Religious Trauma, Addiction, Betrayal — Pastor Kim Tells All

SPEAKER_1 (0:11)

Is this thing on?

Bunnie DeFord (0:13)

What's up, babies, welcome to another episode of Dumb Blonde. Today, I have a woman who is so inspiring, so beautiful inside and out, so tenacious. Your story is just fascinating. The more that I have gotten to be able to just deep dive into it, and I'm so excited that you are sitting here on my couch, Ms. Kimberly Jones, baby. Thank you.

Kimberly Jones-Pothier (0:35)

I'm so honored to be here.

Bunnie DeFord (0:37)

I was just telling you a second ago that you are my first pastor.

Kimberly Jones-Pothier (0:40)

I am shook.

Bunnie DeFord (0:41)

I have had psychics on here. I have had, I'm talking like every, I have had health nuts. I have had everybody, but I have never sat down with a woman of the word.

Kimberly Jones-Pothier (0:53)

What made you want to do that?

Bunnie DeFord (0:54)

You know, so when I first started this podcast, my two top people that I wanted on my podcast was Dolly Parton and Joyce Meyers. I am a huge Joyce Meyers fanatic. Crazy, right? Everybody, so I grew up in a really strict Southern Pentecostal home. I went to a Christian school. I went to Bible camps. I mean, like it's crazy with my background that I came from, but long story short, my father was a rocker. Mom was a stripper.

Mom left me at three months.

Dad married, cheated on the mom, my stepmom, and then had to get into religion to prove that he was going to be able to make it in the marriage or whatever. And then we became like a cult. So it was crazy. So I say all that to say that when I wanted Joyce Myers on, she is the only woman pastor that I would ever listen to because I'm always so scared of who you invite into your life.

And in the past year, I started listening to you because I did see one of your reels on, I think it was either Facebook or Instagram. And I was like, who is this woman? Because she talks just like me. She's sassy and she has so much fire, which is like, I love Joyce, but she's for the older generation. She's very modest, you know? And I was like, I love this because this woman speaks my language and then I just started diving into you. And I was like, I need this woman on the podcast.

Kimberly Jones-Pothier (2:20)

Oh my gosh, Bunnie.

Bunnie DeFord (2:21)

I'm so excited to have you here.

Kimberly Jones-Pothier (2:23)

That does so much to my heart. Because being a woman pastor, I get a lot of flak from even the church world, because I'm in their face. But I'm not judgmental, and they want me to be judgmental. They want me to send people to hell.

And because I don't, to hear that God has allowed me to be used, and it is, I mean, this is the greatest honor ever for me. This is exactly what I want. I don't want to be in a church doing that stuff. I want to be right here.

Bunnie DeFord (2:56)

Yeah, no, and I love that. And I love that you are so non-judgmental, because I base my entire platform on not judging anybody. And I have been persecuted.

Because I just want to show everybody in the world that no matter how terrible of a human you might be to the world, you still deserve love. And that's what you preach to.

Kimberly Jones-Pothier (3:18)

Well, and Bunnie, you look at God. I mean, you know, I guess, because I was raised just like you, and that's so funny.

Bunnie DeFord (3:24)

Oh, we're gonna talk about it.

Kimberly Jones-Pothier (3:25)

You have that background.

Bunnie DeFord (3:25)

We're gonna talk about it, yeah. And we have a lot of similarities, even down to the three marriages, girl. I didn't even bat an eyelash when I heard that about you.

I was like, oh, this is my girl.

Kimberly Jones-Pothier (3:36)

And the church girl asked me, they were like, why do you talk about that? Why do you tell that? I'm like, why would not?

Bunnie DeFord (3:41)

Yeah, it's part of your story.

Angelo (3:42)

Why waste my hell?

Bunnie DeFord (3:43)

What's tea for them is testimony for you, always.

Kimberly Jones-Pothier (3:46)

Well, I was, I was, what was I telling you?

Bunnie DeFord (3:49)

You, we were talking, I don't even know. I'm just so excited to have you here. We have started this off great.

Angelo (3:55)

I love this so much.

Bunnie DeFord (3:56)

So, okay, the one thing that everybody zeroes in on you is your marriages. And I don't want to do that with you. Because, and of course, we are going to talk about them because it is part of your life. But I truly believe that people are influenced as children to make the decisions that they make as an adult. And any time I hear an interview with you or I hear you talk about your childhood, you kind of gloss over it and don't really talk in depth about it. I might have missed it somewhere, but I don't really get to hear the meat and potatoes of what made you the woman you are that did make these mistakes and that you have now learned from.