Surprise evangelism at 'The 99' in Modesto

Updated September 4, 2011 7:31 PM

TLB The99 06 — TRACY BARBUTES/tbarbutes@modbee.com - Event director, Terry Henshaw, watches as the line begins to move into THE 99, a walkthrough theater being held in a 20,000 square foot tent in the Vintage Fair Mall parking lot in Modesto, Calif. Actors in the live theatre graphically reenact the five leading causes of death in teenagers and young adults (8-28-11). Henshaw stated that 1,879 people experienced his theater event the first two evenings. He also stated that just under 300,000 people in 20 cities have attended this event.

My 17-year-old son recently paid to see "The 99" traveling exhibit at Vintage Faire. He along with his friends lined up for what they believed was going to be an interactive haunted house of sorts.

Imagine his surprise when at the end of the experience he was led into a private area where he was bombarded with overzealous counselors who wanted him to be "saved" and to accept Jesus Christ or face eternal damnation.

As a parent, I was alarmed that there was no warning in the advertisement or promotional materials for this exhibit that it was really an attempt to convert "non-believers" in a very in-your-face way.

I have no problem with Christians wanting to spread the word, but I felt their tactics in this case were surreptitious, going after a captive audience of teenagers who may have felt very intimidated by the whole experience.

Parents should be advised that this exhibit has extremely strong religious overtones and involves one-on-one "counseling" sessions with your teens.

CATHY HERNANDEZ

Delhi

This story was originally published September 4, 2011 at 7:23 PM with the headline "Surprise evangelism at 'The 99' in Modesto."

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