Breaking Chains: From Trafficking to Redemption, with Mandy Leigh

Disclaimer:

This episode contains sensitive content related to sex trafficking. While the focus is on healing, hope, and the redemptive power of God, some parts of the story may be difficult for certain listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

Join me as Mandy Leigh courageously shares her story of survival, faith, and resilience. Once trapped in human trafficking, Mandy’s journey is one of unimaginable pain, hope, and ultimate redemption through God’s grace. In this episode, she opens up about the struggles she faced, the moments that almost broke her, and how she found freedom and purpose in Christ.

This powerful testimony is a reminder that no matter how dark life may seem, God can bring light, healing, and a path to restoration. Tune in to hear Mandy’s story and be inspired by her courage and unwavering faith.

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Ways to connect with Mandy:

www.mandyleigh.com (website) 

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

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Transcript

Israel Caminero: 0:04

Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. I'm grateful for your support and for being part of this community. If you've been enjoying the podcast so far, I'd love it if you could take a minute to leave a review. Your feedback helps me reach more people and share these inspiring stories with others. Let's spread the word. Please share this podcast with your friends and family. And if you haven't already, be sure to like and subscribe for new episodes. To stay connected and up to date on all the latest news, updates, and exclusive content, head over to my Facebook page, Living Testimonies. While you're there, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter. The link is on the page. Thanks again for listening, and I'll catch you in the next episode. Welcome to Living Testimony, Stories of Faith and Redemption. I'm your host, Israel Caminero, and I hope everyone that's listening is blessed and doing well today. With me today, my guest is Mandy Leigh, and I get to call her my sister in Christ. And she's here to share her testimony. Could you say a little bit about yourself to everyone, Mandy?

Mandy Leigh: 1:30

Yes, first of all, Israel, I just want to say thank you so much for this opportunity to be here today. I am so incredibly grateful that you invited me and that I was able to accept the invitation. And I'm just so excited to be able to speak to your audience and just to be able to share my story. But just to give your audience a little bit of a background on myself, I am an author, a speaker, a coach, and I am also a survivor of human trafficking. And I am now an advocate and a voice for the voiceless. So that's a little bit about me in a small nutshell. I'm a best-selling author as well, two times over. And I love to share my testimony wherever I'm given the opportunity. So again, I'm super excited today to have this conversation with you.

Israel Caminero: 2:11

Amen. And I'm super excited to hear your testimony. But before we start with that, I'd like to pray over us and say, Heavenly Father, we come before you with hearts full of gratitude for this moment. Lord, thank you for bringing Mandy here today. Thank you for the incredible work you've done in her life, the healing, the freedom, the restoration. What the enemy meant for evil, you have turned for good, and we give you all the glory. Holy Spirit, we invite you into this space. Go before Mandy as she speaks, fill her with boldness, peace, and clarity. Let every word she shares carry your power and love. Cover her heart as she opens it, and let her story be a testimony of your grace and redemption. We pray that those listening will deeply be moved and reminded that no one is ever too far gone. Let this episode be more than just a conversation. Let it be a spark of healing for someone in need, a moment of breakthrough, and a reminder that you're still in the business of setting captives free. We honor you with this time. Have your way, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Mandy Leigh: 3:15

Amen.

Israel Caminero: 3:17

So Mandy, I know you have an interesting story, as you just said. Could you take us in a day in the life of Mandy when she was growing up and share your testimony with everybody?

