piratebg
05-02-2006, 09:15 AM
Ex-stripper does new turn -- in missionary position Sun Apr 30, 9:08 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Heather Veitch, a tall, shapely blonde, made a career out of baring it all at strip clubs. Now when she walks in a club, it is just to deliver her naked truth about God.
"If you are a Christian, see us in ACTION," she says in a faith-based tease on her website, www.JCsgirls.com, geared toward women in the sex industry as well as men who turn to it.
Last month she was introduced on evangelist Pat Robertson's "The 700 Club" as a "holy hottie."
At 32, Veitch still has a girlish strain to her voice, but she has done a fair amount of living, surviving a failed, turbulent marriage; having a child at 18; spending five years in the trenches as a stripper; making four appearances in "soft porn" and fetish movies; and having a second daughter with her current husband, who has brain cancer.
For three years, she has been a preacher for the non-denominational Christian church JC Girls Girls Girls. The "JC" stands for Jesus Christ, and the "Girls" for the three women who are its main evangelists: Veitch, Lori Albee -- also a former stripper -- and Tanya Huerter, a schoolteacher.
Their church in Riverside, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Los Angeles, is a sedate setup compared with the elaborate services they hold in Las Vegas and their pink-and-glossy website. And they are generating a flock: They now have about 2,100 members.
It is all not-for-profit, the women say.
"If people want to donate, there's no problem, and it goes to pay the rent, maintain the church," Veitch says.
Leaders of the California Southern Baptist Convention -- with which JC's Girls Girls Girls' home church is associated -- support the ministry but admit that the website may not appeal to church members.
"I think many Southern Baptists might feel uncomfortable with that look," spokesman Terry Barone told local media.
Though in Riverside she reads psalms and sings Christian songs to guitar music, Heather's real mission comes once a month, when she sets out with volunteers and visits the clubs.
"About three years ago now, I found out that a girlfriend of mine that I worked with had died, and she died of alcoholism. When I found out, I was living a life, like a good Christian life. I didn't talk to anybody from my past, I didn't know anybody from my past anymore, and when I found that out, it really broke my heart that my friends were dying," Veitch says.
"They weren't just girls that were stripping and not doing good. No, they were actually dying. And I knew that I needed to go back and tell those girls that there was another way, and there's God and God cares about them. So even if they don't choose another way, ... they know that they can call upon God for help."
Now well known from her media appearances, Veitch is often approached by the strippers, who ask her for advice or tell her their troubles.
"A lot of people think we are trying to get them out of the industry or we're trying to help them change, but really we're trying to have them have a relationship with God.
"We want her to change her heart, and then if she changes her life because of that, then great, but it is not a requirement," she says. "We totally go by the Bible, like, we believe that the Bible is 100 percent truth."
"My goal is that I know that never again will a stripper -- or anybody -- feel like God is not for them. That's my goal," Veitch says, but she adds: "I would love them not to dance, because I know it is damaging and it is hard."
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Heather Veitch, a tall, shapely blonde, made a career out of baring it all at strip clubs. Now when she walks in a club, it is just to deliver her naked truth about God.
"If you are a Christian, see us in ACTION," she says in a faith-based tease on her website, www.JCsgirls.com, geared toward women in the sex industry as well as men who turn to it.
Last month she was introduced on evangelist Pat Robertson's "The 700 Club" as a "holy hottie."
At 32, Veitch still has a girlish strain to her voice, but she has done a fair amount of living, surviving a failed, turbulent marriage; having a child at 18; spending five years in the trenches as a stripper; making four appearances in "soft porn" and fetish movies; and having a second daughter with her current husband, who has brain cancer.
For three years, she has been a preacher for the non-denominational Christian church JC Girls Girls Girls. The "JC" stands for Jesus Christ, and the "Girls" for the three women who are its main evangelists: Veitch, Lori Albee -- also a former stripper -- and Tanya Huerter, a schoolteacher.
Their church in Riverside, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Los Angeles, is a sedate setup compared with the elaborate services they hold in Las Vegas and their pink-and-glossy website. And they are generating a flock: They now have about 2,100 members.
It is all not-for-profit, the women say.
"If people want to donate, there's no problem, and it goes to pay the rent, maintain the church," Veitch says.
Leaders of the California Southern Baptist Convention -- with which JC's Girls Girls Girls' home church is associated -- support the ministry but admit that the website may not appeal to church members.
"I think many Southern Baptists might feel uncomfortable with that look," spokesman Terry Barone told local media.
Though in Riverside she reads psalms and sings Christian songs to guitar music, Heather's real mission comes once a month, when she sets out with volunteers and visits the clubs.
"About three years ago now, I found out that a girlfriend of mine that I worked with had died, and she died of alcoholism. When I found out, I was living a life, like a good Christian life. I didn't talk to anybody from my past, I didn't know anybody from my past anymore, and when I found that out, it really broke my heart that my friends were dying," Veitch says.
"They weren't just girls that were stripping and not doing good. No, they were actually dying. And I knew that I needed to go back and tell those girls that there was another way, and there's God and God cares about them. So even if they don't choose another way, ... they know that they can call upon God for help."
Now well known from her media appearances, Veitch is often approached by the strippers, who ask her for advice or tell her their troubles.
"A lot of people think we are trying to get them out of the industry or we're trying to help them change, but really we're trying to have them have a relationship with God.
"We want her to change her heart, and then if she changes her life because of that, then great, but it is not a requirement," she says. "We totally go by the Bible, like, we believe that the Bible is 100 percent truth."
"My goal is that I know that never again will a stripper -- or anybody -- feel like God is not for them. That's my goal," Veitch says, but she adds: "I would love them not to dance, because I know it is damaging and it is hard."