Remembering Franco

Part of the CCF who gathered for worship on March 25; the service included a time or memoriam for Franco and prayers for the Santonocito family.

Early this morning, we received a prayer request from Italy for Franco Santonocito who was in the hospital and doing poorly.  We had been aware of Franco facing severe health problems related to his heart in recent months; within the hour and before we could send out the request for prayer to those throughout the CCF family, we received a follow up email that he had passed away.

As young adults, Franco and Bea were involved early in the history of the Cairo Youth Fellowship, which became the CCF.  They returned to Italy for health reasons in the 1970’s, planting churches.  They returned to Egypt to encourage the CCF and national church on a 2 year plan that became more than 5.  In addition to planting churches, Franco and Bea trained leaders for the national church, and assisted the development, leadership, and teaching of the Mediterranean Bible College in Lebanon.  

In addition to all of this, for those of you who do not know, Franco and his wife Bea are at the heart of why we are now in Egypt.

As a part of our previous ministry in Decatur, Alabama, we were leading the 6th Avenue Church of God to enter into “missional partnerships” with a church or group of churches on each continent.  These relationships were the international fulfillment of their mission.  It was during our first trip to the United Kingdom, specifically during our first glimpse of London, that we began to discuss, pray, and feel compelled that we needed to be in Cairo Egypt.  That was in 2006.  

We followed up that trip with initial inquiries into the national work and specific churches in Egypt.  This led us to email correspondence with Franco and Bea.  We did not meet Franco and Bea personally until the summer of 2009.  At that time, we made tentative plans to move beyond electronic encouragement to a visit in Egypt in either later fall or winter 2009/2010.

Before this visit could happen, Bea suffered a severe heart attack at the end of November 2009.  Franco requested prayer for her healing and recovery throughout the international church.  After this email, he sent an additional email specifically to Keli and I that read, “We fear this event will spur us to retirement faster that we had hoped.  Please pray about being our replacements.”  We thought he was crazy--we had not even visited Egypt at that point!

Before the end of 2009, we also felt the Lord directing us to serve Egypt.  The international Church confirmed that call and leading after a year long assessment, culminating in our appointment in January 2011.  As you know, we arrived January 2012.  A little longer than Franco may have preferred, but just as he had asked.

Franco told many of our coming as we prepared.  I have heard many say that they felt like Elijah commissioning their Elisha.  I know that he wanted to have a time where he could pray over us personally--that didn’t happen on this side of heaven.  We know that as they have prayed for us in the past, that he is praying for us now--praying OVER us--and he’s probably roped in Elijah and Elisha into that prayer circle, too.

If you are or plan to be in Italy this week, funeral services are as follows:

Thursday, March 22 at 10:00 a.m. (Italian time) at the

Chiesa Cristiana Evangelica,

Via Costanzo Casana, 249

Osita Lido (Rome)

ITALY

If you would like to send condolences to the family, post a comment and we will forward them.