Mandy Leigh: 3:30

Sure. So a day in the life growing up. So I was raised in kind of a broken home. Um, there was a lot of toxicity, a lot of darkness in my early childhood years. My parents split up when I was just a young girl, and my father kind of went one way, my mom went another way, and it caused a lot of brokenness in my family of origin. And at one point, you know, all of my brothers and sisters and I, we got split up into separate homes. And then my father, he he went through a radical conversion and he became born again and ended up, you know, attending uh a church, and he ended up getting custody of all of us, and we all went to go live with dad and um ended up, you know, going to a Christian school and getting really rooted in the fundamental Christian community. Baptist was was the religion that that my father was, and um, you know, just really um got to got to experience a different lifestyle. And it was good in a lot of ways, but there was a lot of things that were super confusing too. You know, coming from the darkness that we had come from and the brokenness that we had come from and some of the things that we had been exposed to. There was just a lot of of um internal conflict that was that was really occurring, things that were confusing for me as a young girl coming into these Christian circles and you know, coming from what I had come from, it was just such a such a culture shock, right? So I was really confused and just super conflicted. And I still had a lot of these internal things that I was battling from the inside out. And, you know, I I ended up not really um being able to conform to the rules and the regulations within the Christian school culture. And I found myself always on the wrong side of the fence with my authority figures, you know, even as such a young girl. And, you know, it was really just a strange time in my life. And during this season, there was a lot of conflict between my natural mother and my natural father. And my father ended up getting remarried, and there was another level of conflict that entered there between my natural mother and my stepmother. And there's just a lot of a lot of really weird, unsettled things that were happening. And, you know, fast forward a little a little bit, I ended up acting out at school and just not really being able, like I said, to conform to the rules because of all of this internal conflict and even the familial conflict in my family of origin that was occurring. And it was just so unsettling and so confusing, and um, not really getting any support at school, instead, just getting punishment and um really just needing someone to understand and and help me through what I was going through, but not not receiving that. Instead, just getting the rule book thrown at me. And I think I was in the principal's office every single day getting uh corporal punishment administered to myself. And it did uh cross cross the line quite a few times, and there were um instances of corporal punishment that that was administered in a harsh way that literally borderlined on on abuse, you know, and it was it was a really confusing time in my life, and I didn't know where to turn, I didn't have any answers, I didn't have anybody to talk to. I didn't have any, you know, any clarity. There was no comfort. Um, my father was working all the time, my stepmother was not a comfort, my natural mother was never there. So there was just a level of brokenness that just was never healed and just kept compiling upon itself. So it was just trauma upon trauma upon trauma upon trauma. So I not only endured trauma as a young child, I endured trauma, you know, through the family of origin, I endured trauma through my father's second wife, I endured trauma from the Christian school, I endured trauma just through every avenue of life that it could come through, it was coming through. And, you know, I always say, like, we when when we have a high calling on our lives and we have a divine destiny, right? We may not know who we are, but you better believe that the enemy of our soul knows exactly who we are. And his favorite tool to derail us from our divine destiny is drama. And that tool played out time and time and time again in my life and in my family of origin. Um, and you know, it got to be to the point where it was so toxic and just so broken at home. I just did not want to be there anymore. I couldn't be there anymore. I had to leave. So I left my father's home at 16. And, you know, when I was a young girl, um, like I said, there was a lot of darkness that occurred. And I was exposed to things at a as a very young girl that young girls should not be exposed to. There were things that were happening um, you know, between myself and some of the other children in my family that my memories don't really serve me uh too strongly during those years. They're very, very foggy, but I do have memories of, you know, just being immersed in pornographic situations with other brothers and sisters and you know, um, other members of my family, young members of my family. And this was this was something I feel like the enemy entered in as a as a when I was a very young girl and kind of split my psyche, right? And I became desensitized to these things like like pornography. And um my my mind was kind of warped and kind of you know not really um pure in those ways because of that that broken place inside of me that was never healed. Um, and so anyway, fast forward, I was 16 years old, and the home was so toxic, I just had to leave. So I ended up leaving and I went to go to find my biological mother. And um, you know, I hadn't ever lived with my biological mother since I was, I don't know, probably five or six. And so I showed up on her doorstep one day out of nowhere, and um, you know, she did end up taking me in, but not really understanding, you know, I think what to do or how to um be what she needed to be for me. Um, you know, she let me kind of have free reign and and I had a a lot of freedom that I wasn't used to. Um, so I ended up in situations that I never should have been in. And so that um ended up leading me into being trafficked at the age of 16. Um, and you know, the interesting thing about trafficking, right? So many people always think that trafficking always involves violence or kidnapping, but that's actually a myth. And the reality about trafficking is that it most often is a form of coercion, or sometimes there's a debt that someone's trying to pay off, or sometimes it's a form of manipulation or emotional control that is happening that leads people into trafficking. And that was kind of the case in my life at 16 years old. I was groomed and I was coerced into a situation at 16 years old that was a trafficking type of a situation. You know, that later led me to being involved in the commercial sex industry for over 13 years. So that was my I guess that's like just the beginning of my story, right? So you said a day in the life of. I think I probably gave you a little bit too much more information, but yeah, so this is this is my childhood. So that's where everything kind of started, right? Was in the in the home, at home, and then leaving home at 16, and then ending up in the commercial sex industry for for that that stint of time in my 20s. Um, but yeah, that's that's a little bit about my childhood in a nutshell.

Israel Caminero: 11:36

Wow. So, you know, you said you couldn't conform to the Baptist school and you were constantly in trouble, and there was things happening at the house that kind of led you to leave your house at sixteen and find your biological mother and move in with her, and she really wasn't watching you, gave you a lot of freedom, and then you ended up being trafficked at sixteen. How did that happen?

Mandy Leigh: 12:03

There was a group of women that befriended me during that summer of of my life, the summer I left my father's home, and they began to kind of groom me, and they began to really befriend me and make me feel like I belonged and that they cared about me and that they, you know, wanted to see me happy, and they began to take me to parties and you know, dress me up and take me to clubs. And it was like I was living on the top of the world, you know. I thought these people really were my friends, and I thought they really did care about me. Um, but it was uh it was a grooming process as what was happening. And they saw a very young, vulnerable girl. I actually worked with these women, and um, well, I worked with one of the women, um, and then she actually got me connected with her group of people that were the traffickers, but you know, they they saw a very young, vulnerable girl, and yeah, they they took advantage of that opportunity and really groomed me to believe that they cared about me. And because all I wanted was love and acceptance, my whole life as a child, even being in the Christian circles that I was in, you know, there wasn't a whole lot of love. It was a lot of rules and a lot of regulations and a lot of do's and don'ts, but it was there wasn't a lot of love. And we were never taught, you know, why the rules, why the regulations. We were just taught you do this and you don't do that, you don't ask questions. And, you know, there was no real relationships that were being built or formed, and it was a lot of legalism and um just not a lot of understanding of who God truly is and even who I am in God. And so there was, I had this void within me, you know, I was operating from a deficit. Um, my I had a huge mother wound because of the abandonment from my mother when I was a small child. And um I had a father wound as well, because even though my father did his best and he did um what he felt was right, and he was, there's a lot of good things my father did during those years. But at the same time, just out of survival mode of just needing to survive, I feel like, you know, his go-to was just, okay, I'm working and I'm providing for my children and putting a roof over their heads. So there wasn't a lot of relationship there. You know, there was some, but there wasn't a lot. I do think that my father did his best. And looking back, I am grateful for a lot of the things that my father did deposit within me during those early informative years. But unfortunately, it just wasn't enough to fill the deficit that I was operating on. And, you know, we know that that real deficit was a lack of true love and relationship with God. And I didn't really know God in a deep way. I knew of God. I knew a lot of Bible stories. I knew the Bible like the back of my hand because I was, you know, in a Christian school. And that was what we were, what was literally grained into our mind, you know. Um, but I didn't know God on a personal level. And so operating on that deficit left me in a place of just being hungry for love, acceptance, and attention wherever I could find it. And that's what was happening with with this particular group of of women. They they saw that within me, that vulnerability and um just that need for acceptance. And they definitely m capitalized on that. And I ended up, you know, like I said, being coerced into a situation that I never should have been in. Um, and you know, the trafficking began to occur after about three months of being connected with these women. And, you know, it wasn't like a long-term situation, it was sort of short-lived. But looking back on that time in my life, I now know that it was trafficking. I didn't know it then. We didn't have the information in those days that we have now. There were no awareness meetings, there was no websites to go to, there was no advocacy for these types of things. They were happening, but there was just no language and no verbiage and no awareness. And so when this happened to me, I I I felt shame and I felt like I had done something wrong. So I didn't tell anybody, right?

