Preaching to the Diag

By Jenni Glenn

Weekend Etc., editor

Lugging sandwich board signs with scripture passages. Holding five hour-long discussions with students. Taking abuse from people passing through the Diag. This is the life of traveling evangelist/teacher Rick Warzywak, who frequently preaches to the masses from the center of campus. He described both the frustrations and rewards of his job in an interview with The Michigan Daily.

The Michigan Daily: What is your day job?

Rick Warzywak: My day job is what you see me do (at the University). I left my regular employment seven years ago and started preaching the gospel on college campuses. ... Now money just comes in, God just provides.

TMD: What made you start preaching?

RW: When you're making a decent living and income, it just doesn't satisfy. There's a voice that speaks to you and tells you to go out and help people. ... If there really is a hell, as I believe there is, I have the responsibility to help people escape it.

TMD: How do you choose the best location to preach from?

RW: You find where the highest traffic flow is, and U of M has the highest traffic flow at the Diag. ... It's the same with fishing, you got to go where the fish are.

TMD: What do you aim to accomplish with your preaching?

RW: I'm trying to get people to see that the things that they see with their eyeballs, the material things, will come to nothing. Once they cross that line over to eternity, they're going to confront a creator God. They're going to find that all of us have broken one of God's 10 commandments, and accepting Christ is the only way to obtain forgiveness.

TMD: What techniques do you use to communicate your message?

RW: I pass out what I call tracts. The tracts I use, they're eye catching, they're different. ... I've got ones with the Terminator, the Titantic on them. The company has some that are real trendy.

TMD: What are typical reactions to your preaching?

RW: The majority is adverse. I'll get spit at in the face sometimes, I get sworn at, I've even had my life threatened on some campuses. I also get some handshakes and pats on the back, but those are fewer. ... When the traffic slows down on the Diag, I start speaking and I really see people listening.

Once a Jewish student slapped me in the face. He asked me to read a passage in the Bible, and I said "Yes, it's about turning the other cheek," and he slapped me and walked away.

TMD: Does that test your beliefs?

RW: It does, but it reaffirms them.

TMD: What is the most unique experience you've had preaching in Ann Arbor?

RW: Two years ago, my friend and I decided to come to the Naked Mile. We had a banner, and we were careful to stand away so we wouldn't see the nudity. I was saying "You will all stand naked before God someday." This group of guys jumped me and took the banner.

TMD: What is your impression of students at the University?

RW: I find that the higher the academic rating of the school, the more hardened people are against God in general. ... I believe many times at the higher academic schools, students trust in their own intelligence or the finances they or a parent has access to, and they just trust in themselves. I try to point out that these things are fast and fleeting. More so at U of M than the other schools, I find that people think if they don't listen to the preacher that they will go away. They're wrong, we won't go away.

TMD: What do you encounter on the Diag?

RW: Every day you go out you don't know what you're going to face, you just have to be prepared. To the average student, they just see some guy yelling and screaming at them, but they don't see the little fine things that happen.