"Like urban diplomats, the members shuttle between churches that offer financial support and the clubs with dancers they hope to help," "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" observed in a recent lengthy report on the ministry.

Still, it's a tricky balancing act. "It's not a ministry widely accepted within the church," said Lisanne McMurray, of Anthony, Kan., a former stripper and author of a book, Web site and gospel newsletter tailored for exotic dancers.

Churches would rather help the poor and homeless, McMurray said. The sex industry makes them nervous. Credit Victoria Teague, 42, with fashioning the unlikely alliance. With what her husband calls "the gift of gab," she built a support network of about a dozen churches, receiving significant help from such Atlanta-area megachurches as Victory World Church and Perimeter Church.

Teague also has won the confidence of dancers and club owners, claiming scores of conversions in five years through her Victoria's Friends outreach. Teague knows the profession. She was a stripper for four years known as Diana until she retired her high heels in 1989.

"She'd been where you had been and come through on the other side," said former stripper Charity Goss Comeaux, 26. Comeaux danced under the stage name Aja until December 2003, when she left the club scene for a clerk's job that paid half as much. The transition wasn't easy. But Teague helped, by simply showing that it can be done.

During outreach visits to strip clubs, female members of Victoria's Friends bring baskets to dressing rooms, containing blankets, chocolates and scarves for the strippers. Meanwhile, the men pray in the parking lot, the women's "direct connect" phones ready in case of trouble.

What wins strippers over to Teague's message is that she and her friends really care about the dancers, said Joseph Buffin, 39, the 295-pound head of security at the Rooster's strip club. "She's one of the few people who doesn't think they're worthless," Buffin told the "Journal-Constitution."

His manager, Mike Shedd, 60, an ex-Marine, agreed, saying: "It is so admirable what they are doing. If they reach one out of 10 girls, I think they've done their job."