Israel Caminero: 16:23

Right.

Mandy Leigh: 16:24

And so after the situations sort of sub subsided, and I think like this men group got tired of me or what have you, because these women, they just stopped taking me there and stopped befriending me. And that was that. The the relationships just kind of ended, and I never saw them again. So that was my situation that summer. But again, you know, a myth about trafficking is that it always involves violence or kidnapping. And that's just so far from the truth. The truth is that most often it is coercion. You know, I have a book that I have written, um, and it is called Unleashed, Rise Up and Roar: True Stories of Trauma Survivors Who Have Overcome the Unspeakable. And I actually, this is a book compilation of different survivor stories. And my chapter is the first chapter, and the name of that story is In Plain Sight, Shining a Light of Truth into the Darkness of Sex Trafficking in America, because people don't really understand what it is. They think it's happening overseas and they know it's happening there, but they don't understand that right here in America, it's actually the silent destiny killer of our young people. And our young people are being groomed and coerced on a daily basis, and they're being led into situations that they never would voluntarily go into without this grooming and this coercion that's been happening. And it's more prevalent now than it was when we were younger. But, you know, one of the things that I have as my mission is to raise awareness and to educate communities and to empower victims and survivors. So that's kind of where I'm at in my life now, is where I want to use my story to be able to help people understand what trafficking is and what it isn't, and how easily it can happen, even to your son or your daughter. You know, I was the captain of the cheerleading squad and traveling debate team. I was on the choir and the traveling ensemble. I was a leader in my Christian community, and yet I was still trafficked. So if it can happen to me, somebody that was literally on a trajectory of Christian success, it can happen to anyone.

Israel Caminero: 18:34

That's right. That's absolutely right. Before you said you were in the trafficking for 13 years, if I'm not mistaken.

Mandy Leigh: 18:44

Um Yes, so I was trafficked at 16, and I actually um was in the commercial sex industry from the time I was 19 until I was 29. So I was in the commercial sex industry for 10 years.

Israel Caminero: 18:57

Okay. So when you said that your friend stopped calling you and these guys didn't want anything to do with you again, so what happened after that? That you know you you kind of stopped. I know you were probably searching for love and stumbled upon something else and it came back up. Can you explain a little bit about that journey?

Mandy Leigh: 19:16

Yeah, absolutely. So after that summer, I I was not allowed to return to my Christian school. So I had to go to a public school that that year. And it was a really strange time in my life. And you know, the interesting thing is that my mom that I was living with, she just thought I was just being a normal moody teenager. But the truth was that because of what happened to me that summer, I became a completely different person. And now that I know the signs of trafficking, I now look back on that time in my life. And I, and if my mom had known and had been aware of the signs of trafficking, I think that she would have picked up on it, but she wasn't aware either because, like I said, we didn't have this kind of information, right? So I literally almost didn't graduate. Senior year of high school because I missed so much school. I was so depressed. I, you know, lost all of I didn't have any friends. I didn't, I didn't have connections with my Christian school friends anymore because they had literally kicked me out of the school and told me I wasn't allowed to come there anymore. And it was just, you know, it was my first deep experience with church hurt. And it it hurt and it cut very deeply. And being that I had been in that school basically my whole life, and you know, now being separated from my Christian school friends and now thrown into this public school environment. And after the trauma that happened that summer, I kind of isolated myself and I actually fell into, you know, this hole of depression. Um and, you know, then I ended up getting connected with a with with a a guy and we we were we started to date. And so I started to kind of come out of that a little bit. Um, but then when I stepped into my college, um, my college time after high school, um I ended up meeting a different man. And anyway, we I ended up with him, and he was pretty controlling and abusive. But we we ended up, you know, forming this relationship where we were, we were gonna get married, like we were engaged and everything. And he was um just very had very controlling tendencies. And I remember just thinking, I have to get out of this relationship. I was living in this tiny little basement apartment all by myself. And he, I was working two jobs, and he would take all of my money and he would just give me like $50 a week to to live off of for like food and gas and things like that. And I know that sounds like really ridiculous right now because of the way that that things are priced, but back then, you know, things were a lot less expensive, but it was still a very small amount of money. And um, I just remember thinking, I have to get out of this relationship. I cannot continue to be with this man. He had violent tendencies. Now he never physically hit me, but he would throw things and break things, and you know, it was just very volatile. And I it was just a very touch-and-go situation all of the time. And I just remember thinking, I have to get out of this. And so I was sitting in my little tiny rundown basement apartment all by myself, and it was dark, and the electricity had just gotten shut off. I'm like, oh my gosh, I have to do something. I need money. And so I I opened up the newspaper. Do you remember the classified ads?

Israel Caminero: 22:28

I do. Yeah, that's going way back.

