May 2022
Frank was the local NMI President at his church, as well as a member of the District NMI council in central FL when missionary Ken Walker mentioned that he was getting ready to retire. Ken wanted to start an organization to help fund African leaders to acquire their education.
Frank’s position on the District NMI Council at the time was that of Deputation Coordinator. He scheduled missionaries to speak at local churches across the district when they were home in the US. He had scheduled Ken Walker to speak at his local church.
Ken asked Frank, “If I can get the organization up and running, will you become the treasurer since your background is in banking?” Because Frank had a heart for missions, he readily accepted Ken’s request to be the treasurer. The organization began in December 2006 and Frank served as treasurer until 2021.
The first meeting of the organization was in TN, and from there they met with an attorney who drew up the bylaws for EDUF. The Roetheli Lil’ Red foundation committed $150,000 seed money to launch EDUF, and a provision to match funds up to $300,000 terminating on July 31, 2008. Projects were undertaken to raise the funds primarily by flipping houses and the proceeds going to EDUF.
In 2007, a fact-finding venture to Africa occurred. Five countries were visited where the Nazarene Church had colleges and universities: South Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, Malawi and Kenya. Those who attended had the opportunity to stay on some of the campuses, interact with missionaries on the field as well as meet future General Superintendents of the Church of the Nazarene (Dr. Filimao Chambo and Dr. Eugenio Duarte.)
The trip opened eyes to the great limitations of Africans to acquire an education. Schools were far from where those called to ministry lived. They didn’t have the means to travel the distances to the colleges and pay for an education. Some didn’t have the education to get accepted into a college or university. Remote learning was a not a viable option at the time. Working to make resources available was the goal of EDUF. One woman who attended the trip was so moved by the lack of library resources that she donated $16,000 when she returned home to the States.