Family raffling off home as fund-raiser for ministry
COEUR d’ALENE – If he has his way, Logan Knight, along with his wife and five kids, will be kicked out of their house in Coeur d’Alene in August. The reason? A sign posted in the front yard that says, “Win This House!”
Five months ago, the 39-year-old Coeur d’Alene native created a raffle with his domicile on 15th Street as the grand prize. Knight is selling tickets for $100 with the drawing to be held on the last day of the Kootenai County Fair this summer.
Modeled on North Idaho College’s Really Big Raffle, Knight will offer 5,000 tickets. He needs to sell a minimum of 2,800 tickets for the raffle to take place with all sales being refunded if he doesn’t make that minimum. The house is a three-bedroom, one-bath, single-story structure valued at $169,000. Other prizes include a trip for two to Los Cabos, Mexico, a $3,000 electronics shopping spree, a $2,000 furniture shopping spree, a $1,000 clothing shopping spree, $500 in gas and 100 seventh prizes of $150 in The Bible Trading Card Game.
Knight said he talked to NIC about the number of tickets and the price for each. While the raffles are similar, Knight said he doesn’t feel as though he’s competing with the college’s raffle.
“The goal is different from the goal of the school,” Knight said. “Our goal is to put together enough money to build a ministry and a creation museum … if you want to win a house, you have two chances to do so. And different people might want to support different causes.”
Knight founded and operates Lightspeed Ministries, which publishes the Pillar Press and the Bible TCG. As soon as he sells 2,800 tickets, he’ll start looking for land on which he can build his ministry.
Knight said he disagrees with the scientific theory of evolution and supports the description of creation laid out in the Bible. The creation museum would advocate that view and would be similar to others around the country.
“The purpose of the creation museum is to show historical evidence and scientific evidence for Creation. That would include explanations on how scientists date fossils … and the assumptions that go into those methods of dating,” Knight said.
Knight envisions a building with large dinosaur displays and games to attract children. It would have a separate residence for his family to live in while they operate the museum and the ministry. Knight said the museum would primarily cater to children and would teach them about the Bible and science simultaneously, but that it would offer food for thought to adults, too.
“It would have displays on animals that defy evolution,” Knight said, and gave examples: “The giraffe; the horse; the killer whale. There’s tons of them. The bombardier beetle. It’s a beetle that actually shoots explosions out of its body. With an exploding bug, there’s no chance for mistakes. There’s no grandkids.”
Amy Knight, Logan’s wife, said she isn’t worried about ending up homeless.
“I thought it was a great idea,” Amy said. “I know if it’s God’s will to open a Creation Park, then He will provide.”
Logan and Amy met in 1993 in Denver where Amy grew up and Logan was working in sound design for a church. They married in 1994 in a traditional wedding with a touch of Star Trek (they wore replicas of the show’s communicator pins). The couple moved to Coeur d’Alene a few years later where they have focused on raising their children, Kirk, Luke, Leia, Trinity and Katrina.
Amy said her husband is often coming up with new ideas to educate kids on the Bible. Logan previously wrote a book that focuses on the Biblical Noah as a teenager before the flood and designed a role-playing game, in addition to creating The Bible TCG.
“He truly has a heart for kids,” Amy said of Logan. “Most of what he’s done in his life has been for kids.”