North Texas Family Searches For The Ark of the Covenant

A family is about to embark on an unusual expedition. Their journey will begin in Egypt, and they hope it will end with the discovery of the lost Ark of the Covenant. "This is the great adventure. This is the one that everybody wants," Jacob Bonnema says. "It would sure be exciting to see it," says his father, Arch Bonnema. Local businessman Arch Bonnema and his wife, son, daughter-in-law and a family friend are leaving Saturday. They're part of a group of 15 setting out to find the ark that held the Ten Commandments. One theory about its whereabouts places the ark in Axom, Ethiopia. "After examining all of the evidence, we think that this one is the most likely one of them," Arch Bonnema says. Bonnema's confidence is high because his last expedition far exceeded his hopes. A trip to Iran yielded pieces of petrified wood. "We've got so much evidence that what we found was Noah's Ark," Bonnema says. "We can't prove it's Noah's Ark. We look everywhere we could on the side of the mountain for a plaque that said S.S.Noah, and we couldn't find one." The discovery rekindled his faith in both the Bible and in archaeology. "It's a great encouragement, since we found what everyone said was impossible and everybody's been looking for centuries, and we believe we found it. That encouraged us to take the next step, which is the other ark," Bonnema says. It's a daunting and dangerous task, especially given the unrest in Ethiopia today. Jacob and Kelly Bonnema will leave their four young children behind to make the trek. They say their faith motivates them. "It's dangerous, but I know there's angels protecting us," says Kelly Bonnema. "I'm nervous beyond words, but that's what an adventure is all about!" her husband says. It's a journey they hope will change them and the history books.