- When I first starteddancing it did feel empowering

because I felt soworthless that it was nice

to have a dollar amountattached to my work.

- [Narrator] As a singlemom dancing in strip clubs

for a living, Stephanie Jeffers

was far from her idyllic childhood.

- I grew up in a Christianhome, my dad was a preacher.

My relationship with my dad was good.

Living in South Carolinawas the happiest time

of my childhood.

- [Narrator] She felt safe, loved

and enjoyed being in church.

- We would go to thechurch and we would play

and really just being in the church

was like our second home.

And I grew up withouta doubt loving Jesus.

- [Narrator] But when herfather took a new pastor's job

and moved the family to Indiana,

his temperament started to change.

- He had a short fuse and we always knew

when we disappointed him.

He became less involved in our lives

and less accepting of us growing up

and me being in cheerleading

and my sister having a boyfriend

and it was really lonely andit made me feel unworthy.

- [Narrator] In junior high,Stephanie started smoking

and drinking, soon she was smoking pot.

- I think I was always tryingto get my dad's attention

because he was reallyattentive to some of the girls

in our church who wereknown to be rebellious.

- [Narrator] Her fathergrew angrier at Stephanie

until one night he flewinto a violent rage

breaking things and kicking her.

(hollers)- Answer me!

- [Narrator] He lefthome and never returned.

- I felt relief but Ifelt really abandoned

and traumatized and shocked

and why wasn't I worth staying for?

If my dad would walk awaywho taught me about faith,

who was a pastor whoraised me in the church,

if he would walk away thenmaybe all of it was a lie.

- [Narrator] Soon after college,

Stephanie married herhigh school sweetheart.

Two years later she had a little girl

and enjoyed being a stay at home mom.

But the marriage erodedand after five years,

Stephanie ended up a single mom.

- I mean, it hurt and it leftme feeling abandoned again

but I didn't fight for our marriage.

- [Narrator] Stephaniegot a job as a paralegal

and started dating someonewho seemed like a great guy

but when they started living together,

he quickly became abusive.

- And I was the perfect victim

because I wanted love so muchthat I took whatever it was

that I needed to take to keep him there.

- [Narrator] Then Stephanie got pregnant

but when she miscarried at four months,

her boyfriend walked out andleft her to deal with it alone.

- And I was empty of everything else,

hope for a future anddreams and promises and joy

and all of that died in me.

- [Narrator] She pushedaside her grief and loss

but it caught up with her months later,

the day the baby she lostwould have been born.

- I was done tryingand I was done fighting

and I was done doing all the things

and I walked into my joband I gathered up my things

and I just left and I drove to a cemetery

and I grieved for the firsttime in a really long time.

- [Narrator] With no job prospects,

Stephanie remembered aco-worker once told her

she could make goodmoney dancing in clubs.

- And I said well, that'scrazy, that's disgusting,

I would never do that butI felt like I belonged

in the darkness and Igot up from that space

and the next day Iwalked into a strip club

for the first time.

- [Narrator] Over thenext few years Stephanie

sank deeper into that world.

She strived to be a good motherbut when her daughter chose

to go live with herex-husband and his new wife,

Stephanie knew she had failed again.

- I mean, I wanted to die.

There was no joy left in me,I had to walk into that house

and sprawl across that child's bed

and knew that I hadfailed in the biggest way

I could possible fail.

I truly had become nothing

and that was the lowestmy life had ever been.

That is when I turned to prostitution.

- [Narrator] Three years of dancing

and prostituting herbody took a heavy toll

on her physically,emotionally and spiritually.

- My mom said of me that Ilooked like the walking dead

and I was thinking where did she go,

where did the girl gowho once loved Jesus?

I had nothing left to give,I had nothing left to sell,

I had no piece of me thatresembled who I've been

and I just couldn't take itanymore, it just hurt too much.

- [Narrator] Finally, Stephanie left

that lifestyle for good.

She remembered the joy shefelt as a little girl in church

and realized her only hopewas turning back to God.

- I just cried out and asked for Jesus.

I felt undeserving of itand I felt a little scared

of believing in it but therewas nowhere else to go.

- As Stephanie began attendingchurch and a Bible study,

she found her way back to trusting God.

- It took a really long time

to understand who I was in Jesus again

because there had been a lot of hurt

that had happened along the way

and every step that Iwould take on this new path

led me closer to Jesus and itled me away from who I was.

- [Narrator] Today, Stephaniehas remarried with a child

and has restored herrelationship with her daughter.

She uses her past to helpwomen who are struggling

to discover theunconditional love of Jesus.

- There is nobody like Jesus to me

and he has saved me andredeemed me and restored

every single piece of my life.

All of the loss and all of the heartache

and all of the distance and the sin,

it is not too much for God'sgrace and for his mercy.

That is there foreverybody and all it takes,

it's just the tiniest,tiniest bit of faith

and God can do great big things.