Skip to content
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Log In
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Log In
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
The Baptist Paper
The Baptist Paper
  • SBC 2025
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your state news
  • Classifieds
  • SBC 2025
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your state news
  • Classifieds

GA woman turns from ‘very dark’ life to serving Christ full time in ministry

  • March 1, 2023
  • Georgia's The Christian Index
  • Church Life, Georgia, Latest News
Debbie Verrelli’s photos reflect the drastic change she has experienced since committing her life to Jesus Christ.
(Photo courtesy of the Christian Index)

GA woman turns from ‘very dark’ life to serving Christ full time in ministry

Debbie Verrelli is among an army of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers who help survivors reclaim their lives and restore their homes after natural disasters strike.

It’s one of the ways the 33-year-old Jonesboro, Georgia, resident serves the Lord who delivered her from a life of drugs, witchcraft and satanism.

“I had been through 16 years of addiction, and I came out with a clean bill of health and able-bodied,” Verrelli said. “I was stronger than I had ever been. I thought, what better way to give back than to use my able body for good.”

Verrelli’s testimony is one of radical transformation from a woman who “never met a drug she didn’t like” to an enthusiastic Christian totally sold out to Jesus.

“The first time I met Debbie was at our OneWay ministry,” said Richie Howard, minister of local ministries & missions at First Baptist Church Jonesboro. “She had dark makeup, dark hair, dark nails and satanic tattoos on her hands.”

After becoming a follower of Christ, Verrelli underwent an unmistakable change — on the outside and the inside.

New creation

“Each time I saw Debbie after that she was blossoming as a new creation in Christ,” Howard recalled. “Someone even helped her get the tattoos removed. Today she is a co-laborer for Christ with myself and my wife Melissa. She faithfully serves daily in full-time ministry, helping women just like she was, and going on mission to wherever God leads.”

After a tornado in Griffin late last year, Verrelli saw Georgia Baptist volunteers swoop in to help with cleanup. She was so impressed, she went through Disaster Relief training the following weekend so she could be part of the ministry that brings help, hope and healing to people hit by nature’s fury.

“It’s just an honor to be able to be part of this work,” Verrelli said.

She also is a counselor in the same First Baptist Jonesboro ministry that helped her get her life on track.

Ricky Thrasher, who oversees chaplaincy training for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, called Verrelli’s life change a testament to the saving power of Jesus.

‘No one is beyond His reach’

“No one is beyond His reach,” Thrasher said. “Hers is an amazing story.”

Verrelli began using drugs at 14, starting with cocaine and Ecstasy and moving on to opioids, meth and heroin by the time she got clean at age 29.

“I didn’t grow up in church,” she noted. “I had always just been very sad and very dark. I had felt drawn to the occult, and I started self-harming at a young age.”

At 15, living a life of rebellion, Verrelli left home and got involved in witchcraft and satanism. As things spiraled downward, she admitted she truly wanted to die.

“My mind was really deteriorating,” she said. “I was making a lot of bad decisions.”

‘I was not a victim’

Verrelli ended up all alone, living on the streets. At her lowest, she said she didn’t even own a pair of shoes.

“I thought, I’m almost 30, what am I doing with my life,” she recalled. “Up until this point, I never believed in God. I knew the dark spiritual things of this world were real because I had encountered them, but I had never encountered God. I was just really lost and confused.”

With no place to live, Verrelli surrendered to police on outstanding warrants and went to jail. She was put in solitary confinement where she took inventory of her life.

“It was like I had this major epiphany that my life was the sum total of every single choice I had ever made,” she related. “I had never been arrested for anything I didn’t do. I was not a victim. I was making all these choices. It was my fault. That just really humbled me.”

Verrelli asked to go to a worship service in the jail, not because she was interested in church but because she was desperate to escape the boredom of solitary, if only briefly.

“This woman starts singing this song that said, ‘Lord, break these chains,’” Verrelli remembered. “I began to just sob. I really didn’t understand why I was crying, but I could not stop. Everybody is just staring at me. This voice was saying you should get saved, but I didn’t even know what that meant. This woman leading this worship service gives me a hug and tells me that one day I’ll thank God every day that I’m alive. I said, ‘Every day?’ She said, ‘Every day.’”

