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UPDATE: Scaremare breaks attendance record

UPDATE – 10/28-2014:

Scaremare broke its total attendance record this year with 27,238 visitors. The student-run house of fright also broke its highest single night attendance record twice this year with 4,959 visitors on Saturday, Oct. 18 and then with 5,062 visitors on Saturday, Oct. 25. More importantly, Scaremare organizers said that 3,568 people made decisions to accept Christ through the ministry this year.


Scaremare collaborates with I Am Second ministry

Liberty University students share the Gospel at Scaremare.
Liberty University students share the Gospel as part of the Scaremare experience. This year, Liberty partnered with I Am Second to help make the presentation more engaging.

Scaremare, Liberty University’s traditional student-run house of fright, has collaborated with the worldwide ministry I Am Second to present the Gospel message in a more relatable way.

I Am Second features video testimonials on its website highlighting the struggles of everyday living and how Christians have learned to place God at the forefront of their lives. Through this new collaboration between the ministry and Scaremare, I Am Second videos are shown in a loop just after students exit the final scene in the funhouse. The videos show a wide range of diversity, representing the diversity of the body of Christ. One of the most prominent testimonials features Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Lecrae, whose music has bridged the gap between Christian and secular music, topping the iTunes chart. Lecrae has spoken at Liberty’s Convocation and will be a headline performer at this year’s Winterfest.

While the videos play, Liberty students interact with the guests to help open them up to receive an important message. Visitors are then taken to the final room of the house, where they are presented with the Gospel.

“It’s an added thing for us this year, and we are really excited about it,” Church Ministries Department Chair Jonathan Geukgeuzian said of the I Am Second collaboration. “A lot of people who come through here have heard the message before but we thought, ‘Is there another way to say it that would grab their attention?’ The Gospel message doesn’t change but sometimes the way you present it latches onto people differently.”

Liberty’s Church Ministries staff contacted Doug Bender, an I Am Second writer and Liberty alumnus, after his attendance at Global Focus Week.

Scaremare was created in 1972 in order to confront people, especially teens, with the question, “What happens after I die?” This year, more than 26,000 guests will traverse the spooky terrain, encountering frightening characters and startling scenes that provide startling entertainment and gets them thinking about more important matters.

“It is not just a Gospel presentation,” said Karla Pittman, a junior studying youth ministries. “We are sharing things that we’ve been through. It’s very personal. It’s easier for me to share my story … I’m not trying to speak down to you, because I’ve been there too.”

Every year, thousands of visitors come from the surrounding area and other states for the experience, representing a wide range of backgrounds.

“One thing we love about it is the diversity,” Geukgeuzian said. “You look at our crowd (at Scaremare) we’ve got people from all walks of life.”

He added that the wide representation in the I Am Second videos was intentional, hoping that everyone will find something relatable.

As students interact with and minister to the guests, the theme centers on brokenness. Ministry students use broken puzzle pieces to represent their struggles and then later in the message, the puzzle is pieced back together in the shape of a cross. Throughout this time, Lecrae’s song “Broken” featuring Kari Jobe is played to reinforce the message.

“We really put the emphasis on God as the only one who can fix us because He is the one who has made us,” said junior Preston Waller, who is studying youth ministries. “I think that really strikes home with a lot of people because a many people are hurting. (There is) a lot of brokenness in society.”

Scaremare continues for its final weekend Oct. 23-25. Tickets are $8 at the gate. Liberty students and military can purchase tickets for $3 each on Thursday.

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