Becoming a movie star, and achieving fame, was something that Joshua Broome dreamed of from an early age.
He started acting and modelling at 15 years old before heading to college, where he studied theatre for two years.
"I thought if I moved to Hollywood, it would be more advantageous for my career. I ended up landing both a modelling and acting agent," said Broome. "Things were going okay."
To help pay his bills between gigs, Joshua picked up work at a local restaurant. It was there that his life would change forever.
"I met a group of girls that invited me to be in their industry," said Joshua. "Surprisingly, they were talking about porn, not the mainstream acting I was pursuing."
Through an array of poor decisions, Joshua agreed to join them. That one decision changed the trajectory of his life.
"I ended up being in the adult entertainment industry for six years. I did over 1000 movies and won awards," Joshua explained. "The reality was, I was making a lot of money. I was travelling the world. I had nice things, but at the end of the day, when I put my head on the pillow, I was a prostitute."
Joshua believed that if he won the most prestigious award in the industry, it would fill the voids in his life and bring him happiness.
"Once all those boxes were checked, and I won that award, it illuminated my brokenness because it didn't work," said Joshua. "That's where I fell apart."
"I started calling out to the God that I didn't know, saying I didn't want to live because I thought that no one would want to marry me. There is no way I'm going to be a father in a healthy way. There is no way I will contribute to an organization in any way. I am not going to be a leader. I am not going to impact the world. So I may as well die."
It was a quick trip to the bank that helped Joshua get his life back on track.
"I went to deposit a cheque, and as I was leaving, the teller called out my name and asked me if I was okay," said Broome. "Her asking me this was important because I had isolated myself from everyone completely. I hadn't even heard my name in over a year."
"When I heard my name, it shattered this plausible reality based on lies. The numbness that I had broke through. I felt the pain. I felt the regret of not answering my mom's phone calls."
Joshua ran home, called his agent and quit the industry. From there, he decided to move closer to his mother and got a job as a personal trainer at a gym near his mother's home.
At the gym, Joshua met a young lady named Hope, whom he was interested in. He asked her out on a date, and she told him he could run with her.
Joshua decided to be honest for the first time in his life and tell her about his history in the adult film industry. Instead of judging him, Hope started talking to him about God in a way that he had never experienced before.
The pair went to church the following weekend, and Joshua would go on to surrender his life to God.
Broome decided to go to Bible school, where he studied Biblical theology.
He eventually got married to Hope, and they have been married for six years and have three sons. They are currently working at Good News Baptist Church in Iowa.
Today on Connections, Joshua shares how he went from porn star to pastor.