Bob and Samantha Franklin
P.O. Box 1464
Ladybrand 9745
South Africa
franklin@ilesotho.com

Bob and Samantha will be in the United States on interpretation assignment from July to September 2004. To invite them to speak in your church, see their contact information on the Mission Speakers page.

Bob and Samantha Franklin serve as mission co-workers in Maseru, Lesotho, in southern Africa. Bob is a facilitator for "Joining Hands Against Hunger," a pilot project of the Presbyterian Hunger Program. Samantha is a librarian at the Morija Theological Seminary of the Lesotho Evangelical Church. Bob works with a network of local grassroots organizations, non-governmental organizations, and churches for the alleviation of hunger. The seminary library where Samantha works serves approximately 50 students from both the seminary and the adjoining Bible school of the Lesotho Evangelical Church. The Franklins were commissioned at the 213th General Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky, in June 2001.

"I was first interested in doing mission work when I was in my early twenties," says Bob. "I had both a desire to serve God and to be involved with those in need." This isn’t Bob’s first experience with Africa. He worked in Malawi in central Africa from January 1990 to December 1992 with Habitat for Humanity International, and he served as an economic development intern for the Daraja Charitable Trust in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1988. Bob believes this experience has helped to prepare him for the cultural adjustment to Lesotho. "I enjoy getting involved in other cultures and encountering different ways of life and worship," Bob says.

Letters from
Bob and Samantha Franklin

• April 2004
• December 2003
• October 2003
• July 2003
• March 2003
• December 2002
• September 2002
• June 2002
• April 2002
• February 2002
• October 2001

"I have always enjoyed helping others and doing what I can to serve others, both through my vocation and through volunteer activities," Samantha says. While the circumstances for libraries in the African context can be different from that of libraries in North America, she feels that her education and experience is helping her with the challenges of this work.

Prior to joining the PC(USA), Bob was customer service manager for Coptech West in Sunnyvale, California. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Eastern College in St. Davids, Pennsylvania, and a bachelor’s degree in geography from California State University in Long Beach, California.

Samantha previously worked as an information specialist for Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California. She holds a master’s degree in library and information science from San Jose State University in San Jose, California, a diploma in Christian studies from Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and both a bachelor's and master’s degree in history from the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Bob and Samantha attended the Church of the Chimes (Reformed Church of America) in San Jose, California. Bob is a member of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California. Samantha is a member of the Calgary Free Methodist Church in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Birthdays:
Bob - April 10
Samantha - March 1