Nik Belanger

Name: Nik Belanger

Major: Government and French/Francophone Studies

Hometown: Lafayette, Louisiana (near the bayou...not exactly on it, though)

Service Involvement(s): I'm most involved in the International Justice Mission, a Christian human rights and social justice organization seeking to merge the Christian, service, and advocacy communities for the purpose of unifying social justice/action and the Christian faith (that's the blurb on our blog). Through IJM, I'm working on the affordable housing campaign in Williamsburg, which is spearheaded by the Virginia Organizing Project. I'm also a member of CKI, a tutor at Rita Welsh and a SafeZone facilitator. As far as ISTs go, a friend of mine and I took a semi-spontaneous unofficial service trip to Monterrey, Mexico, over winter break via Greyhound bus from New Orleans--and ended up working and celebrating New Years at a homeless shelter. For what's left of the summer, I'm working back home at a community health care clinic as their volunteer administrative assistant.

Favorite Books: The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne; The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene.

Some words: My real passion is for instilling a heart for the poor and marginalized in communities and individuals of faith. My personal faith and social convictions have become pretty interwoven--especially since coming to school--, and the two have begun to grow together. Specifically, I'm fascinated by Biblical calls for economic redistribution and social equality...and what that means for the modern Church in America. Thanks to IJM, I've been able to meet people who've helped me develop some of these ideas, and I'm always looking for ways to take them a step further.