Having spent over a decade behind bars, coupled with a long history of drug abuse, a seminary student, Keanon Hurst is perhaps one of the last people you would expect to find on Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s campus let alone behind a pulpit.

A native of eastern Nebraska, Hurst describes himself in childhood as “the outcast who would do and say things to just get attention.”

“It was obvious from a young age I was headed down the wrong path,” he said.

However, it wasn’t until November 1991, that Hurst’s life would completely change.

“When I was 12 years old, I was in a bad hunting accident, and I shot myself in the left leg,” he said. “I remember my dad cut open my overalls, put a tourniquet on my leg, and carried me to my grandma’s house for over a mile on his shoulder. From there I was rushed to the hospital.”

While at the hospital, Hurst explained how he quickly became addicted to the morphine the doctors were administering to him for the pain in his leg.

“They gave me this little morphine clicker, where once an hour I could administer morphine to myself because I had the button,” he said.

“At 12 years old I was introduced to drugs before I even knew what drugs really were,” he noted. “From that point on I was off to the races. When the doctors would come into the room, I would click the button; when my parents came in, and I didn’t want to talk to them, I would click the button. Looking back, I found myself hitting the button just to hit the button…. There I was, 12 years old abusing drugs.”

At the age of 14, Hurst’s doctors refused to give him any more morphine, at which point he quickly transitioned to alcohol and marijuana.

“At that point, I was already an outcast and just a bad kid, and it was only getting worse,” he said. “By 15 I was introduced to meth, which quickly became my drug of choice. And by 17 I had dropped out of high school.”

On his 18th birthday, Hurst was arrested for the possession of illegal drugs and forgery.

“I was sent to prison for the first time at 18. It was like a badge of honor for me. As soon as I got out, I went right back to what I was doing meth and alcohol,” he said.

It wasn’t until his fifth prison sentence at the age of 35 that Hurst’s life would completely change.

“At the beginning of my fifth sentence I remember hearing calls for a Bible study in the prison,” he said. “I only started going because the guy in the cell with me was loud and obnoxious. When I started going, they were studying Acts 2.”

Hurst explained that while going to the Bible study, the pastor who taught the lessons, was faithful to share the gospel at each meeting.

“By the time we got to Acts 16, the part about the Philippian jailor, I started asking him all these questions about faith and repentance,” he said. “Pastor Herb was patient with me and took me to Scripture to show me the gospel.”

It was during this conversation in 2015 that Hurst decided to follow Christ as Lord and Savior.

Hurst spent a year at the mission where he gained a good Christian foundation and was taught how to be a man.

“They taught me how to go work, pay my bills and just do things that I had never done before because I was always living off of everyone else,” he said.

Once Hurst graduated from the mission in late 2016, he decided to pursue counseling to help those also suffering from drug and alcohol abuse.

However, Hurst explained how the Lord made it clear that he wasn’t supposed to pursue counseling but rather ministry, specifically theological education. The only question was: where?

It was during this time that Hurst met his future wife, Ruth.

After they got married, the Hursts decided to come to Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary so Hurst could be better equipped for ministry.

“We came here so we could learn more about the Bible and what faithful Christian ministry looks like,” he said.

“I’m currently an accelerate student, which means I’m studying to get both my undergraduate degree as well as my M.Div. in five years. Lord willing, I should graduate next May.”