Couple Separated by Evil Until Christ Redeemed!

Danya shares, “Choosing to date guys that were selling drugs and, and dealing. I think that was just exciting to me.”

When Danya Dodd met Zach in drug court in 2016, their paths had already been scarred by addiction and brokenness. Danya was raised in a loving Christian home, yet she struggled with untreated bi-polar disorder. In her search for relief, she turned to reckless relationships and eventually, drugs.

Danya remembers, “When I did drugs the first time my brain said yes, give me more of this. I was in so much pain emotionally and physically and mentally that, doing drugs made me feel better.”

Danya’s choices spiraled into a heroin addiction, and multiple arrests. By 26, she had two children, had lost custody of her daughter, and was facing new charges related to her drug use. Zach’s life was equally marked by violence, and a “bad boy” reputation.

Zach says, “From the ages of 12 to 30 I was incarcerated more than I was free. I didn’t have any goals or aspirations. I just lived in the moment.”

Zach grew up in a home marked by chaos and substance abuse, which left him longing for acceptance. At 12, he turned to alcohol, marijuana, and pills setting him on a destructive path. His life soon spiraled into gangs, guns and prison.

Zach shares, “ I became a man inside of the penitentiary. I didn't know how to be a man in the free world. There's a gun up here and it has a bullet hole by it that says brain dead because that's how I felt like I would just get high.  I was trying to escape the pain that I had caused myself.”

At 18, Zach’s darkest moment came when his infant son died.

Zach says, “I just spiraled down so deep using the heroin, and eventually I ended up going to prison for that too. I went in a heroin addict and left a meth addict. 'cause there was so much meth inside the prison. So I started selling 'em here where I live and that's what my life was just selling and using drugs.”

No matter how far their paths took them, they stayed in touch. By now, Danya had regained custody of her daughter. After an abusive marriage and a relapse, Danya and her two children moved in with Zach. They married, continued using drugs, and had a child together but soon lost custody of all their children after an arrest for neglect. Danya was bonded out by her parents, while Zach now faced thirty-two years in prison. After a fight, he was sent to solitary confinement where he discovered a church podcast that would change his life.

Zach remembers, “I just felt that that sense of peace and the, the presence of, um, love around me. I realized in that moment that I had God's love that whole time and that that filled that void that I was trying to fill and I just broke down. And, I just hit my knees and apologized to God because I knew the lifestyle that I lived was hurting him. And I repented for my sins and, and I told God that I wanted to live for him. I begged him to take the drug cravings away from me and He did. After I had the encounter with God, I felt free. I felt so much lighter.”

Zach began sharing his faith with other inmates and even started a prayer group. He also called Danya to tell her about the change God had begun in him.

Danya says, “I could tell by Zach's voice that something was different and that gave me hope. I went to rehab, um, while he was in jail and started praying a little bit and talking to God and I just kind of got a sense of peace that no matter what would happen, that we were gonna be okay.”

After serving nine months, Zach was released with five years of probation.

Zach says, “When I walked out of that jail, I was just thinking how good God is because I knew this was nothing that I had done.”

Now free from addiction, they began going to church where one Sunday, Danya gave her life to God.

Danya remembers, “I just started crying. My hands was lifted up, and I just surrendered my will and my life over to God. I told 'em, I didn't know, you know, how to have a relationship with Him, but I wanted to learn and I was gonna do everything that I could to be a good wife and a good mother. I've never been good at forgiving myself, Jesus telling me like, you're already forgiven. God filled a hole in my heart that I had been searching for to fill my whole life.”

God healed Danya of her bi-polar disorder. The couple publicly declared their faith by getting baptized. Soon after, they regained full custody of their children and later had another daughter.

Danya says, “He's just answered so many prayers and our life is beautiful.”

Today, Zach and Danya work full-time in recovery ministry. They also started a non-profit organization called, ‘in His image,’ reaching others trapped in drug addiction. Zach is also a Christian rapper, touring across the U.S. where he uses his gift of music as a declaration that the light of Christ is stronger than any battle we can face.

Zach says, “During these events that I have been performing at I have seen a lot of people give their lives to Jesus. It’s just been an amazing journey.”

From brokenness to redemption, Zach and Danya’s life now testify to the transforming power of Christ.  

Zach shares, “You get taught that there's multiple pathways of recovery, but there's only one pathway to true freedom and that's through Jesus.”

Danya shares, “There’s nothing that Jesus can’t do. You are loved; you are valued. You are worthy. God sees you for who you are, and there's no trench that you have went too far down. And He'll deliver you.”