Mandy Leigh: 22:32

Yes, it is going way back from aging myself. I'm dating myself. But here I was, you know, I was um 18, going on 19 years old, and I'm sitting there uh looking at the classified ads, just scouring the classified ads for something that I could do to supplement my income. And at this point, I was already working seven days a week, and I just didn't know what I could do. And I saw this little teeny tiny ad in the smallest print that said $250 a night possible, costumes provided, no experience necessary. And it jumped out at me. And I knew right away what it was. I knew that it was an ad for a strip club. And I thought to myself, wow, could I do this? You know, and at that point in time I was so desperate, I decided to call the number. So I called the number, and the the person that answered told me that they were having like an amateur audition night or whatever the next night and that I could come to it. And so I did, and it took me like three hours to get to this place because I kept turning around and going home. Um, but I I somehow I I got to the place and it was a very, very intense situation. Stepping into that place, like I had never been into an establishment like that before in my life. And I was completely shocked. There were women, you know, wearing like 10-inch heels in next to nothing hanging upside down from the ceiling, and it was just like wow. I just was so shocked, you know. And they ushered me into this little room off to the side, and you could watch from this little window. And the man that owned the establishment began to speak to me. And, you know, he just began to share that I could watch for a little while, observe for a little while. They're like one big happy family there, and they would take care of me and they would, you know, show me what to wear and how to act and all the things. And they made me feel so special. And he just kept saying, Wow, you are so beautiful, you are perfect, you look like an angel, you know, these types of things. And I just felt myself like growing, you know, my ego growing basically is what it was. And I I just I responded to this flattery, and I ended up, you know, again, just being coerced into this situation in in a deeper way and going, you know, he takes you into the dressing room, you meet all the girls. The girls are all so nice, they're, you know, letting you use all their stuff and they're wanting to dress you all up. And, you know, it and they're all like, oh my goodness, another sister. And, you know, it just felt, it felt good, it felt nice, you know. And um anyway, yeah, so one thing just led to another. And I ended up performing that night for the first time on stage in a strip club. And at that point, I was kind of hooked, you know, because it became like a drug, right? It's such a rush, it's such, it's such an exhilarating feeling, you know. And being that I had a theater background, it kind of fit in with like that performance um, you know, place inside of me where people were looking at me and clapping for me. And, you know, it just it fed something within me. Um, and I fell for it all, just hook, line, and sinker. And, you know, in the beginning it was all okay. Um, but then after a while, it took a really, really dark turn. And, you know, then they start taking all your money. And then before you know it, you know, the alcohol gets introduced, and then the drugs get introduced, and then escorting gets introduced, and you know, then it just became a very slippery slope. And before I knew it, you know, I was prostituting, straight up prostituting, and even doing like movies and magazines and things like that, and um just it really deep in it, you know, and not not even really understanding even how deep I was because it was just the lifestyle that I was living. Yeah, that's just that's just how it all happened. And before I knew it, I was trapped and I couldn't, I couldn't even fathom how I would ever quit or get out because I just didn't see a way.

Israel Caminero: 26:39

Right.

Mandy Leigh: 26:40

But there were people praying for me all over the place, right? Because I did still have family and friends that were devout Christians and believers, and I knew in my heart of hearts what the truth was, but I couldn't find my way to the light. Um, but I did, you know, I did eventually get out.

Israel Caminero: 27:00

So my story doesn't end there, obviously, but well, it's like you said, you were searching for love, and then you had this toxic boyfriend, and you go there and everyone's showing you all this love, and even $250 a night back in the classified days, like you were saying, is a lot of money back then.

Mandy Leigh: 27:20

It was a lot of money, yep. And you know, that's how it I feel like it it kind of hooks you, right? Is because here I was working seven days a week, barely making ends meet, and I didn't have a lot of bills, right? I was literally living in poverty, and then people are just literally throwing money at you, and you're making uh you know, hundreds of dollars in a space of like two hours.

Israel Caminero: 27:44

Right.

Mandy Leigh: 27:44

I mean, it was it was crazy, it was really wild, and like I said, I was hooked, you know.

Israel Caminero: 27:51

I can imagine, you know, and then on top of that, it's looked like they were grooming you, like you said, also after a while, you know, absolutely for other things, which is oh yes, absolutely, absolutely.

Mandy Leigh: 28:04

And you know, I traveled a lot during those years, um, all over the country. I would get flown here, there, and everywhere, um, just to different, you know, different different rings or circles. And, you know, I mean, it was it there was a lot that happened during those years, but it was um it was very intense and there was a lot of grooming that was happening. And um, you know, it was it was where, you know, and this is one of the things too that I often t share, especially in Christian podcasts, is that, you know, people don't really understand what they're partnering with when they partner with things like pornography, or when they participate in things, you know, like magazine looking at magazines or movies, or even like, you know, glorified pornography, like, you know, watching these B-rated movies, or even like the Super Bowl halftime show from a couple years ago where Jennifer Lopez was literally glorifying stripping. And, you know, I mean, it's like, how can we glorify these things, right? It's just people don't understand what they're really partnering with until they are immersed in the place where literally pornography is born. And that's where I was, you know, in the depths of that darkness, you don't really understand it. You think it's harmless, you think it's only hurting you, or it's only, you know, something private that you do in secret, but that's somebody's sister, that's somebody's mother, that's somebody's daughter that you're looking at. You know, that was me. And when, you know, I got out and looking back, it's like, wow, you're in the depths of that darkness, literally where pornography is born. And you'll never look at it the same, right? But that's what one of my assignments is to is to raise that awareness so that we can stop partnering with this, right? So people often ask me, well, what can I do to join the fight and to help stop sex trafficking? Well, my answer is stop participating in it, you know, stop, stop watching pornography, stop looking at the magazines, stop desensitizing your kids to uh, you know, these pop stars and these different shows that we tolerate, right?

