By Kasey Ricketts, student news writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Dr. Wayne Barnard, director of student ministries for the International Justice Mission (IJM), will speak at the upcoming Kentucky Heartland Institute on Public Policy (KHIPP) event “International Justice Mission Forum” in the Banquet Hall of the Badgett Academic Support Center at 110 University Drive, on Tuesday, Oct. 29 starting at 5 p.m.
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Barnard will also be giving a presentation on human rights issues from a Biblical perspective at chapel on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 10 a.m. in the Ransdell Chapel, 401 N. Hoskins Ave., Campbellsville.
Everyone is welcome to attend both events free of charge.
IJM is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IMJ lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local governments to ensure victim rescue, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems.
As the director for student ministries, it is Barnard’s duty to provide leadership for IJM education initiatives to mobilize students in kindergarten through college in the work of justice. His duties include building and supporting model IJM campus chapters, strategizing expansion of student programs and developing relationships with Christian student ministry organizations.
“Wayne Barnard will provide insight into the important work of the International Justice Mission and share with us some of the startling statistics and facts about the global problem of human trafficking and slavery,” John Chowning, vice president for church and external relations and executive assistant to the president, said.
Chowning, founder of KHIPP, said, “More than 25,000,000 people around the world are held in slavery today, and human trafficking and related issues are increasing at alarming rates.”
Chowning said the International Justice Mission is an organization that works to rescue people from these terrible situations and also seeks to educate the public on these matters.
“These problems require more widespread education and attention,” he said.
Barnard holds a bachelor of arts in theology from Abilene Christian University. He has a master of arts in marriage and family therapy from St. Mary’s University and earned his Ph.D. in family studies with a concentration in lifespan human development and college student development from Texas Woman’s University.
Barnard has been doing ministry for over 25 years: serving as a pastor, a prison chaplain, a youth and family minister and counselor and a guidance and spiritual counselor.
He has traveled extensively all over the United States and to more than 45 countries on five continents, primarily leading university and church short-term missions.
He recently returned from a one-year appointment in Beijing where he guest lectured at Peking University and taught philosophy and psychology at the International Academy of Beijing.
Barnard also completed a six-month appointment as faculty-in-residence in Oxford, England.
Barnard has served on boards for Habitat for Humanity and Harmony Outreach.
He and his wife, Dr. Mimi Barnard, vice president for professional development and research for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, live in Washington, D.C. They have a daughter and son. Their daughter is a graduate student at New York University and their son is a senior political/international relations major and is former president of the IJM campus chapter at Abilene Christian University.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master’s degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.