Michael Franklin's Mission
to Israel
Dear Friends,
As many of you know, I have been volunteering seasonally as
a missionary in coastal Honduras since I was  13.
I am now 23 and feel God has given me this decade of experience as preparation
for a broader role as a missionary. I recently graduated from college with a
history degree and a license to teach high school students Social Studies and
Spanish, yet I still feel unprepared to meet the challenges of our changing world.
This past summer on a trip to Utila, Honduras I met a young
lady who had been serving as an individual volunteer for the past eight months.
She and I talked about her difficult decision to leave behind everything she
knew to work in an unfamiliar environment for no pay. She said she knew it was
God's plan for her to work with people but that she needed more preparation.
his makes great sense to me in that, although I have enjoyed teaching thus far,
yet I know I am lacking something. God is telling me that my academic education
is fully in progress, but I need now to focus on maturity. God is telling me
to go on a spiritual journey.
Upon returning from Honduras this past August I applied to
become an Individual United Methodist Volunteer in Mission. I completed training
and chose Honduras as my destination of choice for my extended mission. I was
ready to leave until I got another job temporarily teaching Spanish . My job
was completed during the rainy season in Honduras, and I could not volunteer
for at least another five months. So jobless without an immediate chance
for volunteering, I took an opportunity to begin teaching Sunday School at my
church. As it turns out, God put me in this position so I could join an exploratory
mission team to Israel/Palestine.
Before I began teaching Sunday School,
I went to the South Alabama Conference in Birmingham to gather
materials. I browsed and talked to a few people in charge of
youth ministry who provided me with some helpful  literature.
Content and walking out the door, I ran into the Director of
Mission and Advocacy for UMVIM, Paulette West. Paulette and I
know each other from our work together in Honduras and post-Katrina
disaster relief, and she immediately told me that I had been
on her mind concerning the building of a team to Israel/Palestine.
She was looking to fill a team with young people from each district
of the conference, and she wanted me to represent my own.
This offer has come as a blessing in that
I will be able to look at my life and mission work from a completely
different point of view. A Native American friend of mine always
reminds me "if you could only see what your eyes have seen," and
these words seem ever more poignant as I am searching for a purpose-driven
life. Spending two weeks working with the poverty-stricken children
in the Holy Land will give me new perspective for my career and
upcoming work in Honduras.
Our trip to Israel/Palestine is an exploratory
mission trip. Methodists have not built a church in the Holy
Land, and it has been agreed that this is a good thing. Methodism
has a history of a service-based ministry, and this mission trip
is one of several to evaluate what needs may be met with our
activism in the area. Half of this trip will be a Holy Land tour
and the other half will be a conversation with locals about types
of assistance needed. An overwhelming need that has already been
communicated to us is that of the children in a war-ravaged land.
Recently when an elementary school teacher there asked her class
to draw pictures that represented peace, she did not end up with
peace signs and people holding hands as one might expect. She
was handed picture after picture of bombs dropping and people
being shot. This is because when these children hear about peace
they concurrently hear about violence and death. Many of these
children are as poor as those I work with in Honduras, and with
poverty comes ignorance and war. Certainly, I think, it is of
central importance to focus on younger generations so that they
will grow up knowing peace can look differently.
Our trip will last from March 18 until April 1 and will cost
$3000. I will be happy to bring back a report to you and your church/Sunday School
Class/organization re. what my experience was like. I can also send you my weekly
thoughts on what I have seen through email. In addition I will publish my reports
on this on web page.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free
to contact me at:
Michael Franklin:
Phone: (334) 467-5777
E-mail: mjfranklin2012@gmail.com
Snail Mail: 7061 N. Highfield Dr. Birmingham, Al 35242
Sincerely Yours,
Michael Franklin |