Israel Caminero: 30:21

Right.

Mandy Leigh: 30:22

Because honestly, that's fueling the the demand is fueling the industry. And if we can stop providing the demand, then the supply chain has nowhere to sell to. So it really starts with the demand, and it starts in the home and with our our our children and and and teaching them their worth and their value and the value of other human beings, right?

Israel Caminero: 30:47

Right.

Mandy Leigh: 30:48

So um anyway, yeah, so I I really was in the depth of that darkness, in the places where pornography is born. You know, that's where I was existing for over 10 years. And the things that I saw during those years, I cannot even repeat to you. Like it is not worthy of even talking about, right? Um, because it's that deep and that dark, you know, and people just, I feel like, aren't even aware of what's really happening out there, but it is happening. It's happening in our backyards, it's happening on our streets, it's happening in our churches, it's happening, you know, to the captain of the football team, it's happening to the captain of the cheerleading squad. It's happening right underneath of our noses in plain sight. And it doesn't look like always what we think trafficking is gonna look like. You know, I love that movie, The Sound of Freedom, that came out a couple of years ago. But honestly, that type of trafficking is the type of trafficking that Hollywood has has led us to believe is what trafficking should is is always gonna look like, but that's not always the truth. You know, a lot of times it's people that we know, right? Right that are grooming us and and and coercing uh us into situations that we otherwise would never ever enter into. So that's part of you know, my message is that this is happening right here in America, in the land of the free and the brave, you know.

Israel Caminero: 32:17

Um It's funny you mentioned that movie because I hated that movie. I mean, I didn't hate it, I just I was so angry watching it, you know, like just the things that these kids were going through in there was just you just wanted to punch them people in the face.

Mandy Leigh: 32:33

And sorry, I didn't mean to say that, but it is just but it's true though, you know, you we get like this righteous indignation that begins to rise up within us, right? And I feel like that is very holy because I feel like the father is also grieved and the father is also angry, and there is that indignation at at the fact that these young children are being harmed and hurt. And you know, I feel like until we get that that indignation that begins to rise up within us for justice and for the these these children to be saved, then we are going to kind of sit on the sidelines and we're not gonna get involved and we'll think, oh, well, it's not affecting me, you know, oh, somebody else will help, or no, I don't, you know, I don't need to do anything. Until we get that within us, then we do become very complacent and very silent. And silence is the same as agreement, right? So I feel like having these types of interviews and having these types of conversations in real time with people is necessary so that people understand and and uh can become aware of what trafficking is and how they can help.

Israel Caminero: 33:48

Right. I have some questions I wanted to ask you. There's quite a few questions, actually. So you said people were praying over you, and that's always good because uh prayers that you don't know about always get answered. And obviously there was a turning point for you where you knew you had to get out. Uh as far as faith goes, I'm not sure what role faith had while you were going through this because of all the hurt hurt that you had from before and getting kicked kicked out of the Baptist school and being church hurt. So I'm not sure what your faith was back then. If you still prayed or anything like that while you were going through this, you might have prayed and just were living in your flesh. Like I used to do that back before I was saved. I would always pray at night, but then go live my flesh the next day. So my question is what were some of the biggest challenges you faced in the aftermath of trafficking, like emotionally, mentally, and spiritually?

Mandy Leigh: 34:48

Yeah, that's a really great question, Israel. Um, and you know, honestly, the aftermath was so devastating on my life. And the truth is, you know, when I got out at 29 years old, I ended up going right back to the Baptist church that my father was still a member of because my father is the one that pulled me out. My father came after me when I was 29 years old. He found me in a CD motel room and he he just he he got me he got me out. And I had a best friend from high schools that opened her home to me, and she she and her family helped were helping me, and she also went to the same church as my father and things like that. So one of the prerequisites was that I had to go to church. Um, and I knew I had it I didn't have any other options at that point in time. It was either jail, the streets, or this. So those are my options, right? So I'm like, okay, well, I guess I'm gonna go and and live with my friend and go to church, right? And my faith, I had been I had denied my faith for many, many, many years. But there was I call it protected bondage when I was in those years of darkness. Even though I was denying my faith and kind of, you know, going against God in every way that I could, there was still a a deep element of God's presence with me. You know, I actually I had another book that that I came out with in November of 24, and it's actually Unleashed, Rise Up in Ruhr Volume Volume 2. And my chapter in that book is called There Was Jesus, and it talks all about how even in the darkest times of my life, Jesus was right there waiting, right? And all I had to do was just breathe out his name one time, and his presence was right there, tangible, wrapping me like a blanket. And it was just such a wild time in my life. And, you know, when I came out of that trafficking at 29, and I went to go live with my friend, and I was in this church service, and man, God got a hold of me like something fierce, right? And the I'll never forget it. The pastor was preaching on the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel and how he was calling down fire from heaven and you know, all this stuff, right? And I remember praying, like speaking to God in this church service, like, okay, okay, if this is true and if you're real, right, then I want that kind of power. I want that kind of experience. I want to be able to pray like Elijah prays and have fire come down from heaven. I want to be able to have you hear me, like just like that, you know? And this is me talking to God, right? And then um the pastor gave gave the message, and the and the passage um that he spoke from was in in Kings, and he said, Why halt ye betwe between two opinions? If God is God, then follow him, and if it be bail, then follow him. And the people said not a word. And I was so convicted. I went forward and I knelt at the altar after the message, and like it the Baptist churches are not like other churches, right? There's no prayer team, there's nobody coming up and laying hands on you. There's none of that stuff, right?

