Evangelists evoke strong student reactionsBy Amy Nordrum, Staff Writer
May 10, 2007 | 9:25 p.m.
Dustin Franz
An O.U. student stands next to Brother Micah and holds a sign that he brought to where Brother Micah is preaching on College Green on May 7, 2007.
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Evangelists Brother Micah Armstrong and Brother Jesse Morrell evoked strong reactions from crowds of students early this week with their statements about sex, alcohol, religion, women, and gays.
A steady stream of 30 to 40 students argued back and forth with the visiting evangelists, who target college campuses, across from the former Baker Center this week. Brother Micah described the message he hoped to get across to listeners by citing Acts 20:21, “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
But statements like, “I am in love with the man, his name is Jesus Christ, and his blood is not HIV positive,” sparked insults and anger from offended students. Chants of “Love! Choice!” and “Get Out!” resonated across College Green between lengthy arguments over what some students considered closed-minded beliefs. Animosity escalated into physical action as one man spit in Brother Micah’s face and two students smashed eggs and a pie on Brother Jesse.
Brother Micah describes his open-air preaching method as, “the most Biblical method.” Micah began open-air preaching full-time almost a year ago, when he and his wife sold most of their possessions, bought a truck and a trailer, and started traveling the country. Brother Micah used to teach “troubled” students in Miami, and has been open-air preaching on and off for about four years. He said he chose open-air over more conventional preaching methods because, “The sinners aren’t supposed to be in the churches.”
Brother Jesse underwent ministry training and started open-air preaching full-time about two years ago. His ministry, Open Air Outreach, visits about 30 to 40 college campuses each semester.
“We’re out here to preach the gospel, to get students to think about their life, to reconsider their decisions and choices," said Brother Jesse. "We want to get their attention and get them to change their life.”
At one point during his preaching, in response to students’ hostility, Brother Jesse said, “Jesus is light, but Ohio University appears to be nothing but darkness.”
Brother Micah describes himself as a “Bible-believer” and Brother Jesse said he is a “born again, non-denominational Christian.”
Katie Ries, a sophomore art therapy major said, “I think it puts Christianity in a bad light.” Reis, who has dabbled in Christianity among other religious, said Brother Micah was stereotyping gays, frat boys and sorority girls. "I think he’s preaching hate, and he calls it love,” she said.
Wes Somogy, a senior philosophy pre-law major, echoed Ries’ opinion and said, “I think any person affiliated with Christianity would denounce this guy and this group of people as being mis-representers of what Christianity actually says.”
Somogy also criticized the hypocrisy in Brother Micah’s messages.
“(According to Micah) if you drink, you’re a sinner, if you masturbate, you’re a sinner, essentially if you do anything, you’re a sinner, and these people are claiming to be absolutely perfect, and they’re not,” said Somogy.
Somogy also looked at Brother Jesse’s website, openairoutreach.com, and warned students that Brothers Micah and Jesse may be using their pictures without students’ permission to promote their missions online.