Franco Santonocito

One of those students is Franco Santonocito.Franco was born in 1938 in Alexandria, Egypt.His parents were Italian, and his father served in the Italian diplomatic corps.Franco grew up in Egypt and completed his secondary education in Alexandria in 1955.The following year a friend explained to him the Gospel, and he chose to follow Christ.

After Franco's conversion, a friendship grew with Beatrice. ‘Bea' (pronounced ‘bay ah') also grew up in Egypt; her parents were from England and Luxembourg.After completing high school, Bea moved to Germany to continue her studies.During these years, Franco and Bea corresponded, and in 1958 Bea returned to Egypt, and they were married.

The Lord honored Franco with several prestigious career options.His uncle owned a group of hotels and asked Franco to manage them and eventually take ownership.
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In the 1962, the LBI was moved to Beirut where Franco continued his studies while also taking some courses at Hagazian College.For Franco, the LBI and the discipleship of Rev. Melky were important foundations for his ministry.
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For their year in Rome, Franco accepted a position with the Church of God as director of their literature mission office.Franco also led youth outreaches, which resulted in a new church being planted.
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Today, Franco is Chairman of the Board of the MBC and also President of the Mediterranean General Assembly of the Church of God.His responsibilities include holding evangelistic campaigns and leadership seminars around the Mediterranean.

In 2002, thirty years after leaving for ‘one year,' Franco & Bea left their three children and five grandchildren in Rome and moved back to Egypt.They live in Cairo where they are pastoring the English meeting of the Church of God at St. Andrew's Church.When they began at the church, there were about 15 influential, although rather dismayed, people attending.Today attendance is 60-100 per week.The Lord has blessed the congregation with very influential business leaders and professionals, and Franco & Bea sense that the Lord is going to use the church in a much broader circle to empower Christian leadership, multiply cell groups and plant churches.