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Woman establishes scholarship to honor deceased fiancé
March 21, 2005
By David Roach

Andrea Hurdle is pictured with her late fiancé, Kevin Todd. Hurdle established a scholarship in Todd's name after he died three weeks before their wedding in 2002. Todd had planned to study at Southern Seminary.

It was the summer of 2002, and life seemed to be working out perfectly for Andrea Hurdle.

A recent graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Hurdle planned to marry her fiancé Kevin Todd in July and travel with him to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he would begin studying in the fall of 2003.

Todd had been diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer several years earlier, but with regular treatments, doctors expected the Mississippi native to carry out his call to pastoral ministry for many years.

Then tragedy struck three weeks before the wedding as Hurdle and Todd visited relatives in Alabama. Todd went into cardiac arrest due to an undetected heart condition and died after a week in intensive care.

"We were so close to being married that I almost felt like a widow," Hurdle said. "I knew God had led me to him, and I knew He had led him to me. And that's what I felt was right. But I know that God's plan is much better than my plan, that He's in control and He's sovereign."

Todd's death was particularly difficult to accept because of his obvious passion for ministry and potential to impact lives for the Kingdom of God, Hurdle said. Todd's potential for ministry became particularly apparent through his work teaching an adult Sunday school class and engaging in personal evangelism, she said.

"A lot of people saw his testimony and faith through [his battle with cancer] because through everything that he had to deal with, he never let it get him down," she said. "... His faith was just strong, and I think everyone could see that."

As Hurdle searched for a way to honor Todd, God turned her mind to Southern Seminary.

"I began praying for a way to honor Kevin but to also glorify God and show Kevin's passion for Christ," she said. "And we began searching for what we were going to do, and it immediately came to my mind that we should call Southern Seminary and see what could be done there."

After conferring with seminary administrators, Hurdle established the Kevin M. Todd Memorial Scholarship Fund to assist men from Mississippi who are studying for the pastorate at Southern.

"We decided that we were going to start a scholarship fund," Hurdle said. "We just knew that was the best place to send the money just because of all the lives that could be touched."

The scholarship was funded by donations from Todd's friends and family and by proceeds from a series of benefit concerts organized by Hurdle. Beginning in 2006 the scholarship will be awarded annually to a student or students from Mississippi studying for the pastorate at Southern Seminary.

"In our culture, often a scholarship is just a scholarship," said Russell D. Moore, Southern's senior vice president for academic administration and dean of the School of Theology, himself a Mississippi native. "It helps one man or woman get an education, sometimes changing the life of a family but only rarely changing the life of the world. The Kevin Todd Memorial Scholarship is different.

"This scholarship equips a Mississippian to do battle with the powers of this dark age for the glory of Jesus Christ. This scholarship then fuels the passion of a young pastor who will proclaim to thousands, maybe millions, the Gospel of the Kingdom."

Hurdle, who now lives in Nashville, Tenn., and works for LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, says dealing with such difficult circumstances enabled her to minister to others experiencing trials.

"My passion right now is to encourage those people who are going through hard times and just let them know that there's hope," she said.

 

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