Hi! My name is Benji Nicholas, and I will be in Arequipa for the next year as an apprentice with Team Arequipa. To let you know a little bit about myself, I was a missionary kid in Kenya from the time I was born until I was 13, and my parents were there 18 years total. We moved in 2008 to Jackson, TN where they still live and are members of the Campbell Street Church of Christ, my home congregation that is partially supporting me this year.

This past May I graduated from Harding University with a degree in Bible/Missions and Spanish. After this year, I plan to be a full-time student at Harding School of Theology, pursuing a Masters of Divinity. In my desires to be a long-term missionary in the future, I see this time as an extension of my learning experience, but as a more practical time placed between undergraduate and graduate school. I will have many more opportunities to interact with people, rather than just continue classes and gain book-knowledge, and it will allow me to have a better idea of how graduate school will help with my overall goals.

My time here will be spent primarily as a learner: learning language and culture, learning more about how Team Arequipa approaches ministry here, learning how to live and build relationships in an urban Latin American setting, and learning how to share my faith in that context. I am extremely blessed and grateful for the chance to work with Team Arequipa, and I am excited for the opportunities for growth I will have in the coming months.

You can read more from Benji on his blog.