Thank you for tuning in to this podcast today. I'm interviewing somebody who has truly taught me that no matter how much you go through. You can still come out on the other side Minister Danielle McCord has been through more trials than I've ever heard. Anybody going through all of that led her to not only write one book but to Danielle is Illumination preaching her story and now has an ongoing play. So people can walk through her story visually with her. I'm so excited for you all to hear the heart behind Minister Danny and I hope her story inspires you the way it did me check out this conversation that we had. Thank you so much. We have Daniel McCord here. I am so excited for her to be in this podcast. She has a crazy testimony one. Like I've never heard before which I'm sure she hears a lot. It is so powerful and just hearing her Redemption story of how she actually came out of this. I can't wait to be able to talk to her. So thank you so much Danielle for being here being on the podcast. Just taking time out of your day to speak to me. Asking me to do this. I'm honored. I'm so excited because I got some of your videos sent to me and I was like, oh my gosh, like is this real life? Like this is awesome. Awesome. Because if you do hear stories like that, you don't hear the Redemption story, you know, and so it's just so cool that you have this story where you actually came back to Christ and was like, okay and gave your life to him and start it over. And so that's the part that really inspires me. But go ahead and tell me a little bit about yourself. Did you grow up and like, you know a Christian home? Like what was your home life like and then, you know just start from there. Just tell me kind of what you went through in life. Very dysfunctional my mother and father were very abusive towards one another so I grew up seeing violence. So my mother ended up leaving my dad and in most cases, you know, the children normally go with the mom but this was a little different as they were my dad. My dad was he was a great father at that time, but he was the horrible man. He was very abusive toward women. He was a womanizer who has a lot of women. He didn't care that I saw him, you know beat them and And you know just do all kind of crazy things. My home life was very dysfunctional coming up and you know as a young kid every parent I always tell them to be very careful. What you doing bringing your children because they're they're soaking it up like a sponge, you know, if Mommy and Daddy are doing it then we think that it's okay. And so I thought it was normal for a man to you know, women because my dad didn't I stay with him till I was about 10 years old, but my father was an alcoholic and he had some mental issues. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia on top of that being an alcoholic in one day one day. He got in trouble at school. He beat me really bad like he'd beat me until I was unconscious and he put me in a bathtub and he tried to drown me in the bathtub. That was just so traumatic, but even prior to that happening when I was eight years old. My dad used to take me to a babysitter. The babysitter son was like a teenager and I was around Eight and he's the molest me when I was 8 but I didn't get any help for that than my dad two years later. I'm 10 my Dad tried to kill me, you know didn't really get any help from that. I had to believe in my father and going to my mom and I'm about 12 years old now and there was a neighbor across the street from us the older guy, you know how the family friend kind of person and very familiar with this man and one day he asked me to you know, he invited me over. And I wanted to his house and he raped me when I was 12. So now you know, I'm only 12 years old and already been molested at a my father tried to kill me attend. My neighbor just raped me at 12. So I started rebuilding a little bit and acting out, you know, a lot of kids. I pay I tell parents. They're just people who deal with kids to pay attention to the behavior. If you're around the child that has, you know, been pretty good no problems and all of a sudden they just switch. There's something that Happened and that's what happened with me. Like I was a really good kid and then when all his stuff happened, I just switched a year later. I was 13 and I end up meeting this guy who was 27 years old. He was a pimp and we end up being intimate one time and I got pregnant at 13 years old. Yeah my head my pregnancy up until there was time from when I decided that I was going to keep it my water end up breaking and I end up giving birth to my son who end up dying in my Wow, 13 years old and I was in the hospital. I just given birth to a little boy who end up passing away not long after that and I just I just filled up with rage and you know, I filled up with the rage and anger and I just I was angry very rebellious, you know XML I ran away from home and I started stripping at 14 years old no prostitution of the my veg is strictly dancing and then Something's in the club that I wasn't prepared for his that I mean, even though I was acting grown in and looking grown and being around adults. I still was just a little girl. And so there were some things that were happening in the nightclub that I was like, I don't know. I'll be here anymore going back home with my grandparents. My grandparents were my safe haven for me because they were in church and they were you know, they were old-school southern people who you know you I don't matter what you're into if you're in grandma and granddad's house you're going to church period Jesus and while I was thinking, you know. Therefore the Lord my choir member introduced me to prostitution. Yes, my choir member. I was 15. She was 18 and we met in the church. We met in the choir and she you know introduced me to prostitution and you know, and so I started prostituting with my choir member from the