In solitary, Verrelli wasn’t allowed to have any possessions except a Bible.

“So I asked for a Bible, and they gave it to me.”

Verrelli said she was amazed to find answers to her deepest questions in that Bible.

‘Nothing has been the same’

When she was released from jail she got involved with a discipleship class, even though she still had doubts about God. The woman who led the group helped guide her journey to Christ.

“I told her my soul was tired, that I was willing to try anything at this point, because I had tried everything else,” Verrelli recalled. “Sure enough, God started revealing Himself to me. I started asking Him to give me a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone.”

After much prayer and Bible study, Verrelli knew she finally was open.

“I understood that I had a sin problem and that Jesus was the solution to that problem,” she said. “I gave my life to Jesus, and nothing has been the same since.”


EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Roger Alford and originally published by the Christian Index.

Share with others:

Facebook
X/Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Latest News

  • Texas tragedy coverage offers opportunities to minister, serve
    Texas tragedy coverage offers opportunities to minister, serve
    July 10, 2025/
    0 Comments
  • Serving through Disaster Relief: One trip was all it took
    Serving through Disaster Relief: One trip was all it took
    July 10, 2025/
    0 Comments
  • Baptist DR teams providing ‘a little bit of hope’ as TX flooding death toll rises
    Baptist DR teams providing ‘a little bit of hope’ as TX flooding death toll rises
    July 9, 2025/
    0 Comments

Sign up for the Highlights

Get all latest content delivered to your email a few times a month.
Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

Related Posts

Texas tragedy coverage offers opportunities to minister, serve

Not only am I a journalist, but also a Baptist journalist. And I have spent the better part of my career with people, hearing their stories and sharing what God is doing in the world around us.

Serving through Disaster Relief: One trip was all it took

“We found Disaster Relief to be a great organization,” said Johnie Alden.  

Baptist DR teams providing ‘a little bit of hope’ as TX flooding death toll rises

As of Wednesday morning (July 9), the latest death toll from the horrific flash flooding in Central Texas had risen at least 119, with at least 150 people still missing, mostly in Kerr County, according to the latest media reports.

IRS: Churches can endorse political candidates

For years, conservative legal groups have argued that an IRS rule barring churches from endorsing candidates was unconstitutional.

Want to receive news highlights throughout the week? Sign up here!

Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

About

  • Our Story
  • Our Team
  • Our Partners
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Contact us
  • Our Story
  • Our Team
  • Our Partners
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Contact us

Explore

  • State-specific news
  • Archive
  • Opinion pieces
  • Sunday School lessons
  • Persecuted Church
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • State-specific news
  • Archive
  • Opinion pieces
  • Sunday School lessons
  • Persecuted Church
  • Podcasts
  • Videos

Submissions

  • Story suggestions
  • Your Voice/Letter to the Editor
  • Photos / Videos
  • Corrections/other
  • Submission Policy
  • Story suggestions
  • Your Voice/Letter to the Editor
  • Photos / Videos
  • Corrections/other
  • Submission Policy

Subscribe

  • Subscribe
  • Renew subscription
  • Gift a subscription
  • Start a new member subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Request free trial
  • Subscribe
  • Renew subscription
  • Gift a subscription
  • Start a new member subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Request free trial
The Baptist Paper
Address:
3310 Independence Dr.
Birmingham, AL 35209
Copyright © 2025 TAB Media Group
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ

Email:
news@thebaptistpaper.org

About

  • Our Team
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Donate
  • Photo Galleries
  • Contact us
  • Hosted Church
  • Our Team
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Donate
  • Photo Galleries
  • Contact us
  • Hosted Church

Explore

  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your State News
  • Persecuted Church
  • Editorials
  • Opinions
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Archive
  • Submit your news
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your State News
  • Persecuted Church
  • Editorials
  • Opinions
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Archive
  • Submit your news

Subscribe

  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Subscribe
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Subscribe
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate

Log Out?

Lost your password?

Log In

Lost your password?

Log in

Become a part of our community!
Forgot your password? Get help
Privacy/Terms of Use

Reset password

Recover your password
A password reset link will be e-mailed to you.
Privacy/Terms of Use
Back to
Login
×
Close Panel