Segue helps searching students become world-changers
WINNIPEG, MB - Tammy Junghans 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 shortly after she began her studies.
"My heart was breaking for young adults who have no focus or purpose. The 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.
The things students hear in class is taught with such conviction that it sounds like truth, Junghans says. "They are Christian bubble kids and [when they come to university] the bubble is popped. They need to have someone there to talk to when they get confused."
Junghans' group, Segue, is supported 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 encourage 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 community on campus as it is about helping kids with Christian backgrounds. By organizing events centred 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 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 student-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 with International Justice Mission, a human rights agency that rescues victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other violent oppression.
A 10 x 6 foot canvas is being posted at various locations on campus for people to place their handprints. The huge montage will allow students to put their personal identity on the issue of human trafficking and "tangibly identify with victims."
Another design contest through Freesetglobal.com will allow students 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, helping students set achievable goals.
"These students are world changers, but they have things tying them down in life. I love seeing the changes that can happen."
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