age of 15. She not only introduced me to prostitution, but she also introduced me to drugs and I found myself becoming active. Did to cocaine and ecstasy at such a young age and I did this throughout 15 16 17 years old and I'm 17. I met some porn stars in the night club and they were just like, you know, if you think you're making money now, you haven't seen anything yet. Right. And so when you're in that lifestyle you always try to find ways to make even more money money money money money is the goal. The Bible says love of money is the root of all evil and so in that lifestyle you're in love with money fast money the more money the Better no matter how it's the deteriorating you no matter how it's killing you no matter how is degrading you the love for money. The want for money is the desire and the drive to continue. And so when they said, you know, you want to make some real money at 17 years old. I'm not thinking about you know, these movies are going to be out for the rest of my life. What happens if I'm going to be a mom what happens I'm going to be a white where my family and friends that I didn't see that or even think about that. All I thought about was more money that's going to a porn set in San Fernando Valley in California. I was a turn 18 like maybe a few weeks later. And so I started doing pornography at 18 years old and I was doing his movies and they were right. I was making even more money on top of the dancing on top of all the other things that I was doing. I was making all this money, but I was dying on the inside. I was so miserable. I was so unhappy the Bible says what profit is it to a man to gain the whole world? World and lose his soul and that is exactly what I was going through. I was gaining all of your worldly possessions and all these materialistic things. But on the inside I was dying. I increased my drug use even more I started drinking even more. I was suicidal. I was just miserable but I had money though, you know, it was like you're dying, but you're balling, you know money does not bring happiness. Yeah, definitely had that but I you know, look at all the things that I was doing to get that and then so that was the just of that and how I end up getting out. I used to travel a lot. Like I was would have been considered one of the high-class girls high-class escorts know guys would you know fly me out and I would travel a lot this guy ended up flying me from Los Angeles to New York and long story short. He was crazy and he locked me up in a After I got there after I was here for a few days, then he locked me up in a basement and he beat me and he raped me and he told me over and over again, you know, I'm going to kill you. You're not going to leave here all of this stuff and I've been in situations before obviously did in the streets all those years. I've been close to death, but nothing like this like this was the ultimate, you know, like the Lifetime Movie Network right for sure. How are you? And I got all the stairs and all the pointed fingers and all the whisper, but I didn't care what people thought I still was going to go to church period while I was locked up in that basement. It was just a matter of time before he just you know decided to do whatever he was going to do, but I was praying I started praying I said Lord, if you get me out of this, I'll change my life to you. Just don't let me die. If you save me this time, I'm done. I'm done. And so what happened was a few days. Days later that guy's friend came to that house looking for him and came down to the basement and found me I end up getting he helped me get out of the basement and of leaving New York and I flew back to LA and I never looked back again. So when you came back was it like Steps like okay. I have to go back and I have to kind of cut ties here and cut ties here or was it like cold turkey? Like what does it actually look like for you? It was cold. Yeah, I had a little business phone what all the clients will call me. You know. I lost the phone. I actually lost leopard in church to be honest my first roommate. And if you give me out of this I'm done. I'm done God and you know, we make so many false promises all the time. We saved the many times more. If you do this for me, I'm going to do that and you don't do it and this time I was like no no. No, I'm like so many times but this time I'm so serious. Yeah, I walked away cold turkey. Yeah, and it says in the Bible, you know, like when you go back it's like seven times worse or whatever. So yeah. So, I mean, I'm sure at that point you're like, I can't even imagine. I was just locked in a basement for three weeks like Right after this. Yeah. I'm just like going back a little bit like when you know, you moved in with your mom and all that like what where was she kind of through this whole like process like did she notice like, you know, did she care really that you were in and out wasn't anything like that like did you know like especially with you know, you getting into different things with your church choir like did your grandparents notice? Like what was your family's reaction to kind of like your life? What you were going through in those kind of things, you know, a lot of them did not know what I was doing until my book came out. Wow and title from porn to the pulpit where I've worked very real and wrong. Yeah and a lot of them found out with the rest of the world when I was doing the reason why is because when I when I ran away when I was young I never came back. I got me I came to visit but I never moved back and sew them. They I just saw my excusing my my reasons for all this money and how it was to live on my own would that I had Rich boyfriends like they lost that I was dating football. But which I was but they were my clients. They were her boyfriend, you know, so I would say, you know, I'm dating this football player. I'm taking the basketball player update the