Segue student centre helps students find purpose


Renee Joette Friesen Special to ChristianWeek


WINNIPEG, MB—Tammy Jungh ans went back to school last year, but she’s not in any hurry to get her degree. For the mother of four, becoming a university student had more to do with ministering to young adults than getting an education. Junghans is taking just one


course a year at the University of Manitoba. Outside of long-term plans to graduate, her goal to set up a student centre was realized short- ly aſter she began her studies. “My heart was breaking for


young adults who have no focus or purpose. Te hopelessness and despair I’ve seen in students when they’re not making good choices compelled me to invest in them,” Junghans explains. Citing statistics from LifeWay


Research in the U.S., she says 60 to 90 per cent of young adults walk away from the Church. Te things students hear in class


is taught with such conviction that it sounds like truth, Junghans says. “Tey are Christian bubble kids


Tribute


Gerald Vandezande: A prophetic presence Politician Bill Blaikie remembers his friend and Christian colleague


Bill Blaikie Special to ChristianWeek


W


hen I read of the death of Gerald Vandezande


(ChristianWeek, August 2011), I regretted not knowing that my old friend and Christian colleague in justice advocacy had leſt us in July. But I was not surprised. I


was aware of the precarious state of his health and recall a conversation with him about how grateful he was to have outlived expectations and to have been able to keep making a contribution. Gratitude is certainly what comes to mind when I think of Gerald Vandezande and the discerning Christian voice he brought to dialogue about public policy and the role of religion in public life. Although Gerald started out


within a particular Christian tradition (as we all generally


do), and although that tradition remained a source of inspiration and anchoring for him all his life, he had the important spiritual giſt of being able to appreciate the contributions of other denominations. He had the rare ability to see


the good in them and engage them in a challenging but non- judgmental way with a view to reconciliation and joint action on issues like poverty, the environment, aboriginal rights and nuclear disarmament. I valued the opportunity


to encounter the Christian Reformed tradition Gerald represented, as I had with another old friend and colleague from that tradition that we also lost this year, Rev. Henk de Bruyn of Winnipeg. In his 1983 book Christians


in the Crisis, Gerald talked about the need for alternatives to “the materialistic ideologies of


Marxism and capitalism.” By the time of his 1999 book,


Justice, Not Just Us, he was focused on the destructive power of a triumphant capitalism within which corporate interests sought through various agreements to “demand that there be no restrictions on their plans to dominate the global markets in order to enrich themselves and their shareholders.” His critique of the spirit of


the age—which he described as a reductionist view that led to relativism and cynicism as well as rampant consumerism and materialism—still sounds painfully accurate. Gerald had a great respect


for the social gospel tradition of the Canadian political leſt. He was an admirer and friend of Tommy Douglas and a source of wise counsel and support to many of us in that tradition. He visited me many times during the


almost 30 years I was a Member of Parliament. Because I knew Gerald was


a person of great spiritual, intellectual and political independence, it was always a great comfort to me to know that he approved of what he called my


”prophetic presence” in the House of Commons. It meant a great deal to me. But the real prophetic presence


was Gerald himself, calling on believers to search our respective minds, hearts, and religious traditions for ways to integrate our faith and politics in a way that makes “justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.”


Bill Blaikie is an ordained minister of the United Church of Canada who recently served as an MLA and cabinet minister in Manitoba. From 1979 to


2008 he was an NDP Member of Parliament. His long career in Ottawa included a three-year stint as deputy speaker of the House of Commons.


• November 01, 2011 • 21


and [when they come to univer- sity] the bubble is popped. Tey need to have someone there to talk to when they get confused.” Junghans’ group, Segue (www.


segueuofm.com), is support- ed by Mission Canada with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, and provides a campus venue for students to come to. Segue offers Christian students


encouragement both in an out of the academic setting. “We encour- age them to be involved in the local church. It’s to not be so busy on campus; these kids need to know where they come from,” Junghans says, adding that being plugged into a local church is vital. But Segue is as much about


reaching out to the secular com- munity on campus as it is about helping kids with Christian back- grounds. By organizing events cen- tred on social justice, Segue helps create awareness about issues that bridge the divide between secular and Christian ideologies. Last year, Segue hosted a design


contest where the winner got to put their design on a pair of TOMS


with International Justice Mission, a human rights agency that rescues victims of slavery, sexual exploita- tion and other violent oppression. A 10 foot by 6 foot canvas is being


Tammy Junghans says the Segue student centre at the University of Manitoba is not a church group, but a community on campus that reaches out to everyone.


Shoes—a company that matches every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes for a child in need. Segue partnered with a stu- dent-based art group, bringing vastly different people together in a way Junghans calls “miraculous.” Segue is again aiming to unite


students in a common cause to raise awareness about human trafficking through a year-long fundraising effort called Freedom 10 x 6. “We want to bring freedom and


hope to 10 victims of trafficking,” Junghans says of the plan to raise $10,000 to free 10 people trapped by trafficking. Segue is partnering


posted at various locations on cam- pus for people to place their hand- prints. Te huge montage will allow students to put their personal iden- tity on the issue of human trafficking and “tangibly identify with victims.” Another design contest through


Freesetglobal.com will allow stu- dents to submit a design to have screened onto a Fair Trade bag made by women who have been freed from the sex trade in Kolkata, India. “We will give the designs back to the women,” Junghans says of the awareness campaign. Students are also being encouraged to sign a petition against human trafficking. In addition to running Segue


and orchestrating campus-wide events, Junghans offers free life coaching services on campus, help- ing students set achievable goals. “Tese students are world


changers, but they have things tying them down in life. I love see- ing the changes that can happen.”


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