Outof tHEWreCKI RiseCamilleAnding12 • JULY 2021
Aubrey Prigden finally hit the proverbial wall.He stood before the judge in 1995 and heard the sentence:two years in jail! It really came as no surprise. Aubrey had beenrunning from God most of his life, but God’s grace and seekinghad never stopped.Even when Aubrey owned his ownbar, he was making a lucrative living, buthe began to drink - a lot. It was a DUIthat landed him before the judge. Aubreyhad injured two girls in the wreck, somayhem and aggravated assault wereadded to his crime. “I was broken,” Aubreyadmitted, but didn’t realize that jail waswhere God would mend his broken life.“I was scared, desperate, and knew Ihad hit rock bottom. It was in this statethat I gave my life to the Lord.”The “wreck” of his life didn’t end withthis new life direction. While in jail helost his home, car and everything hehad ever considered his own.Nevertheless, Aubrey began makingfriends with his new family. He remembersRon Pennington, the sheriff, andBryan Bailey, the narcotics investigator,treating him like a man and with respect.He made more friends while being assignedto work in the mechanic shop.“None of the people in the jail environmenttreated me like trash,” Aubrey said.Not only was he making new friends,but he was freed from all his drug andalcohol addictions. He remembers aGideon coming to the jail to share histestimony of how he, too, had beenincarcerated, but Jesus had broken hislife of crime.By the time Aubrey was released in1997, he knew that doing wrong was inhis past. Any future wrecks of life wouldnot be due to his own wrong decisions.However, his new direction in life wasopposite his wife’s, so a divorce endedtheir marriage. A former position as awholesale paper salesman was offeredto him but with a considerable drop inpay. He moved in with his dad, and lifeappeared to be looking up, especiallywhen he met Debbie.In 2002, they were married, beganattending church together but “weweren’t living it,” Aubrey admitted. Afterthey had tried it “their” way, they turnedto Jesus - not just as their Savior but astheir Lord.Life turned positive. Both Aubrey andDebbie were bringing home great wagesand growing spiritually. Aubrey wasinvited to Copiah County jail to ministerand share his testimony. The experiencefelt right. He was being drawn tothe jail ministry.Soon the couple heard some newsfrom Rankin County about “CelebrateRecovery” - a twelve-step program foranyone struggling with hurt, pain, oraddiction. Aubrey sensed his calling!In 2012, Bryan Bailey was the newlyelected sheriff of Rankin County, andthe jail was without a chaplain. Aubreycalled about an interview, and he andDebbie met with Sheriff Bailey. Their oldfriendships were renewed and bothAubrey and Debbie were appointed jailchaplains.Bailey remembers that day withenormous gratitude for what God hasdone through the Prigdens’ ministry.In trying to describe the impact thePrigdens’ lives have meant to RankinCounty, he said, “You ask God for $5 andHe gives you $100.”Kristi Shanks, administrative assistantat the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office,said, “We had situations with some ofthe inmates that called for help that wedidn’t know how to give. When we metwith Aubrey and Debbie, they had thesame burden, but had the vision of howto meet those needs. This husband andwife team did amazing things for thosewho couldn’t help themselves.”Sheriff Bailey realized the CelebrateRecovery program could bridge thegap from the inmates being ministeredto inside the jail, to their walking outHometown RANKIN • 13
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