rapper. I was in you know, they had pictures with these people. I was out with these people, but I was you know, not my girlfriend. I was something else they thought Danielle is just she meets Rich guys and they take care of her, you know, or she has a boyfriend and he pays her rent and her car. No, you know take some shopping. That's just how I portrayed it. Yeah, if you're not kind of in that world if you're not looking for it, I mean, I feel like that would kind of be some not easy to find, you know, like it's not like we were looking but yeah, I guess I just wondered that and then it's like, you know, you always kind of hear about people who you know are like addicted to porn or different things like that prostitution and they say like I had all this money and I was miserable but like can you explain like what that like really felt like because I feel like when you're like, okay, I was miserable like to people who have not been in there. It's like almost where you can't still understand it's your like but you're you're rich like what do you mean, you know, and so it's like that kind of like part that kind of question. I guess floats around for people who don't understand that fully because it's like dang like you have no worries in the world your rents paid you have no bills like you can do whatever you want. What do you mean? You're actually Isabel, you know, so just kind of explain how that actually feels in the inside inner you absolutely yeah. My whatever. To do to do it, right? Look what I had to do to get it and that was the most degrading silly. You know, it's one thing if you work hard or if you're the CEO of a company or you know, you're the manager or something like that and you're making an honest living and you're making really good money as a doctor a lawyer a teacher or business owner and you know you feel good about this. I didn't feel good about what I had to do is literally like selling your soul you're degrading your a person is telling you You know to do filthy things in order to get this money. So how you know happy. Could you be about that? And so we numb ourselves with the drugs and the alcohol just to get through it, but internally, no woman wants to be used as a rag doll. You know what I mean in order to get money and so it's like yeah, I have money but look at what I'm doing to get it at what this money was the inherited it wasn't passed down. I didn't hit the lotto. You know, I'm actually Integrating my body, you know doing things that I wouldn't normally do that. I'm not comfortable doing but this is this fast money. This is what I've gotten accustomed to and it was sickening to me. It was degrading as a woman. It was just like you just a man's rather. Yeah, you know and then your reputation people know you as you know, use my language H OE that after getting caught out of your name so much all of that like all of that comes Just like yeah, I got money but your reputation is ruined. No. Yeah, I have money but I'm saying if you're like me and you know do the phallus thing to me in order for me to get it. Yeah, I'm funny. But look you look at my lifestyle. I have to spend most of the money on drugs could never do any of that. Wow, that's crazy that I guess man. Like, I just can't even imagine like having that be somebody's day-to-day, you know, like because that and you say it's your job like no you're literally We doing that everyday hours a day, you know and yeah, I can't imagine has have you like now that you're out of it and you know, you're moving forward and like your ministry and all that stuff Have you ever either had this happen or had this worry of like maybe the industry like catching up to you? Like have you had moments where people you know are like, oh, I actually recognize you or you know, or whatever that is like have you ever had that fear of like, you know those videos that you didn't think of they're still out probably, you know, like what is Out like now. Yeah when I first you have to know for over. Check it out. I got out of the out of the industry in 2008. So we're talking about 11 years, but when it first happened the first year two years three years. It was very embarrassing because I'm trying to mount our about Jesus and I'm saved and praise the Lord of people like hey, there's that porn star Ryan. Hey, that's a stripper girl, you know some time with Beyond embarrassed that I talked about that in my book for forms the pulpit that I was, you know, I came out and I was just so happy about my transformation, but other people were not It's not about how good God is and you're looking at me like I'm crazy like yeah, but I remember that you do this aren't you that girl that was just doing that. You know what it means. I with you that embarrassment and that shame for years even now in my Ministry, you know, there are some people, you know, everybody does it it's not a fan of you and everybody, you know, it's not going to support you in there are some people who I oh now you're talking about God but our I still have your video, you know, so even now Now you still let you actually experience things like that. But at this point after 11 years later I have you know thick skin, but when I first got out it was humiliating and embarrassing it was heartbreaking because I'm like, you know, I was a young girl now I'm doing writing. Nobody can see the god in me. All I can remember was my sin. I always wondered because you know, we all like even in politics like you see it like they'll be doing great things and then randomly something will come up like you did this so many years ago and you're like, oh my gosh, that's not That's not me anymore, you know, so I always wondered with you know, how how known you were actually becoming if that ever, you know came up where you had to almost deal with it again, even though that's a different person. So came out of you know, that that basement experience you