Uncle
Noah,
a.k.a
Charles
Valentine,
can draw
an animal
cartoon
upside
down or
right side
up. He
animates
his char-
acters on
the com-
puter to
illustrate
free Bible
study pro-
grams for
families.
  JOE DON BUCKNER ▼ AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Reprints at www.lubbockonline.com		  

He shares the Bible through cartoons, computer, puzzles and more

BY BETH PRATT
A-J RELIGION EDITOR

ith his snowy white hair and beard, Charles Valentine looks the part of Uncle Noah.
But it was not his looks that the artist/ advertising man had in mind when he chose Noah as the character for his multimedia Bible story programs available free on the Internet.
"The answer is simple — which Bible character do you know of most identified with animals?" Valentine asked. That's right, Noah, who took

 the animals into the ark, two by two, saving them from the flood. For years, Valentine went to county fairs and drew cartoon pictures of animals as free entertainment.
Today, with the help of Gene Mathis, who attends to the technical side of what has become a creative presence on the Internet, Valentine's ministry has become worldwide, animal cartoon characters and all.
"Over half of our response is from adults, many asking how		 to use our program in Bible class," he said. "We have no clue as to how many people are using it. We have had 43 million page hits from at least 170 countries since the program began in 2001, We stopped counting, but there are only 225 countries in the world."
In March, he had inquiries from 37 predominantly Muslim countries.
"We don't call it children's ministry anymore (because) we are getting so much response," Valentine said. "We're calling it a family ministry."
Valentine attributes the success of the Web site to two factors: "It's free, and it is just		 Bible. There's not another on the Web like ours."
   He also admits to being politically incorrect about such things as Darwin's Evolution Theory and the issue of homosexuality.
   "We call it compassionately controversial," Valentine said.
Animation is a big part of what draws people to the stories, which are textual studies of Scripture.
   His vision is to provide graphic presentations of every major Bible character and theme with corresponding animation, puzzles, games, self-testing and

SEE NOAH, PAGE B2

        Resources
       by Uncle Noah
  • Internet: child- rensbiblestudy
    .com, creation
    evolution.org, Unclenoah.org,
     kjak.com.
  • Print: While You
    Wait activity pages,
    Ask Uncle Noah
    Publication Inserts
    for newspapers,
    eight-page tabloid
    for inmates at Lub
    -bock County Jail.
  • Radio: 11-11:30
    am Sundays,
     KJAK FM92.7.