A North Greenville University student who died Oct. 10 after falling while hiking near a steep waterfall is being remembered by staff and students as a warm and gregarious person who “touched so many for Christ” during his life and in the days following his death.

Brent Elrod, 20, of Piedmont, was a Christian studies major at the university. News of his passing sent shock waves through the tight-knit college community just as students were heading home for fall break.

Six days later, during a Wednesday morning chapel service, campus ministry staffers remembered Elrod and led students in prayer for his family and friends. Following a message by evangelist Tony Nolan, more than 100 students responded publicly, with 31 praying to receive Christ as Savior.

Many who came forward were members of NGU’s football team, prompting a senior on the team to start a locker-room Bible study. (See related story.)

“We saw a harvest day,” said Steve Crouse, vice president for campus ministries. “Brent’s legacy — to live every day to its fullest and to have a right relationship with Christ — continues on.”

Crouse said NGU students and staff are going through the grieving process associated with “losing one of our own.” He said the school has a “good safety net” in place to help students work through their grief, with a 10-person ministry staff and several area pastors who serve as adjunct instructors.

Elrod worked as a residence coordinator at the university and was supervised by NGU staff member Donald Lilly, coordinator for men’s housing. Lilly described Elrod as someone who put people before himself, which made him an “ideal residence coordinator because he truly cared about the guys in his area.”

“You could see he was trying to live out Christ in every aspect of his life,” said Lilly. “He was always willing to give of his time and pray for people.”

Kyle Roberts, a student and close friend of Elrod’s, echoed Lilly’s statement. “Anybody could talk to Brent about anything,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many people would go to him for advice. He would cry with you, laugh with you — he genuinely cared.”

Roberts said Elrod was going to be the best man at his wedding, and that they would talk seriously about things two or three times a week. Roberts said he would “always leave the conversation way more encouraged than when we started. Everything Brent said was Spirit-filled, Spirit-led.”

On the day he died, Elrod, who loved the outdoors, was hiking alone and reading his Bible. Based on Snapchat photo messages he sent to his girlfriend, NGU graduate Nelan Hughes, and to Mark McGuire, pastor of Pathway Church in Powdersville, where Elrod was serving as student pastor, he was reading from the book of Revelation.

When Elrod’s Bible was recovered, one of the verses he had marked that afternoon (along with other verses from chapters 2 and 3) was Revelation 2:10(b): “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”