came out you came back you cut ties cold turkey, you started to change your life, you know, go back to church get you know introduced and then you know, you have a YouTube video that I was watching which is again I can post that link. Up on the podcast. That's so inspiring to just to kind of hear your heart and see everything but there was a moment in that where you actually spoke on, you know your hatred for males for men because what you went through so kind of talked about that and then tell me, you know, how you got to where you are today. You're you're married now, right? Yeah. So tell us about that whole testimony of like how you came from that to this. Horrible and they just you know their every time I was hurting with my a man and then you know, when I started dancing and stuff it was like my revenge like okay. These guys are liking me and there were men that were proposing to me that's right now is like yeah, I'm just going to use you for your money because my way of getting back to you. It was my revenge, you know, and it just it was really bad and I went back girlfriends and all kind of stuff, you know, because that that will heal me and it didn't mean you know, how I went from Patriot two now having a whole husband is I had to get healed I had to allow God to heal those broken places and that's exactly what I was broken from things that happened to me and one thing my husband had taught me one thing my husband taught me from being with him all these years. He said you don't make a person page for someone else's in the state. That's how I looked at guys. Like no matter what kind of man I met whether he was an upstanding guy. He's a great guy whether he was a hood guy whether he was a gangbanger or a Wall Street worker. I'll look at them the same way and he taught me that you don't hold one man accountable for the mistakes of everybody else. And so I had to get healed and I had to allow God to come in and fix those broken places and want those places was healed. The skills came off my eyes and I said, you know towards them. I started looking at life differently, so don't That was that was those particular men that did those particular things, but you can't box every guy, you know in this thing and say they're all horrible and there are because they're not God healed my heart. Huey removed that anger obviously because I'm married and so tell me about tell me that story. Like, how did you I don't know. How did you even give him a chance? You know what? And that's why it wasn't I think if we would it it would have happened any other way wouldn't work, right. We started off as friends. So I didn't have to hide anything, right that was one of the things because dating for me was so hard before because I was like, how am I going to tell them that I was a dancer? Right? I'm gonna tell them that I used to do porn because what I was dating before and I would tell guys and I'll finally feel stress like a guy like him. He's going this is consistent. Let me tell him the truth before someone else tells him as I had that happen not tell anybody and then we go on a Gator we go around his friends or family there like pulling a verse I like. Hey, I know her she would you know, just then a third so it was just Yeah, so when I would tell guys I would get two reactions either they will want to instantly have sex or they would walk away because they wouldn't know how to deal with my past. So with my husband now, we started off as friends. If so, I don't have to lie about anything. You know, he was just I wasn't interested in him in the beginning. I don't think he was interested in being the beginning. We just really good friends and then he knew my story and then one day he asked if I want to buy a book for He's from you just to support you. And I said Okay, cool. So I brought him a book and he ended up reading the book and a few days later. I saw him and he was like, yeah. Can I talk to you over at the book? I will talk to you and I'm like, okay. He's like, you know, I just basically want to take you out on a date and show you that not all men are the same. Oh man, like what? Get everything I'm sure wow. That's awesome. For you to experience like the Lord, you know, like the Lord's love insecticide man. No matter what you've been through like I'm still here and I'm still interested, you know, kind of what what your life looks like now so you came out with a book right and it's called from porn to the pulpit and I cannot wait. Wait to read it. I'm so excited. I'm not so link it up. So everybody can kind of check that out. Tell us where you're at now and you know, how did you even get here, you know being in full-time Ministry. How did you you know decide you wanted to write a book like where did where did that kind of all come up? Okay, so Can write just write write Journal right? You know, and before I know I just started the for bringing things back to me that I tried to purposely forget. You know, now I was sober so, you know the drugs and the alcohol didn't have my mind all messed up and in my sober state of mind, I started remembering things the things that are coming back mantis was writing and writing writing it right at your writing. And so when I finally finish I'd let her read it and she said this is a book. I'm writing a book. No, yes, so she was like the world is out of my neck now. So when I finally I guess it just started pulling on me. So heavy that my little Journal my little diary was going to help somebody else I bet that's what made me, you know, really push it to turn it into a book. You know, I knew that I was going to get up a lot of backlash. I knew that it was probably going to be some people that were upset. I knew it was going to be some people that were going to call me out of my name, which I went through all of that the base. This is of it. I knew that my story was going to help somebody and so I turn my diary into a