Luke 21:34-36 says, "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."

Fairfield Christian Church and the Real Life Youth Ministry was blessed to present the tenth anniversary edition of our Halloween alternative project called “Hell Escape.” In years past, Hell Escape was presented as a forty minute walk-through docu-drama portraying the real effects of drinking and driving. After taking a year off to seek God’s direction and re-energize, Hell Escape came back different, better than ever. Along with the original familiar story line, there were new scenes, new characters, and enhanced drama with additional story lines taken from today’s headlines. Our goal this year was for Hell Escape to be more real and touch more lives than through the teen drinking and driving message alone. The daily decisions made by both youth and adults have eternal consequences and there is ONLY ONE WAY OUT--JESUS.

In this, our tenth year of Hell Escape, 3,758 came to Hell Escape from as far away as Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee. 223 made decisions for Our LORD. 23 were baptized on-site and others expressed the desire to go back to their home churches to be baptized. These are the measurable affects of Hell Escape. However, we will never know the number of lives that Hell Escape has changed.

Whether they identified with Danny and his addiction to alcohol, Jen's pregnancy and decision to abort, Raychelle's abusive relationship, Kurt's transformation from a controlling husband whose addiction to pornography propelled him into a selfish spiral towards being a godless creature, or the victims of their decisions, evidenced by the comments and tears at the exit, many were touched by the characters and the bad decisions they had made.

One girl who came through Hell Escape called someone from our decision area later in the week because she thought she was pregnant and couldn't reach Planned Parenthood; our counselor met her, took her to lunch and then the the Pregnancy Decision Crisis Center in Columbus. One inquisitive young man spent an hour and a half with a pastor, making no decision; but for the next week or so they emailed back and forth as this "seeker" had more questions about Jesus, Salvation and Eternity.

Our prayer is that many others will return to their youth groups and churches and make the decision to escape from Hell by accepting God's gift of grace through His son Jesus Christ, and then relying on that relationship to make good decisions in the here and now.

If you have questions, praise reports or stories to share, please email us at HellEscape@columbus.rr.com

Check back soon for more details about Hell Escape 2009

God bless, we can’t wait to see you next year!
Harold Ratliff & Tim Nead — co-directors