The Jesus Museum–Update
By Rick Lyon
Previously we met with our museum team in Israel once a month. Beginning in January we have started meeting every two weeks to accommodate the increased activities.
In our last meeting with the museum team, we had a potential donor join us to hear about our progress. They asked the attorneys to prepare a quote for a “Feasibility Study” for them. Our attorneys told them that we have accomplished more in the past year than would normally have taken 10 years and far more than $20 million to achieve. This is our unseen friends at work.
We thank our current team of donors who are helping to build this Jesus Museum for the future generations of Urantia. It is upon their shoulders that this museum will stand for decades, perhaps centuries, and bring the life and teachings of Jesus to the holy lands of Israel and to the world.
Our attorneys said that the Yigal Allon museum already has 500,000 visitors per year and we will benefit from their existing traffic. They said 50% of the visitors are tourists and 50% are from Israel. So, we will have a significant number of guests the first day we open the doors.
The attorneys said that we need to sign a “Memorandum of Understanding” defining our relationship with the museum owner, stating what we will do in exchange for a 25-year lease. What they want is for us to create our Jesus Museum and provide some upgrades for their part of the building. We believe this should be signed in 2-3 weeks depending on negotiations, but Yigal Allon wants our Jesus Museum as their partner.
Attorneys told the potential donor that once the MOU is signed, we need $20K to begin the design work for infrastructure: air conditioning, lighting, plumbing, electrical. Our part of the museum is literally a blank slate that has never been used or finished out (appropriate for a Jesus Museum). Then we need $2 million to do all build out and another $5-6 million to create the Jesus Experience, the centerpiece for our museum.
The attorneys said we could be open in about 2 years, once we get the funding to start the work. I think that is optimistic but they are the ones with the experience creating museums. Our teammate Steve Marble is flying to Israel in a couple of weeks to meet with Gabriel Rymberg and the YR legal team, to visit the museum, meet with their management, and begin conceptualizing the Jesus Experience and museum design.
Steve is a long-time student of The Urantia Book and is retired from Universal Studios. He led the creation of the Back to the Future attraction. He is one of the world’s top experts in digital video technology and has already built facilities such as we are planning. We are truly blessed by the talented and experienced team that our Father has brought together for this project.
If I can do my part as fundraiser, they will make this happen. Just imagine! We, the Urantia community together, are actually creating the world’s first Jesus Museum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, in the land where it all happened; the only place that can have such a museum in all of Nebadon; a museum that will appeal to and honor all the people and faiths of this world who are followers of Jesus, or want to be.
Just imagine all of us being there for the grand opening. Mansion world one has its Michael Memorial. With all of us lifting together at the same time, Urantia will have the Jesus Museum. We invite you to be a part of this wonderful project with your prayers, sharing, and financial support.
