by Sam Mahtani

Olufemi Oyerinde, affectionately referred to as Femi, is a sophomore international student at Providence Christian College. On your first interaction with this young man, you’ll notice his London (England) accent and you’ll discover his passion for apologetics and Reformed theology. However, there’s much more to his story. Femi’s story is about a life filled with sin and human depravity, but also a story of redemption and a powerful conversion to Christianity by God’s grace.

Born in London in January of 1990, Femi grew up in a nominally Christian family, where attending church was more tradition than faith. At home, the family struggled to be cohesive, so he turned to find his identity in school. Instead, he found a lack of acceptance and was bullied. At the age of 11, his parents divorced, leaving Femi, the oldest of three, living at home with his mother. This pushed him to become envious of those around him and seek identity in others, and finally, in high school, he turned to a life of promiscuity and violence.

Femi looked everywhere in the world for acceptance, identity, and love, and found that nothing appeased his soul. At his breaking point, he looked to Islam as the answer, but found nothing. So he pushed on, arguing endlessly with a friend regarding the validity of Christianity.

My passion is to engage in apologetics and not only defend the Christian faith on an academic level, but to also teach young Christians how to defend their faith against the skeptics of our day.

Four days after his 18th birthday, in the solitude of his bedroom, Femi began to grasp God’s grace, and he converted to Christianity as a real saving faith. And so this becomes a story of passion and zeal for the grace given by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

As Femi began to read and study Scripture, he wrestled with all the theological differences in the church and pushed to find answers in Reformed theology. In the spring of 2014, a simple Google search for undergraduate schools brought up Providence Christian College, and by fall 2014, he was a student on campus.

Fast forward a year later, and Femi is now a resident assistant (RA) for the college, mentoring students as they search for their identity as Christian college students. In his studies, he has come to see the liberal arts as a foundation for defending the faith and engaging in apologetics.

Regarding his education at Providence, he says, “The languages at Providence have benefitted me so much and have equipped me to utilize the original languages of the scriptures to better exegete the text. I have also enjoyed taking Dr. Swanson’s Bible classes, which have added to my apologetic repertoire.”

Femi is preparing to pursue seminary education with a master’s in Biblical or systematic theology. “Most of all,” he says, “I want to further my studies in theology and apologetics for the edification of the church and for Christ Jesus and his kingdom. My passion is to engage in apologetics and not only defend the Christian faith on an academic level, but to also teach young Christians how to defend their faith against the skeptics of our day.”