OMAHA (BP) —Like so many others over the last 2,000 years, Tanner Devereaux couldn’t get over the words of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Sitting in a Missouri prison cell and reviewing a Gospel tract given to him by a friend, Devereaux felt like Paul was writing directly to him.
In Romans 3, he read: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, CSB). That, he thought, was certainly true of him. Then he arrived at Romans 5:8: “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God began to draw him. Finally, he read Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
“That’s when I cried out to Jesus and he forgave me,” Devereaux said.
In that Missouri prison cell, no one — Devereaux included — could have believed that a decade later he’d be leading a new church plant in Omaha. But that’s exactly what happened.
Crossway Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri, discipled Devereaux and sent him to Omaha where he did a residency with Citylight Mosaic before he began planting.
Devereaux now leads Imago Dei Omaha, a church started in partnership with Send Network, the church planting arm of the North American Mission Board, that is focused on serving people like himself who need a second chance.
After coming to faith in Christ while in prison for burglary and drug possession, Devereaux asked God to help him grow.
“I prayed God would always put a man in my life to mentor and disciple me. And that’s exactly what God did,” Devereaux said.
First, God sent Bob Shanks, a 50-year veteran of prison ministry in Missouri, who led a weekly Bible study for inmates.
“God began to pour into me through these Bible studies,” Devereaux said. “It was a crucial time when I could sit down with the Word of God in prayer, working through these studies and reflecting on what He was doing. I began wrestling with doctrine and ultimately landing on what God had revealed to me through His Word as true.”
When he was transferred to Ozark Correctional Center in Fordland, Missouri, Devereaux met Southern Baptist chaplain Aaron Davis.
“Aaron Davis took the time to answer my questions, and he didn’t just give me the easy answers,” Devereaux said. “He pushed me to think deeply about my faith and what it meant to follow Jesus.”
Davis remembers Devereaux as inquisitive and always interested in growing.
Devereaux calls prison a seminary experience. With ample time, he dug into the Bible, spent time in prayer, and ministered to other inmates.
“What Tanner is describing is that he found a group of Christians he could fellowship with and essentially do prison with,” Davis said. “They would study the Bible together, and he often came up with deeper theological questions. Tanner immersed himself in Christian fellowship while in prison.”
When Devereaux was released from prison in 2019, he began attending Crossway Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri. One Wednesday night during a service, he felt God calling him to missions. At the time, though, he had no clue what that would mean for his life.
Devereaux had never heard of church planting until a friend and mentor—Ryan Johnston, now Send Network’s church planting lead for Kansas and Nebraska—introduced it to him.
“From there, I started to study the book of Acts,” Devereaux said. “That’s when I became well acquainted with how God works missionally. I knew that I had to be all in.”
Devereaux planted Omaha’s Imago Dei Church in 2022 with a mission of “multiplying disciples and churches that live and look like Jesus wherever we are planted.” The church began as a Bible study in Tanner and Naomi Devereaux’s home that kept growing. From the beginning, Imago Dei shared the Gospel that had transformed Devereaux’s life through a commitment to compassion ministry.
Part of that comes from Devereaux’s partnership with Freeway Ministries of Omaha, a ministry led by his in-laws. They’ve also partnered with other local churches to feed families in need through Feed Omaha.
“One out of five kids in Omaha go to bed hungry every night, and that breaks my heart,” Devereaux said. “This is one way we, as a church, can attack the poverty issue—through the lens of the Gospel. Let’s help them with these meals while intentionally sharing the love that God has for them and inviting them to church.”
Although already a believer when she arrived at Imago Dei, Joanna James said the community has reshaped her image of church. The 24-year-old now leads worship and is helping to launch a youth ministry.
“I’ve realized firsthand that my community needs new churches and the gospel just as much as anywhere else,” James said. “I knew it in my head, but actually experiencing it alongside a team and working with them has given me a different sense of purpose.”
Devereaux acknowledges church planting struggles are real, noting it’s tough to maintain momentum, particularly during the summer. But he remains excited about what God has done through this young church plant and is grateful for the support of Southern Baptists along the way.
“Church planting is hard,” Devereaux said, “but it’s been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”
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