KANSAS CITY, Mo. (MBTS) – Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College are mourning the death of Benjamin Speidel, an incoming student at Spurgeon College.
The son of Peter and Maria Speidel, Benjamin Speidel unexpectedly collapsed on Saturday, Aug. 15, while participating in missions training week and, after being transferred to a local hospital, passed away.
“This comes as a tragic, traumatic event for all of us, especially for the Speidel family and those students and staff in closest proximity to Ben,” said President Jason K. Allen. “By all accounts, he was a promising young man who loved the Lord. As a father of three college-aged students, I simply cannot imagine what the Speidel family is enduring. I covet your prayers for them and for the campus community as a whole.”
Following the tragedy, seminary leadership communicated with students and families and began providing care and support for those most directly affected. Counselors were made available over the weekend to students and others impacted by Speidel’s passing and continue to be accessible.
Speidel was an active member at Lenexa Baptist Church alongside his family, where he participated in the church’s Senior Challenge program for graduating seniors. Through the program, students spend part of their spring semester studying major life topics with Pastor Chad McDonald as they learn to study, explain, and defend a biblical worldview in ways that are practical and evangelistic.
“I had the pleasure of getting to know Speidel this last year through our Senior Challenge program,” said McDonald. “For eight weeks this spring, Ben would show up in the evening along with several other fellow seniors to be challenged through the Word. His love and commitment to Christ was obvious. He wanted to give his life in service to Christ and see others find the hope of the gospel. He claimed Christ and lived Christ. We have no doubt about where Ben is today. He is with Jesus. His faith has become sight.”
Speidel’s friends and classmates likewise remembered his outstanding character and eagerness to serve others, qualities they saw as inseparable from his zeal for the gospel.
“Ben was a true servant leader,” said his friend, Hannah K. “Earlier that day, he was leading the way on our hike, clearing out the spider webs for everyone else. He truly considered others more significant than himself. I will really miss Ben.”
Others recalled Speidel’s thankfulness and humility, as well as the passion with which he spoke about Christ. Stephen W., who first got to know Ben through phone calls before meeting him in person, remembered watching Ben explain the gospel with “such a passion for the Lord and a passion for the lost,” a quality Jaedon W. also remembered in Ben.
Gavin W. similarly remembered Speidel’s desire to serve others and his eagerness to be used by God. “All he wanted to do in life was to be used by God in whatever way God had for him,” Gavin said.
Andrew H. also recalled a conversation with Speidel late one evening during the training week. “My last conversation with Ben Speidel will stay with me for the rest of my life. I think it encompasses who he was and what he was about. After hearing teaching about the reality of hell that day, he told me that it was weighing on his mind. He recognized that he had something not everyone had, and he desired to see others accept that gift as well.”
“Ben looked at me that night, and when prompted with what he was going to do with what he had learned, he simply replied, ‘I’m on fire,’” recalled Andrew. “He was eager to go into the world and share the light Christ had given him. That’s how I remember Ben. Someone eager to go forth and make Christ known.”
On Sunday morning, following the announcement of Speidel’s passing, McDonald led Lenexa Baptist Church in prayer as the congregation grieved with the Speidel family and gave thanks for Ben’s life and testimony.
The seminary and college communities continue to grieve alongside the Speidel family and are praying for them during this difficult season.
“I am deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Benjamin Speidel,” said Sam Bierig, dean of Spurgeon College. “I grieve for his parents and siblings, and, as a parent, cannot imagine what the Speidel family is going through as they have lost their son. This is, of course, a great blow to our mission teams and the whole Spurgeon College community. His presence and passion for the Great Commission will be greatly missed.”
In a letter addressed to the seminary and college community, Allen called for continued prayer for the Speidel family and all those affected by the loss.
“At times we struggle to understand God’s perfect will in human affairs. This is one of those times,” Allen said. “Please pray we, and especially the Speidel family, will experience the matchless grace of God and sense the unmistakable ministry of the Holy Spirit in our midst in the season ahead.”
