How one journey helped heal her grief —
and founded a ministry
Exactly one year after her father died from brain cancer, Alexis stood on a hillside in Israel reading words she had known all her life, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5).
Standing at the traditional site of the Mount of Beatitudes, Alexis suddenly fell to her knees and wept. Her grief poured out in a question to God, “How am I blessed when I am mourning?”
In that sacred place, she sensed God’s powerful response: “You are experiencing a level of my comfort that others have not entered into.”
That moment changed her life.
Alexis experienced that healing during her trip to Israel through Covenant Journey, a ministry that takes Christian college-age students to the Holy Land so their faith can be strengthened in powerful ways. But her journey to that moment was filled with heartbreak.
Will you help send another Christian college student to Israel today through Covenant Journey? Your gift can help provide the life-changing experience that strengthened Alexis’ faith.
One year earlier, Alexis had walked through the deepest pain of her life as her father battled brain cancer. In the final weeks of his life, she was invited to compete in The National Fine Arts Festival, where 3,000 young people participated. She practiced her sermon sitting beside her father’s hospital bed — believing in faith that he would be healed.
Alexis was selected to deliver her message before 20,000 people. In that moment, she spoke about trusting God even when healing doesn’t come the way we hope. Her father passed away the very same week.
Later in Israel, Alexis visited the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed before His crucifixion. She reflected on how alone Jesus was in that moment.
As Alexis later explained: “Jesus was isolated in the hardest moment he ever had to endure.” But then she felt God remind her of something powerful: “In your hardest moment, you had 20,000 people that I sent to pray with you. Even going through your hardest time, I was there supporting you.”
Back at the Mount of Beatitudes, she read the words of Jesus again — and this time, the heaviness lifted. God met her there.
Today, Alexis says, “I’m confident I’ll never forget the memories I made and the lessons I learned along the way.”
Now she’s helping others find hope.
Alexis co-founded an organization called Let’s Be Frank, named in honor of her father, Frank, to help young people talk honestly about grief and life struggles. She also became a licensed minister, leads ministries for hundreds of college students, teaches workshops, preaches at camps, and shares the hope of Christ with audiences across the country.
Her time in Israel helped lay the spiritual foundation for all of it.
And many more young leaders like Alexis are waiting for the same opportunity. When students walk where Jesus walked and encounter Scripture in the land of the Bible, their faith deepens in ways that last a lifetime. Many return home ready to lead ministries, influence campuses, and share Christ.
Please make a generous gift today to help send the next generation of Christian leaders to Israel.
Your support is helping raise up a generation that is bold, compassionate, and deeply rooted in faith. Just like Alexis.
Thank you for helping make these life-changing journeys possible.
Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
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Alexis found healing and purpose during her Covenant Journey to Israel. Give today and help another student encounter God in the land of the Bible.
