 He then left Africa to begin doctoral studies at the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World in Edinburgh, Scotland.After completing his doctoral work, Nikkel served as an advisor to several Sudanese Anglican dioceses, working in partnership with the Church Missionary Society of England and the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. His primary work was in theological education among the Dinka people of the Nile basin in South Sudan.In Kenya, Marc Nikkel also co-founded Kakuma Refugee Camp with Bishop Nathanael Garang of Bor Diocese, South Sudan.