Doug Averett grew up in a rough environment. When his dad drank he would get pretty mean, and Averett was sexually abused when he was eight years old.
He kept the abuse a secret and by the time he was a teenager he was doing drugs.
Jump ahead several years to after Averett married his wife, Conni. She was a believer in and follower of Jesus Christ; he wasn’t but she prayed fervently for him to be saved.
Averett “gave in” and joined a motorcycle ministry at one point but his participation didn’t last long.
After leaving a bar one night he ended up in a horrific motorcycle accident that resulted in him flatlining three times. But even that experience didn’t change him.
A church event did, however.
It was the October 2011 Judgement House at Zion Community Baptist Church, Gordo, in Sipsey Baptist Association that finally made the difference for Averett.
Not only did he find Jesus at the event but he also went on to become a dedicated member of the church. And the 2014 Judgement House storyline focused on his life’s story.
“[Doug] accepted Christ at Judgement House and from that point on he was always at church,” Pastor Mike Skelton said. “He was living about 40 miles away but he drove to church every Sunday morning, many Sunday evenings and every Wednesday night.”
Eventually Averett relocated and now lives in a home that’s “just a stone’s throw” from the church.
Something about Averett’s story touched Zion Baptist member Jennifer Driver, who plans and coordinates the church’s Judgement House each year.
Personal testimony
“Every year as soon as [Judgement House] is over the Lord will start dealing with me, showing me new situations to use, but after 2013 I told my team I didn’t know what we were going to do the next year,” Driver recalled. “Time moved on and the Lord quickened my spirit to ask Doug Averett to pray about using his testimony for this year’s Judgement House. I knew this would be something like we had never done before.”
Averett agreed and events from his life were depicted in the three-day outreach event — One Man’s Redemption — that took place Halloween weekend.
“This year six people were saved as a result and lives were changed and hearts were touched,” Driver said. “It was worth it. That’s our goal every year, that if we just save one soul it’s worth it.”
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