Israel Caminero: 38:05

Right.

Mandy Leigh: 38:05

So when you go to the altar, it's just you and God doing business, right? And so I hit my knees at that altar and I was just like doing business with God, right? And I was just weeping and sobbing and crying and like, okay, if you're real, then you have to show me in ways that I cannot deny. And I kneeled at that altar for a couple hours, right? And everybody in the church was gone, um, except for like a couple of lingering people, and you know, my father being one of them, and a couple of the deacons and the pastor. And when I got up from that altar, I'm telling you, people were like looking at me with their eyes wide as saucers because I was glowing. They said that they described it as Moses coming down off of Mount Sinai because literally the glory of God was radiating off of my face in a way that they had never experienced before. And I stood up from that altar that when I kneeled down at that altar, I was heavily addicted to every drug, alcohol, cigarettes, whatever. And when I stood up, I wasn't.

Israel Caminero: 39:08

Wow.

Mandy Leigh: 39:09

And I never went back to drugs ever again. Now I've had some issues with alcohol and and other things in in my life, but those hard drugs, I never went back to that. And I never went back to the commercial sex industry from that point forward. And so those chains literally fell off of me at that moment, and that bondage was broken miraculously. It was a deliverance like I had never experienced in my life and like I have never experienced again. And I've had other forms of deliverance, but that was my first experience and in and true radical encounter with the one and true living God, and he changed me inherently forever. And I remember, you know, everybody in the church was amazed because they'd never seen anything like this happen before. And I just can I just began to grow exponentially in God, and he was Literally showing up in my life. Like it was so powerful. And like everything that I prayed came true. Everything I prayed came true. And it was like so such a wild time in my life. I was experiencing all sorts of miracles, signs, and wonders. And I was just living in this bliss, this blissful union with God. It was so beautiful. And everybody around me could see it and witness it. It was just so powerful. And I remember sitting in the office with the pastor, and they wanted me to become one of the church members. And they wanted me to share my testimony in front of the church, which was such an honor, you know. And he was just talking to me about my testimony. And I was sharing some of the parts. And I remember when it came to the parts about the commercial sex industry, and he's like, you know, those are the parts that we just don't need to talk about.

Israel Caminero: 40:46

Why not?

Mandy Leigh: 40:47

We don't need to share that. We don't need to talk about that. You know, those are the things that just God has forgiven you. It's all under the blood, and it doesn't need to be shared ever again. And, you know, while there's an element of truth to that, Israel, the truth is there's a higher truth that it does need to be talked about and it does need to be shared. And I did need a deeper level of healing, right?

Israel Caminero: 41:12

Right.

Mandy Leigh: 41:13

And because, you know, in the Baptist culture, it was like, okay, we're just gonna throw a forgiveness blanket over this and we're not gonna go through inner healing. We're just gonna believe that everything's all hunky dory, as long as you check all the Christianies' boxes and as long as you look good on the outside, you're doing good, right? So as long as your skirt's long enough, as long as you're not drinking and going to the bars, as long as you're not smoking cigarettes, as long as you're not dating people that you're not supposed to date, as long as you're checking all of those Christianies' boxes, everything's fine. But that was so far from the truth. Everything was not fine. I had all of this internal garbage that was still within me, right? So while that initial deliverance was so miraculous, there were still things within that needed to be worked out that were never allowed to be addressed within the confines of the Baptist church. So I ended up right back in the arms of the enemy. And I ended up in relationship after relationship that were just not meant for me. And, you know, having some relapses with alcohol and just really struggling up and down, up and down in my relationship with the Lord. And finally just having a radical experience in 2018 where I met the whole the third person of the Trinity in the fullness, and I met the Holy Spirit because you know the Holy Spirit and the Baptist Church is a silent partner. So, you know, there's no gifts of the spirit, there's no movement of the spirit in in those circles. And I never knew about the gifts of the spirit or anything like that until 2018. And that's when everything really started to change in my life in a depth that was super authentic and very intrinsic. And I I began to experience that inner healing that I so desperately needed that I didn't receive back in 2006 when I first came out of the trafficking industry. And I I'm a firm believer in inner healing. I think that it's necessary for every Christian to walk that walk and to take that journey. Um, and it's a process, you know, it's not gonna happen overnight. It's not gonna be a flip of a switch, and it certainly does not come to be as a result of fulfilling a list of Christianist do's and don'ts.

Israel Caminero: 43:35

That's right.

Mandy Leigh: 43:36

It's a very personal experience with the Father and getting to know the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit in deep ways, in their respective personhoods, and you know, allowing yourself to be loved by the Father in a way that can heal those deep and dark places. And I mean, I'm still going through it in a lot of ways, right? Because it's gonna be a lifelong journey to continually go through the layers and heal, right?

Israel Caminero: 44:07

Right.

Mandy Leigh: 44:07

And I thought like 2018, I went through this, what I call this healing journey of epic proportions. Um, and I thought that I was totally healed, but then 22, I went through another experience that um made me realize that, you know, while I thought that I had hit rock bottom at one time in my life, that made me realize that rock bottom had a basement, right? And there was another, another room inside of my my soul that God needed to unlock and and clean out. And so the last three years, even I've gone through another deeper layer of inner healing. And so I feel like inner healing is is gonna be a never-ending journey. Um, but yeah, I mean, to to answer your question, to come back to your question, there were a lot of effects, and mainly in the form of just a lot of broken relationships and, you know, just some mental health issues as well that I've struggled with. You know, just allowing the Lord to continually heal me in those places and just surrendering to his movement and his leading and his guiding has been where I've where I've kind of settled over the last five, six years. And yeah, definitely living a much freer life these days. Yeah, it hasn't been easy, that's for sure.

