord's keeper for all those years and never knew it. I never really owned this piece but just watched over it until He decided how to use it to His glory and benefit. How humble I feel for what I was taught on this day. Thank you Lord. May I present to the entire world the original owner of a fish eating a fish: The Lord Jesus Christ.

And may the new Answers in Genesis Creation Museum become its new keeper and display this piece in the honor and glory that it deserves for our Lord to work it in ways that we can't even comprehend. "Until … we are all caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We are grateful for the donation the Minnich's made and so many others. If you have a unique item that you would like to donate to the museum, feel free to contact us.

Thanks again for joining us. We appreciate all of your prayers and support for the museum.