book and it literally went all over the world. There were people in Africa people in London before Canada people in the Caribbean that got this book all over the United States and they all have reached out to me and was like, oh my God, even if they didn't do pornography there so many think that such about such going like drug abuse alcohol abuse rape molestation the absence of a father, you know, mentally. Sexual identity, you know just different things that I touch. What do you have to be in the form industry or stripper to relate to my story? You know, there are so many things that I went through that I can you know ministers and so many different people about and so I end up putting the book out there and then work the book came out there were so many Ministry engagement. They were it was overwhelming that I have you read my job to move either you're going to get fired or you don't quit and so I I left a job and I started you know, they started bringing me into universities to talk about human sex trafficking and you know, do all these seminars and then radio and television in churches. It just it just was so much that I was like, you know what this is what I'm supposed to do when I prayed about the God. Do you want me to go into full-time Ministry and it was like, duh? For a Ministry to even a mentorship where I get girls that are going through some of the same things grow that girls that are on the streets girls that are you know have been raped or molested or runaways and all of that mentored them and I helped them put in just become my life. Now that is that is literally so like it almost has like no words because it's like dang you go through something and it's almost a full circle like not only are you in full-time Ministry, but you're speaking to the girls that you were, you know. That is so cool. How God like use that in everything. God does is full circle usually, you know, and it's just so cool to see it at the end of the story and it's like dang like God put me through that and used me to go back to those girls, you know. And now have a stage play. Yeah, horn to the pulpit in the stage play. Yeah to see this story Act. Covid on stage is even like it's bizarre. I'm sure how did you feel seeing that the first time I cried like a baby? Is real but then when I picked the actors in The Sinker and we started rehearsing and they were acting out my script. It was like this is my stick. Yeah watching life. Yes. Oh my gosh it is but it is so I don't even know how to explain something to me every time and I've seen it over and over again for every rehearsal every show. It just it does something to me. Yeah, that is that's literally like man. I need to I need to see it. I need to come. No, I'm seriously like so blessed like by this story like and you just being at a place, you know coming on here and being able to actually talk about it because a lot of people will come and you know, they'll like go through all these things but they're like not really ready to talk about it and when you can fully like talk about the details and the nitty-gritty of your story, like that's when God can set other people free and so just hearing you Story like I can't wait for people to hear this because it's going to change people's lives. You know, I'm sure it already is I know it so I can't wait to just have another another platform to reach people who haven't heard it yet and get connected to you. So tell me some of your social media Instagram website all that kind of stuff. Okay? Thank you so much Danielle for being here and just talking to me to sharing your story. I'm super blessed by it. Thank you for listening to this podcast. If you have a story that you'd like to share email me at Tomlinson podcast and mail.com. Also don't forget to subscribe to my Facebook page and apple podcast streaming platform. You can also follow me on Instagram at Autumn underscore Tomlinson underscore.
Danielle Williams-McCord Evangelist, Author and now Playwright was born and raised in Los Angeles, Califorina, but before she became an anointed woman of God she suffered a series of horrific events; which birthed an astounding testimony. In 2008 Danielle accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior in a New York basement where she was kidnapped and raped repeatedly, but by the grace of God she was able to escape and through that experience she made a vow to God that she would serve him all the days of her life. Danielle was licensed and ordained as an Evangelist on April 8, 2010. In 2011, Danielle released her first booked titled "From Porn To The Pulpit", this book entails her testimony of hurt, violence, drug addiction, abandonment, abuse and so much more. Her book and now stage play is indeed a memoir, but it is also a guide to the reader of how to journey from victim to victor, from pain to purpose and how to now live a triumphant life through Jesus Christ; all while encouraging her audience to tell their testimony. Never imagining that she'd trust or love again, she was found by her husband and in March of 2014 she married the love of her life Min.Ronald McCord. "Old things have passed away and behold all things have become new" (2Corinth.5:17) is the scripture that has left an indelible mark in Evangelist Danielle’s transformation through Jesus Christ. Evangelist Danielle Williams-McCord is the visionary of "Danielle Williams-McCord Ministries" which purpose is to restore, regroup and refocus the youth and women in society to overcome the destruction of the streets, human sex trafficking, and domestic abuse. One of her central focus is those who are drug abusers, prostitutes and many who’ve suffered abuse of all kinds. She has an unwavering commitment to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, until those that God has placed in her path are healed, delivered and set free by her uncompromising message of truth, repentance and love. 