Published: October 23, 2008 10:26 pm      

Judgement House educates visitors

When Hannah Marie Sobeski realized she would not win her hard-fought battle against cancer in 2006, the 18-year-old Spartanburg, S.C., resident did not feel sorry for herself. Instead, Hannah, a Christian since the age of 6, turned her concern outward, telling friends and family she hoped her struggle would somehow help others.

“She said, ‘All I want to do is know that one person’s life has been changed by my illness,’” her grandfather, Leon Houchins of Beckley, recalled of his granddaughter, who was in the top 5 percent of her senior class and was crowned homecoming queen less than a month before her death.

Hannah got her wish — many times over — in life, and now, in death, her story of faith and courage continues to reach new lives through Hannah’s Hope Ministries and, most recently, through Judgement House at Memorial Baptist Church.

Judgement House, which might be referred to as the ultimate haunted house, is a national program where visitors witness a walk-through drama that tells a story of the lives of different characters, their deaths and their places in the afterlife.

Visitors to Memorial Baptist this weekend will be led through a series of eight rooms where they will learn the stories of Hannah, Ken and Grayson, all of whom lost their lives to cancer.

Two of the characters, including Hannah, were Christians, but the third was not.

The final rooms, according to youth minister Mark Agnor, are judgment rooms where the characters learn how their decisions in life will determine their eternal lives.

“You follow one character into hell and the others into heaven,” Agnor said.

Judgement House, Agnor said, encourages people to think about the consequences of each decision they make.

“I think it’s important to get people to think about what happens after death and how the decisions we make or don’t make in life can affect that,” he said. “We are going to die and I just think so many people don’t want to think about it right now, but it’s important we don’t put things off because we never know when our time will come.”

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About 500 people attended the first weekend of Judgement House.

At the completion of the story, Houchins said, there are counseling rooms where visitors can talk to someone about salvation.

Houchins, who served as a counselor, said one young boy in particular touched his heart.

“He said, ‘I want to be like Hannah,’” he recalled, with tears in his eyes.

It is his hope that people will continue to respond to the program, in its final three days, in a similar way.

“I hope people see what a young lady’s dedication to the Lord did and hope that they believe they can do the same thing,” he said.

Judgement House continues today and Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 6 to 9 p.m.

There is no admission, but Agnor said a $2 donation at the door, if possible, is appreciated.

Additional information regarding Hannah’s story, as well as books, CDs, DVDs and more, is available at www.hannahshopeministries.org.

— E-mail: mjames@register-herald.com