We all want to find our purpose — whatever it might look like for each of us. God has given us an innate sense of purposefulness as humans. We seek it out; we invest in it. It’s part of how God created us. Drive and passion in our hearts reflects God in us — He created us with purpose and for purpose. Our most basic purpose can be distilled down to a simple definition: To love God and love others in whatever unique ways God has shaped us. But sometimes we can get lost in circumstances, transitions, or hardships, and need the support of others to help see what might come next.

words + photographs SAVANNAH STEPP

God used others around me in two key moments to help me identify my passions and spark dreams of how those passions might lead to a specific purpose. God used these defining moments to stop me in my path and redirect me toward His heart for vulnerable women. He developed a desire and passion in me that led toward my purpose and calling. These were the moments that led me to the last 10 years of full-time ministry to women who have been trafficked and exploited.

The summer before my freshman year of college, I participated in a mission trip to serve with a disaster relief organization helping to rebuild after a hurricane. During the trip, we attended a church service where the pastor shared about his recent encounter with a woman in need. He worked in a mechanic shop, and a woman had walked into the shop asking for help. Fifteen years later, I vividly remember his emotion as he shared about his interaction with this pregnant, bare-footed woman. She had met a man online and moved to Texas to be with him. When she arrived, he began pimping her out. She ended up pregnant, and he kicked her out. In great need but in the wake of a hurricane, she was struggling to find help in her community. With great emotion, this pastor stared at his congregation and confessed all he could do was offer a pair of flip-flops and the $5 he had in his wallet.

That moment rocked my sheltered, 18-year-old, church-girl world. A feeling of righteous anger rose up in me as I heard that story. Why was no one helping her? Why couldn’t she find any resources? Someone had to help this poor woman! I left that night and processed the story with my friend who had heard the story, too. We were both shaken by the suffering, pain, and trauma this woman had experienced, and we simply could not fathom that no one would help her.

Months later in my first semester of college, I “randomly” connected with some other students who had a similar heart for women in need. They had experienced women in similar situations over the summer, but they had a word for it. Exploitation. As I began learning about this concept of exploitation, and eventually trafficking, it became clear I couldn’t just read about it. I needed to do something about it. Because it wasn’t just happening in another state or overseas, it was happening here, in my hometown. I knew we needed to engage with the needs of these women in our community somehow.

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Our desire was to genuinely care for and inspire hope in their hearts and lives, to convey in some small way they were created for purpose in this world.

Fast-forward two years. I was a sophomore in college, and this group of women had continued to explore, learn, pray, and seek opportunity for ministry in our hometown. Through these efforts, we found an opportunity to connect with women (women like us!) who worked in the adult entertainment industry. These women were from all walks of life and had experienced many struggles — some different and some similar to ours. Our common ground created a connection and the ability to acknowledge the dignity and value of those we met. We sought to express love with no other agenda than to connect in authentic relationship. Our desire was to genuinely care for and inspire hope in their hearts and lives, to convey in some small way they were created for purpose in this world.

One night, after connecting with some of these women we had grown to love, I was sitting on my kitchen counter and talking to that same friend who had sat in the church pew with me two years before. I was debriefing our interactions and sharing how excited I was to be able to do that kind of thing: Pouring into other women’s lives, investing in them, and encouraging them in whatever they were going through at the time. My friend looked at me and said, “Savannah, you sound so passionate about this. I think you’ve found your purpose!” I thought about it for a minute and then responded, “Yes, I really love getting to do this!”

If only I could have imagined then how God would take that small moment of identifying my passion and turn it into a lifetime of purpose. My simple “yes” to connection with others has turned into 10 years of ministering to those negatively impacted by the commercial sex industry and sex trafficking. My days are filled with engaging directly with women who desperately need hope, care, and a gentle spark of love that only God can ignite in their hearts. I do not take for granted God has allowed me to find and develop my purpose in this way, and I am so humbled by it.

If you’re seeking the Lord’s heart for your purpose, all He asks of you is to come to Him as a beloved child. As you rest in His unfailing love and grace, you can submit your heart to His plans, secure in an understanding of your identity in Christ alone. He requires nothing of you, but He invites you into a greater purpose and a divine calling to invest in the kingdom of God.

Then, secure in that identity, simply do the thing He’s put in front of you. Seek out the ways God has cultivated passion or ignited a heart for something in you and the places where He brings you life as you invest. When you are faithful with these little things, God takes the tiny seeds of your “yeses” and grows them into a beautiful garden of purpose in your life.

If you’re struggling to find purpose (or if you just need a little reminder), check out these verses I’ve found to be wonderful reminders of God’s character and heart for us as His children.

• 2 Chronicles 16:9
• Esther 4:14
• Psalm 33:11
• Psalm 51:16-17
• Proverbs 4:25-27
• Proverbs 19:21
• Luke 16:10
• Ephesians 2:10
• Philippians 2:12-13
• Romans 8:28
• Romans 11:29

As you reflect on God’s purposes for you, I’ll leave you with these questions. What are you passionate about? What ignites your heart and soul for greater vision? How has God positioned you to use those passions right where you are in this moment?

That is a great place to start exploring, whether it’s for a season or a lifetime.

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Savannah Stepp has been in full-time ministry to women experiencing trafficking and exploitation in Springfield, Missouri, for the past 10 years. She is a lover of theology, a wanderlust traveler, aspiring plant lady, proud big sister and loyal friend.

Cover Savannah Stepp and friends serving alongside a disaster relief organization in Texas after a hurricane.

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