Israel Caminero: 45:20

Well, it's never easy, even as Christians, life isn't easy. And you've overcome so much, and I love how you're using your voice and story to help others, you know, as of now. And you just basically described what it meant to you, you know, how God can bring beauty from ashes. So if you could speak to someone currently trapped or just coming out of that life, what would you want them to know?

Mandy Leigh: 45:49

I just want them to know how loved they are and how worthy they worthy they are of love, and that they don't need to sell themselves short, and you know, that there is a space and a place for them, and there that they they have a di a destiny that was designed for them since before the beginning of time and that there is a light that they can step into.

Israel Caminero: 46:16

Amen. Amen. You have such a wonderful journey. And you're a coach and everything like that. Did you want to share all that? I'll have links to all her information on the description of this podcast, but can you go ahead and share everything one more time for all the listeners that might want to reach out to you or even look you up or anything like that?

Mandy Leigh: 46:37

Yes, absolutely. So you can find me on Facebook. I you can find me under Mandy Lee, and my website is mandylee.com, and my email is your story on fire at gmail.com. Um, so feel feel free to reach out to me by any of those avenues. Um, I do have two published books on Amazon. They are both called Unleashed, Rise Up and Roar, True Stories of Trauma Survivors Who Have Overcome the Unspeakable. And then I also have a YouTube show called Unleashed, Rise Up and Roar. So you can find me on any of those platforms. Yes, I am an author. I am a speaker. So I love to speak and share my story and raise awareness. My three pillars are that I advocate for victims of those still trapped in trafficking. And I educate communities and organizations on the myths and the realities of trafficking and what they can do to get involved and how they can help prevent even their own children from entering into these types of situations. And then I empower survivors. So my coaching is called survivor on fire coaching. And so I actually empower survivors to use their own voice and their own experiences to burn bright in a dark world and to bring hope and help and healing to others. And I just kind of empower them to not only find their voice, but also find their purpose and step into who they were really called and created to be. And I do some entrepreneurial training, I do some purpose training, I do some healing training, I do um some writing training. So I have all sorts of aspects to my coaching. But um yeah, that's a that's me in a very small professional nutshell. But yeah, um, if anybody wants to reach out to me through those channels, I would be happy to connect with you.

Israel Caminero: 48:26

And like I said earlier, I'll have links to all that on the description of this podcast. And I can't thank you enough for being here, Mandy. I I love how God worked in in your life full circle, you know, from the Baptist church and you being rebellious to ever I don't nobody likes what happened to you, you know, as far as the trafficking or anything like that. And but look, God came back into the picture full circle afterwards, and the relationship that you have with him now and trying to help others that might be going through this is just great. And I just want to say it's kind of hard to ask this question, but was there any scriptures? I I know when you were going through it, you weren't really practicing your faith or anything like anything like that, but was there any scriptures or even when you were going to school in your younger days and why you were going through this, and even today, that is a go-to scripture for you when you're having a bad day or a a life verse that you could always look back to and read and what that scripture was and what it means to you.

Mandy Leigh: 49:38

Yeah, that's an easy question. So for me, it's always been Psalm 23. It's always been Psalm 23. And even through the deepest valleys, the darkest valleys, the valley of the shadow of death, I knew that looking back, God was always there with me. And even in the dark years, like that was like the only scripture that I could remember, right? And I remember reciting that multiple times. And you know, and then even like moving forward into my life after trafficking, another another scripture that was super powerful for me was Psalm 103. Um, and you know, there's a verse that says in that chapter that he heals all of our diseases. And I do believe, you know, I came out of that free and clear of diseases, and you know, it was so miraculous. You know what I'm saying? Like that's just unheard of, and I know that that was just my father's hand upon me. And so those are my two go-to passages for for then and even now, um, even to this day, Psalm 23, it holds an incredible just sacredness for me. Yeah, so does Psalm 103. So those are my two go-to passages.

Israel Caminero: 50:57

Amen. Amen. And I like what you said there. We could be in totally different places right now. When we were living in our flesh, or even, you know, doing bad. It's just looking back, even with your situation, no diseases, anything like that. So God was definitely there watching. Me and my wife say that all the time about our life. You know, we could be in totally different places right now, and it's just goes to show what a great God we serve.

Mandy Leigh: 51:27

Amen. Amen. He is so good, and you know, the final one of those final verses is surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever.

Israel Caminero: 51:43

That's right. So you you have more than one, and that's quite alright. I'm sure you have more than three.

Mandy Leigh: 51:50

Right. You know.

Israel Caminero: 51:52

I always ask everyone what their scripture was when they were going through bad times, but it's okay. A lot of people share more than one. But now we're going to my back to the past section of the podcast. Okay. And what my back to the past section of the podcast is, if the Mandy of today can go back in time and talk to the younger Mandy, what would you say to her?

Mandy Leigh: 52:21

Well, I mean, I think, you know, for me anyway, um, I always tell even the women, because now that um I I do ministry and I go back into the strip clubs now and I minister to the women in the strip clubs um on a a periodic basis. And when I talk to these girls, you know, I tell them my story, and I always tell them that, you know, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, right? And I've done a lot of things wrong. But there's only one choice that I wish that I could go back and change, and that is the night that I went to that strip club. Instead of staying, I would have gone home, right? So if I had an opportunity to go back and talk to my younger self, I would just tell her that this is not the answer, and that you are loved more than you know, and that you have so much potential and an amazing future and journey ahead of you. Just stay home, just stay home, just go home and don't let yourself get caught up in the bells and whistles of this world, and just allow yourself to really just understand God in a way that makes him real to you. And I would just share my faith now with myself then, and just bring everything into the light and just allow my story and my voice to be that that place of calmness and reassurance and just speak love, just speak love, you know, because after all, that's really what it's all about, and that's what it was always about was just looking for love. And so that's that's what I would say. That's what I would say, just leading her to the light, leading her to the love, and just letting her know who God truly is, and that it's not just because people from the church hurt you doesn't mean that that's who God is. People are imperfect, but God is perfect and he is love, and his love is so deep and so wide and so beautiful that it can reach you even in your darkest places, and that is all that you need.

