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A past behind bars shapes a mission of redemption
HARTINGTON — Five days a week, David Badley drives thousands of miles to jails and prisons across Nebraska and neighboring states, carrying a message forged during his own time behind bars: redemption is possible, and the past does not have to define the future.
Badley, who lives in Laurel, is the founder of EPIC Ministry Inc. — Everything Possible in Christ — a faith-based outreach that serves jails, prisons and recovering individuals throughout Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota.
His journey into ministry was shaped by a troubled past and a turning point that came while incarcerated.
Raised on the streets of Oakland, Calif., Badley said his life took a dramatic turn in 2008, when he was serving time in jail and shared a cell with a Christian.
“That incarceration set me on a path,” Badley said. “I didn’t know it at the time, but God was already working.”
After his release, Badley moved to Southern California, where he said he experienced a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ during National Prayer Day in 2011.
“It was in a high school gym when I heard Jesus say, ‘When I accept you into the Kingdom, all is forgiven,’” Badley said. “I told Him, ‘What used to be me now belongs to You, Lord Jesus.’” Later that year, Badley joined a mission trip organized by the church he was attending in El Centro, Calif., to assist with disaster relief following the devastating EF-5 tornado that struck Joplin, Mo., May 22, 2011. While serving at Calvary Chapel in Joplin, he met Diana, an Allen, Neb., native who was also volunteering in the tornado’s aftermath. The two later married.
In 2015, Badley was ordained through Calvary Chapel in Joplin and sent to Nebraska so the couple could be closer to Diana’s family. They settled in Laurel, where EPIC Youth Ministry was formed shortly thereafter.
What began as a community-wide youth group has since expanded into a regional prison and jail ministry.
“The jail ministry is second nature to me,” Badley said. “I can walk into a jail and nothing surprises or bothers me. Getting patted down, the environment — I’ve lived it.”
Today, Badley spends two days each week visiting prisons and three days visiting county jails, traveling roughly 4,500 miles a month between five jails and five prisons. His farthest regular trip takes him to Lincoln.
Often, the call that sends him into his next outreach comes not from an inmate, but from a worried family member.
“I’ll get a call from a mother whose son was pulled over for a DUI and can’t stop drinking,” Badley said. “She’ll be pleading, ‘Please go see him.’ I’ll explain how to put my name on the clergy list, and I’ll go in. God sends me into the darkness, and the light of Christ does the work. I just get to be the messenger.”
While David works in the prisons, Diana is active in women’s ministry, helping families rebuild relationships and heal after addiction and incarceration.
“She helps reunite husbands and wives and reconnect parents with their children,” Badley said. “It’s about putting the bottle or pipe away and becoming whole as a family.”
The couple are the parents of three children, ages 10, 12 and nearly 13, and maintaining balance between ministry and family remains a priority.
“I am a father and a husband first,” Badley said. “I didn’t want to raise a family in Oakland. I don’t want my kids or my wife to someday need counseling because I worked too much and wasn’t present for them.”
Evenings are reserved for family time once the children are home from school.
“We don’t like titles,” Badley said. “Other than Mama and Daddy.”
In October, EPIC Ministry began hosting a Celebrate Recovery program, a faith-based 12-step aftercare program, at the Evangelical Church in Concord.
The meetings are held Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m.
“The aftercare program helps people find employment, housing and positive role models,” Badley said. “With a felony on their record, finding work can be extremely difficult. A strong support system makes all the difference.”
Standing 6 feet tall and weighing about 210 pounds, Badley is heavily tattooed and said he understands what it feels like to be judged based on appearance.
“When you see someone who looks like me walk into your church, please welcome them,” he said. “Look into their eyes and see their heart. People need love. The church is where we go to be healed and forgiven.”
Badley encourages people to extend grace to those who may be struggling.
“Recovery, redemption and forgiveness are real,” he said. “Jesus died to redeem all of us. Our past doesn’t get to define us anymore.”
Those interested in learning more about EPIC Ministry Inc. or getting involved may contact the organization at (402) 518-1391 or [email protected]
