151 SOPHOMORES Sophomore Andres Chavez was born in Guatemala to missionary parents. He was raised there until the age of 14, when he and his family moved to Costa Rica to continue mission work. When he turned 18, Chavez moved to Richland Center, Wisconsin, to finish his senior year of high school in the United States. In fall 2020, Chavez felt called to a discipleship training school in Tyler, Texas, which allowed him the opportunity to complete two months of outreach work in South Korea. After finishing that program, he moved to Bigsby, Oklahoma, to begin looking for jobs and more opportunities to continue his education. This search led him to Harding where he pursued a degree in theatre with a minor in apparel merchandising. Chavez had a love for performing and dancing. His appreciation for the arts allowed him to share the gospel while he was in South Korea. “Ever since I was young, God always gave me the heart for performing, the arts, dance, acting and all that,” Chavez said. “I found it as an outlet to minister to people because that’s how I connected with a lot of youth.” Chavez found many ways to get involved in performance and dance at Harding. He was approached by the Spring Sing directors from Shantih, Iota Chi and Zeta Pi Zeta to Moving Ministry Sophomore Andres Chavez spreads the Gospel through the performing arts. choreograph and be dance captain for spring 2022, a role he continued in spring 2023. In fall 2022, Chavez was able to start his own dance troupe on campus called Atlas. The group practiced various styles of dance from Korean Pop to Latin. Classes took place on Sunday nights with all students welcome. Sophomore Audrey Curtis was one of the people involved in Atlas. She talked about how she got connected with Chavez’s group. “I met Andy through Spring Sing, and he discovered we had a mutual love for K-pop and dance, mainly hiphop and K-pop choreography,” Curtis said. “Over the summer, he reached out to me asking if I wanted to be a part of a dance group he was starting at Harding that would mainly focus on K-pop, and I immediately said yes because it has been something I have always loved and wanted to do with other people but did not have the opportunity to do.” Chavez described his dance style as urban and influenced by hip-hop. He said that he found those styles to be the best for telling his story and portraying his emotions. Junior Violet Brentham described Chavez’s love for dance. “I think he’s a very passionate dancer,” Brentham said. “That really shines through whenever he dances. You can tell that he loves what he does, and he’s really good at it.” While Chavez was unsure of his exact plans after graduation, he felt called to return to South Korea to use dance as a way of ministry. “I do see myself later in the future possibly moving to South Korea and doing dance ministry with youth and young adults,” Chavez said. “Street ministry is something that I saw very popular in Korea when I was in outreach. That is just how they respond. A lot of young adults and teenagers busk nightly on the streets of Korea to try to earn money for their families, so one way to really connect with them is by bringing dance.” Written by: Ethan Conn PASSIONATE PERFORMER Sophomore Andres Chavez poses for a picture outside of the George S. Benson Auditorium. He enjoyed being a part of the performing arts at Harding in any way possible. Photo by: Lauren Simmons
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