Israel Caminero: 54:41

Amen. Amen. That's absolutely true. Not saying that the younger Mandy would have listened, but you know.

Mandy Leigh: 54:51

Well, I think that honestly, I think that if a a future version of me would have showed up to me at that time in my life, I don't have listened.

Israel Caminero: 54:59

Well, that's that's just a fictional, fictional question that I always ask. You know, no one can trouble back travel back in time, but I just basically ask it because uh I'm honoring my son on that. So um beautiful. So, Mandy, you have an incredible story, and I love what you're doing to just bring it out into the open and sharing it with people and bringing awareness to all this. Because it's like you said, it's happening everywhere. You can't turn the TV on without seeing anything that's semi explicit anymore.

Mandy Leigh: 55:35

It's so true.

Israel Caminero: 55:36

It's true. You know, you turn on the TV and it's everywhere.

Mandy Leigh: 55:39

So it really is. It's it is everywhere. And I feel like you know, our culture has become so desensitized to it. And, you know, that's part of my mission is to just raise awareness and educate communities and organizations so that we are more aware of what we are partnering with and stop desensitizing our children to what they're actually, you know, what we're actually partnering with, and just allowing our children to value themselves and value other human beings and and you know, not dehumanize individuals because though that that is someone's daughter, someone's mother, someone's sister, or son, you know, so it's not just women either. This is happening with men too, and and young boys as well. So um I think just you know, raising that awareness and just just allowing our eyes to be opened to what we actually are partnering with and what we're leading our children into.

Israel Caminero: 56:39

Amen. Amen. And again, thank you for taking the time to be here out of your busy schedule and sharing your story with my audience. I really appreciate it. I will have links to everything that she shared on the description of the podcast in case anyone wants to reach out to her. You never know. Someone might have just heard this that might be going through the same thing, and that's what I'm here for. It's to share stories like this to bring people to Christ. It's her story, but it's for his glory. I always say that.

Mandy Leigh: 57:10

Amen.

Israel Caminero: 57:11

And before we close out, do you mind praying over us?

Mandy Leigh: 57:16

I would love that. Oh, dear Father, I just thank you for this opportunity that I've had to shine this light into this present darkness. And God, I just pray that these words would be saturated with the frequency of heaven and that they would reach the right people, and that you would carry them, that you would send angels to deliver them all over the globe wherever these words need to need to be delivered, Father. And I just pray, Lord, that you would just bless Israel and his family and bless this podcast. Just continue to grow this space, Lord, and just continue to allow your words to be shared in this, in the on these airwaves. And God, I just pray that this this message would be delivered to the exact person that needs it. Even if it's only for one person, Father, I just pray that you would deliver it exactly where it needs to go. God, we thank you for your healing. We thank you for for who you are, Lord. You are so good to us. And just like the psalmist said, surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. And we just praise you for that, God. We praise you for your mercy. We praise you for your protection, we praise you for your love for us as your children. We praise you that you don't leave us in our brokenness. We praise you that you made a way for us to be reconciled to your heart. And God, if there's anybody on this podcast that's listening that doesn't know who you are, that has never experienced your tangible love for them, I pray, God, that they would understand who you are and that you would show up to them in a tangible and a real way. And they would have a radical encounter with the love that that would just change them and transform them in a way that only love can. And God, I just release that love into the atmosphere now. And I just declare that that love would wash over whomever needs it from the top of their head to the soles of their feet, and that they would encounter you in a way that they never have before. Just, just show yourself strong, Lord, to those that need you, those that are hurting, those that are broken, those that are trapped in bondage, and those that just need your love and light to help them break free, God. And I pray that this podcast would be a guiding light, a beacon of hope for anyone that might be lost in the dark sea of trauma. And God, I just speak healing over anybody that's listening. And I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would administer that healing and that you would do what only you can do, and that you would bring resurrection power, that you would activate that within whomever is within earshot. God, we love you. We thank you for what you sent Jesus here to do. We thank you that the same power that rose Jesus from the dead lives in each and every one of us, God. And I just thank you that you didn't leave us here in our humanity, but you made a way for us to be who we truly are, created and called to be. And God, may we We all rise up into the fullness of what you designed for us, Father. We love you, God. And I thank you again for this amazing opportunity. In your name, Amen.

Israel Caminero: 1:00:10

Amen. Amen. Thank you for that powerful prayer.

Mandy Leigh: 1:00:14

You're welcome.

Israel Caminero: 1:00:15

Thank you so much. And thank you for being here once again.

Mandy Leigh: 1:00:19

Absolutely. It was my honor. Thank you so much for this opportunity, Israel.

Israel Caminero: 1:00:24

No problem. No problem. Hey, whatever glorifies God and what God did through you, and you're bringing that awareness, that's what it's about. And at this time, I just want to thank God for using me as his vessel in this podcast to just share stories like you just shared for everyone to listen to and for all the love and support that my audience has given me throughout these years that I've done this podcast. Without God, I wouldn't be doing this, but my audience is also involved in that. And I just want to say thank you. Like I said, it's her story for his glory. And until next time, I would just like to say, God bless you.