The Merritt Ministry
Home of The ARKY and JESUS Balloons JESUS, The Hot Air Balloon
Dedicated to the glory of our Lord, JESUS, the Hot Air Balloon was constructed during the spring and summer of 1998 and certified in October of 1998.
Discussion on building JESUS, The Hot Air Balloon began in October of 1997 when founding trustees of The Merritt Ministry, Robert Schaible (a commercial hot air balloon pilot for the past 20 years) and his wife Karen Schaible approached the owners of The Balloon Works, Sid and Eleanor Conn about the project.
From the very conception of the project, a major concern was how to do justice to the creation of a hot air balloon in the likeness of Jesus. So, how do you create a hot air balloon that is both authentic and reverent in its mission of creating Jesus, the Son of God? The design of the balloon combines Jesus, in a majestic purple robe, trimmed in gold, rising above a base of white clouds, in all power and majesty as is presented in the book of Revelation, with the glory, compassion and love of the resurrected Jesus. Surrounding JESUS, are twelve international children holding hands. Jesus Himself said, "unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 18:3) On the back of JESUS, The Hot Air Balloons' majestic purple robe are the words, "King of kings, Lord of lords". On the underside of the clouds on the balloon are printed the words, " Jesus Christ: Who is and Who was and Who is to come." (Rev. 1:4) After hundreds of hours of computer-aided design, using 4 different programs, 2,700 separate patterns for the fabric were loaded into an immense cutting machine. Cutting the fabric took more than 5 weeks. As soon as one section was cut, the sewing machine operators began assembly. It took another 13 weeks to complete the sewing. The size of the hot air balloon grew with the size of the project. The balloon stands an impressive 110 feet tall, is 100 feet wide, and is 65 feet deep. The balloon envelope, (fabric portion) weighs over 750 pounds. The total volume of the envelope is 258,000 cubic feet of air. Each child is 15 feet tall. The hands are 20 feet from wrist to fingertip. JESUS, The Hot Air Balloon, based in Tracy, California, is scheduled for many events across the nation this year. To find out where and when JESUS, The Hot Air Balloon will appear, jump to the Calendar of Events at the Merritt Ministry Web Site. |
