A Seed Planted

Some may wonder how Ked and Michelle Frank entered this realm 20+ years ago. Just as many of us have stories of great people of faith who poured into us, they have people God placed along the way that led them to this ministry. One of those people was Jani Lewis. 

Jani Lewis stepped into Ked’s office one day when he was a pastor in Kentucky. She shared that every Wednesday she was going with a team of ladies from church into the strip clubs and she had over a 100 women from church involved in the ministry. 

At the time, Jani was leading what would become Natalie’s Sisters in Lexington, Kentucky—a ministry devoted to reaching women who were being sexually exploited and trafficked. It was, and still is, a “first-touch” ministry—meeting women in the earliest, often most fragile moments, offering  support and other options, if women wanted it. 

Week after week, Jani and a growing team stepped into places most people avoided. Strip clubs. Streets. Hidden corners of the city where exploitation lived in plain sight. They didn’t go in with condemnation. They went with love and hoped to build trust.

When Jani shared this with Ked, something shifted.

It awakened a calling.

It was the first time Ked had truly come face to face with a different way of living out the Gospel: not waiting for people to come through church doors, but going to where they already were. Going into the dark. Bringing light through presence, consistency, and care.

That conversation became a turning point.

It planted a seed that would shape the next twenty years of Ked and Michelle’s lives.

What began as simple outreach grew into something deeply impactful. Natalie’s Sisters evolved into a consistent presence in the lives of women across Lexington—offering meals, clothing, toiletries, and a safe place to come during the day. It became a place where women could walk just as they were and encounter the gospel. No need to clean themselves up first. A place that offered not just resources, but relationships, referrals, and real support for things like housing, recovery, mental health, and employment.

Over time, the ministry expanded far beyond those early nights. A drop-in center opened its doors. Outreach continued into clubs, onto the streets, and even into jails and hospitals.  Women came not just for immediate needs, but for connection. 

And behind it all was Jani’s steady, faithful leadership.

For more than two decades, she chose obedience over comfort. She chose to step into spaces that were often misunderstood and unseen. As a survivor herself, she carried both compassion and credibility—able to look at women in the life and say, with honesty, “There is a way out.”

Her work has reached thousands.

From a handful of women in the early days to hundreds each year, Natalie’s Sisters has walked alongside women facing homelessness, addiction, trauma, and exploitation—meeting practical needs so that deeper healing could begin.

For Ked and Michelle, this was not just a ministry to observe. It became a partnership in the work. When they began running an emergency home in Lexington, many of the women who came through their doors were referred from Natalie’s Sisters.

Now, after 25 years of faithful service, she is stepping into a new season, having handed leadership on to the next generation. It is right to pause and give honor where honor is due. So, we say, “thank-you Jani for your faithfulness. Thank-you for obedience.”

Today, you may not see Jani standing beside us at Safe Places, but you can see what she began in Ked and Michelle. The reach of her work is far and wide. In just Ked and Michelle’s lives, she placed the seed that led to 13 safe houses and counting… and our very own teams that go out to the streets to carry the light into more places. 

Jani Lewis shows what it looks like to go: to love first and to stay when it’s hard. For all of us who are walking this path today, her “yes” is still echoing.

And we are grateful.

From our hearts to yours, Jani, “The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17