The Rev. Michael Venyah can't count how many times students have struck him.
They have stubbed their cigarettes out on him, pulled out knives, kicked him, threatened his family, pelted him with eggs and bottles, spit on him, poked him with sticks, choked him and chucked stones at him.
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But each time he has been attacked, Venyah has stayed calm, standing tall on his podium, one hand gripping his King James Bible, the other hand pointing at a student, then at his Bible, then at the sky, then at another student, then at his Bible, and back at the sky again, and he continues to preach.
UNM student Laquonte Barry, right, turns away while Venyah preaches Thursday.
He's not worried about getting hurt - God will protect him, he said.
"I don't matter - what matters is Jesus. And these souls are going to hell without him," he said. "The least we can do after all he has done for us is preach the truth to these people that he has compassion for and died and suffered for and was buried for and rose from the dead to save."
Venyah, along with his wife, two children and a friend, spent last week preaching near the statues outside the SUB.
Tamika Venyah, Michael's wife, argues with UNM student Mark Chavez.
Paul Venyah, 2, stays near his mother while his father preaches outside the SUB.
Though it was their first time at UNM, they have been preaching at universities since 2004, when Venyah and his wife, Tamika, founded Soulwinners Ministries International.
They've preached at hundreds of universities, hitting most of the 50 states and traveling to countries such as Canada, the Czech Republic, Poland, India, Germany and Nigeria.
Before they were Christians
Before they drove campus to campus in an RV, before they gave up their jobs and homes, and before they were Christians, the Venyahs were college students.
Venyah said that while he was in college, he lived "as the devil." He drank, experimented with drugs and had sex.
"I had been living in sin. My life was getting progressively worse, more meaningless," he said. "At that time, I was fornicating. There was a woman I was fornicating with. She wanted to get married. I was a sinner. I was a wicked man."
The Rev. Chris Nada, who is traveling with the Venyah family to preach, said he holds university campuses close to his heart, because he found Christianity when he was a senior in college.
"I've lived a life of sin, and I knew I deserved to go to hell, and I went to college, and I committed a lot of sins that the students were committing here, and I knew I was going to hell," he said. "And the people here still commit those sins. They're headed to hell the way they are living, so I wanted to reach as many of them as possible to give them an opportunity like I did to repent and put faith in Jesus Christ."
Venyah said he was three credits away from graduating at Michigan State with a degree in English literature when he found Christianity and dropped out to preach.
He said God asked him in 2003 to preach at college campuses because students and faculty were rebelling against Christianity.
Venyah said he plans on preaching at college campuses for the rest of his life.
Venyah started preaching at campuses in Michigan, where he lived with his wife. In 2004, he told his wife it was time to saddle up and preach full time. They gave away their home and took off in an RV with nothing but the clothes on their backs and some money they had saved up.
Venyah said his family depends on God to provide them with food and shelter since they don't have any income. Everything they have has been donated to them, including their home: a 1994 RV that sleeps six.
"I've stayed mostly in Wal-Mart parking lots," he said. "Sometimes we've stayed at a church - they were kind enough to let us in. Sometimes we've stayed at RV parks. It really depends what city we're in. But lately, we've been mostly staying at Wal-Mart parking lots."
Nada, who joined the couple in 2005, said he was frightened when he first started traveling.
"But after seeing God's faithfulness to provide time after time, it gave me greater faith in what God will do and really changed my mentality," he said. "Whereas the world saves up money, has 401K plans, savings accounts, now I have just as much confidence that, day by day, God will supply my needs."
On the sidelines
For the most part, Tamika Venyah doesn't take part in preaching. Instead, she watches her two children: Anna, who is 4 months old, and Paul, who is 2.
She said she plans on homeschooling them and hopes they will preach at college campuses.
Paul is already one step there, she said.
Though his vocabulary is limited, he says, "Go and sin no more," "Obey Jesus," and "Sinners go to the lake of fire."
She said some people are shocked when they hear Paul preach.
"A lot of times, when he goes up to people, we don't tell him, 'OK, go up to that person.' He does it on his own initiative, and it's usually someone who needs to hear the preaching," she said. "So, I believe God will use whoever is available. He can use a little child. I think he would like to use every person, but every person is not willing."
She said she enjoys being on the road every day with her family because she is able to spend time with them.
"I don't see it as a sacrifice. I see it as my reasonable service, and I have the joy in the Lord doing it," she said. "I mean, I'm comfortable in my RV. It's a blessing to me."
'I have the right to screw with them'
Outside the SUB last week, crowds of up to 100 people formed around Venyah and Nada. Some were hostile. They yelled, pointed and cursed - but they said it wasn't without good reason.
Some students said they were shocked when Venyah said Mother Teresa was burning in hell next to Adolf Hitler because she was a Catholic.
And they didn't take it lightly when Venyah said: "Every Native American, every Jew, every Hindu, every Buddhist, every homo, every lesbo, every fornicator, every drunkard, every smoker is going to bust hell wide open."
On Wednesday, Nada pointed and shouted at student Austin Rasmussen, who was smoking a cigarette.
"I used to be a cigarette smoker like you, but Jesus Christ has set me free, hallelujah. I used to be a drunkard like you, but Jesus Christ has set me free, hallelujah," he said. "I'm free. I'm free because of Jesus, because of Jesus, because of Jesus, because of Jesus."
And so Rasmussen approached him, arched forward, took a long drag of a Marlboro 100 and blew a cloud of smoke into Nada's face.
Rasmussen said he wanted to prove a point. He said he had been watching them preach since they had arrived.
"I'm not particularly an extremely religious person, but I am a Christian. I believe in God. I'm not a Bible thumper, but I think what they're saying is wrong, and I think mostly when they talk down to women, and they condemn these women because of what they're wearing, or what they say or because of their tattoos or piercings - it's wrong," Rasmussen said. "Basically, my only point to them is that a good Christian does not condemn or judge - and they're doing everything that entails."
Student Cody Jones stood behind Venyah on Wednesday, holding a piece of paper that read, "Child Molester," with an arrow pointing at the preacher.
"I mean, I really don't care about them really," Jones said. "I mean, if they want to spend their time preaching, then go ahead. Let them. But then I have the right to screw with them, so I will."
Benjamen Thornberg, a Christian, said he doesn't agree with everything the preachers said, but he was glad they were on campus, stirring discussion.
"I hope people don't get the wrong impression of Christianity," he said. "Just as they have the few Islamic extremists that make it bad for the rest of the Islams, I hope that a few people that come out don't make it bad for the rest of us. I hope we still have the same freedom in 20 years. I hope they ask questions. I hope it spawns thoughts and they ask questions and seek answers."
'That makes it all worthwhile'
Student Nicee Brown said she would not have found Jesus Christ without Venyah.
Brown said Venyah called on a crowd of 20 students on Thursday to stand up and repent their sins.
"At first I was really scared. I was like, 'I can't do this, not in front of all these people.' But, you know, he was really gentle and not pressuring at all, and I just got up and said, 'OK, God. Guide me. Let me say what you want me to say,'" she said. "Words just came out."
Venyah said it's worth the violence, mockery and heckling if he can help just one student find Jesus Christ.
"We're there for whoever might repent and put faith in Jesus - who died, buried and was raised - and obey him," he said. "And after (Brown) did and all the other ones rejected him, there's nothing else to say. They've heard the message. If they've sinned, they've sinned. They're damned by their own choice. She chose to come out, and that makes it all worthwhile."
