- Baptist Press - https://www.baptistpress.com -

WMU taps first recipients of Acteens scholarship

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TALLADEGA, Ala. (BP)–Young women from Utah, Texas and Alabama were awarded the first-ever Jessica Powell Loftis Scholarship for Acteens during the Jan. 11-15 Woman’s Missionary Union executive board meeting.

Recipients are Hannah Elizabeth Herod of Brigham City, Utah; Zsila Sadighi of Austin, Texas; and Leia Humber of Montgomery, Ala. Each young woman will receive a $500 scholarship.

The Jessica Powell Loftis Scholarship Fund for Acteens was established by WMU in January 1995. Loftis was an Acteen in a Birmingham-area church who, along with her father, was killed in an automobile accident in October 1993. Loftis’ mother and grandparents gave the initial gifts to fund the endowed scholarship. The fund currently totals more than $50,000.

The scholarship is awarded to young women who have demonstrated leadership skills through their involvement in Acteens, the missions organization sponsored by Woman’s Missionary Union for girls in grades seven through 12. Accomplishments and contributions through school and community are also considered.

Herod is a freshman at William Jewell College, Liberty, Mo., where she is a nursing student. She has completed every level of StudiAct, the individual achievement plan for Acteens, and was the first Acteen in the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention to complete Service Aide, a special citation reserved for Acteens 16 years or older. She also was selected last year as one of the first state Acteens panelists in the Utah-Idaho convention. Her parents are Jim and Georgia Herod. Her father is a bivocational pastor, serving at First Baptist Church, Brigham City.

Sadighi is a freshman at Texas A&M University in College Station, where she is studying nursing with an emphasis in neo-natal care. Completing every level of StudiAct, she also has completed the requirements for the State Acteens Citation. In 1996, she served as a Texas Acteens Advisory Panel member and was recognized nationally as a Top Teen, a distinction awarded to 20 Acteens annually. She is a member of Hyde Park Baptist Church and is the daughter of Doris Parker.

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Humber is a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she is studying to be a pediatrician. She too has completed all levels of StudiAct and was named an Alabama State Panel member and Top Teen in 1996. She is a member of Morningview Baptist Church in Montgomery and is the daughter of Roger and Cheryl Humber of Montgomery.

For additional information on the Loftis scholarship fund write: Woman’s Missionary Union Foundation, P.O. Box 11346, Birmingham, AL 35202-1346. Deadline for making application for the next scholarship is Oct. 1, 1997.
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