We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Frank Becker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Frank, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My Story started in 2012 when I took a Mission trip to Cebu, Philippines, after making a connection with the Children’s Shelter of Cebu. I was drawn to the Philippines after learning that many children were living on the streets without families, and there were very few Shelters to help the overwhelming need. I made a connection with a Pastor in the Philippines to assist me on my first trip and be my guide. My first trip was for 3 weeks where we visited a different location every day that was known to have children living on the street without proper food or shelter. Each day started at 4am buying food and making preparations for our travels. We traveled in an old blue jeep as many roads could not be traveled by car. Once at the location, we would gather the children and adults to have a food program that consisted of giving a Biblical message to the children, translated by Pastor Fred, with song and games. The program would end by providing a hot nutritious meal that may have been the only one they had in weeks. After those 3 weeks, my heart was deeply moved by what I encountered, so I decided to move forward with starting a 501c3 Non-Profit to support this cause. Mission Hope Cebu was born & founded in 2013 with our main goal to give Material Poor children in the Philippines Love and Hope for the Future to live out their dreams. It’s more than just a food giving program. Since 2013, I travel to the Philippines at least twice per year in May & December to have our large programs where we bring the children to a gymnasium for fun, games, gifts and food. Over the years we have grown to impact 1000’s of children every week through our weekly Bible Study teaching programs in conjunction with our all-volunteer local partners. Mission Hope Cebu has also been invited to have our programs in schools.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

Mission Hope Cebu is working in conjunction with our local partners in the Philippines to address the issue of severe poverity, primarily focusing on children. Families and children are forced to live in trash dump site areas to search for food and items to sell for their basic needs of clean water, food and clothing. Mission Hope Cebu provides children and families the opportunity to learn and be encouraged to develop a lifelong relationship with God. We provide Bible Study Food Programs and also Sponosor children to school and college to live out their dreams and escape the cycle of teen pregnancy and no education. Our main goal is to give Material Poor children in the Philippines Hope for the Future through our Caring and Loving Bible Study Programs. Our desire is to affect a child’s destiny, while providing Care and Love through their current circumstances. We stay within the communities and commit to give much-needed tangible resources such as food, water, clothing, and school supplies. We feel called to devote Love and Kindness to all children, which brings change and Hope through a Loving Relationship with God.

My life has been completely altered by what I have witnessed and experienced in the Philippines over the last ten years serving in these communities. I was accepted as family from the first day I arrived in this happy and always smiling culture, that most of us would find no reason to smile. It has humbled me to the point of basically selling everything I own to support Mission Hope Cebu, but I can 100% say that there has been no greater Joy. Thank you again for taking time to hear my Story. God bless you.

Any advice for managing a team?

I lead my Team through Biblical Principles and my actions. Most importantly to treat all people with kindness and respect. Our Greatest command is to love one another and our neighbor, which means to help anyone in need. I’m completely engaged in the trenches at all our programs, which typically means covered in dirt head to toe. Our learning environment is created to be loving, fun, and safe with comfortable atmospheres away from all the noise of the world. I want the children and our volunteers to open and comfortable sharing their troubles, so we can truly listen and offer direction when possible. I empower our youth volunteers to be the next leaders. In our first 10 years, we have seen children go from living in a trash dump site with no home or hope for the future, to graduating from college as a Teacher, IT, Hotel Management, and a Police Officer. Our leaders are empowered to make change in our world and mentor the other children, which provides them hope for the future to live out their dreams. Our Mission in Mission Hope Cebu is to have every child live out their dreams in life.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

During the Pandemic we were all called to pivot in our lives and business, especially Organizations that were based upon gathering people. This required us to rethink our approach of gathering children for their safety & welfare, and to follow any local ordinances, which varied at each of our locations. Firstly, we moved all gatherings to outside locations with social distancing and provided masks to the children and volunteers. Much of our food giving was prepared in to-go containers. Sadly, we were also required to reduce our number of children to meet local ordinance requirements. My annual trips in 2020 were also had to be cancelled due to Country lock-down. This made me pivot again and rethink where I truly needed and wanted to be in life; teaching children in the Philippines. I returned to school and obtained my TEFL degree to Teach children a Foreign Language, with a specialty in teaching Young Learners. My next trip to Philippines in April 2023 will be a permanent move for me seeking a location to open a School & Activities center for the children, with my dream to build an Orphanage in the years to come.

Contact Info:

• Website: MissioHopeCebu.org
• Instagram: MissionHopeCebu
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/MissionHopeCebu
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/frank-becker-94097511/
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/i6KqkutXmm8

Image Credits
N/A. Mission Hope Cebu Children and Volunteers have given us all rights.