Another student questioned Venyah about his tactics, her voice creased with fury and emotion. Yet another student, dressed as the mythological Norse god Odin, spent the afternoon trying to out-preach Venyah.

However, these scenes are not unfamiliar to Venyah, and he is no stranger to the area.

Michael Venyah was born in Lansing and went to East Lansing High School. He attended the University of Southern California and studied in Canterbury, England. He then went to MSU to finish his education, but dropped out three credits before graduation.

Venyah, an evangelist, said his father took him to Catholic services as a child, but he did not know God then. He began studying the philosophy of Plato at 11 years old and learned the details of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Zoroastrianism.

“Eventually, I went (through) the gamut of rejecting any idea of God, and I was a convinced atheist and existentialist from my late teens to early 20s,” Venyah said.

Venyah lived a hedonistic lifestyle that he accuses students of engaging in until April 1991. He went to a church service and said he felt as though he had been filled with the Holy Spirit and wanted to repent his sins. Venyah, 23 at the time, said it was the first time he heard the voice of Jesus Christ.

“Though I didn’t know the Bible, I knew I wanted to follow God and do what was right,” Venyah said.

He began preaching to his peers and to his professors everywhere and anywhere on MSU’s campus.

“The Lord used me as a vessel to train young people to live the Christian life,” Venyah said.

When he first began preaching, Venyah used a one-on-one strategy to approach strangers. However, he found the technique too slow and felt he was not reaching enough people.

In 2003, Venyah began raising his voice to spread his message of God and the way to live a Christian lifestyle in front of Spartan Stadium. Venyah and his wife established Soulwinners Ministries International, a biblical Christian missionary ministry, in 2004.

“We train Christians and evangelists,” Venyah said. ”(We preach) to unbelievers and (teach) believers.”

Through Soulwinners Ministries International, Venyah said he has preached on more than 100 college campuses across the nation and has spread his word in 18 different countries including Germany, Poland and India. Just last month, Venyah paid a week-long visit to Kenya.

Venyah abides by a weekly calendar for visiting campuses. Mondays are for MSU, Tuesdays are for Western Michigan University, Wednesdays are for Central Michigan University and Thursday he visits Grand Valley State University. He reserves Friday for family and fellow Christians.

Venyah preaches against homosexuality, smoking and drinking among other things and referred to other spiritual beliefs as “false religions.”

Venyah also brings his five young children with him as he preaches, and said they are offered the choice of coming out and making the signs to carry. He said it is his duty to “narrow our children to the truth.”

“They join us in prayer every day, they choose to read their bibles,” Venyah said. “That’s the most loving thing we could ever do — teaching them the truth of Jesus.”