Dear Friend,
I often hear people exclaim, “it’s such a small world!”— And I always think: “that is so true— especially in the Coptic community!” This guest blog post by Mina Awad, from Indianapolis, shows just how small the Coptic community really is, and how different parts of it often come together in mysterious ways to unfold God’s plan to serve his children. Mina Awad is part of a dedicated group of volunteers who have been working hard to put together a service trip for aspiring medical professionals. The Serve to Learn medical education initiative will be running alongside our normal Serve to Learn trip this June 18-July 9. Read Mina’s post to see how a mission trip to Nigeria introduced him to an organization called the Coptic Medical Association of North America (CMANA) and how his friend Crestin‘s experience with Serve to Learn introduced him to Coptic Orphans; see? — “it is such a small world!”
—Nermien
“I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.” – Mother Teresa
This quote was the motive behind me wanting to serve overseas, and the inspiration for a journey that ultimately helped shape the new medical education initiative of Serve to Learn. What is it like to participate in an MMI Interview? Get hands-on experience is my answer.
Here’s how the story unfolded:
Reading Mother Teresa’s quote made me want to go to Africa and help those less fortunate than myself. To make a true difference and have an impact on someone else’s life, whether by teaching young kids about God, sharing a word with a homeless man, handing out gifts, or even preaching the true faith. I saw myself living an incredible life here in the United States, and desired the opportunity to give back to someone else is in need. And what a better place to do that than in Africa?
In April of 2014, I got a call from a friend and I found out that there was a mission trip to Nigeria coming up in June with a very blessed group, and I knew that I had to go. I contacted the group and June couldn’t come quickly enough. Finally, my chance to make a change and an impact in someone else’s life was here.
I was very worried about the trip to Nigeria, and my parents were even more worried due to the security situation of the country. But my worry was about whether or not I could actually make a difference, or whether I was just wasting my time.
After speaking to a few people, I felt a very strong calling to go through with the trip. As soon as we arrived, I was greeted with an astonishing sight of poverty, more than I could’ve imagined. The village we stayed in, close to the city of Calabar, was made up of mud huts and a few tree branches. The circumstances that these people lived in were unsanitary, and hit me in a wave of surprises. People didn’t have any bathrooms, they had no running water, and their kitchen was almost always behind their house using a fire hand drill.
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for their way of living, especially compared to mine. Over the next two weeks, I spoke with these people, felt God’s hand shaping me, and learned many lessons that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Going in, I wanted to make a change, and impact someone’s life. Help feed a few people and preach the gospel to some kids. But in actuality, by the time I left Calabar, my life was changed. Each person that I had the blessing to speak with had impacted my life. The gospel was preached and fed to me through their unshaken faith, and their constant thanksgiving to God. I wanted to make a difference, but instead I left different.
My trip to Nigeria ignited my passion for mission work, for wanting to serve in order to be filled by Him, and shaped as His vessel. It also taught me a lot about an incredible organization called the Coptic Medical Association of North America (CMANA).
CMANA is a nonprofit organization that aims at uniting all Egyptian Christian healthcare providers by medically helping those in need, as well as through education and networking. CMANA coordinates multiple medical treatment mission trips all over the world, and is a leader in the Coptic mission in Africa.
A portion of the Nigeria mission trip focused on the medical treatment aspect of mission work. I was amazed at the lack of education that people in these countries had regarding simple medical knowledge such as hygiene and preventative medicine.
A year later, a friend of mine had the incredible opportunity to do a Serve to Learn trip for three weeks in Egypt with Coptic Orphans. She had a very similar experience to the one I had in Nigeria, and was also astonished at how little knowledge was available regarding simple medical issues.
At almost the same time that I talked to my friend about her experience with Serve to Learn, I received a call from my cousin, a third-year medical student. He told me that he wanted to use his medical knowledge to serve his brothers and sisters in Christ in Egypt. After a few discussions among the three of us, we arrived at the concept of a medical education service trip to Egypt through collaboration between Coptic Orphans and CMANA.
This three-week trip to Egypt, as an aspect of Serve to Learn, will focus on simple yet creative ways of delivering a health-focused curriculum to orphaned children of all ages in Coptic Orphans’ programs. We will focus on three medical topics: wound care, hygiene, and nutrition, providing instruction in English through fun activities that the kids can understand and relate to.
By putting our love for these children to work by teaching them basic health knowledge, we can help improve their lives, and build a more health-conscious generation of Coptic children.
By being a part of the medical initiative of this Serve to Learn trip, you’ll be able to serve the kids through love, compassion, hope, and education.
I encourage you to apply soon — the deadline is March 15 for the medical initiative, and April 1 to serve at one of the sites of the “regular” English-teaching Serve to Learn that Coptic Orphans has been running for over a decade. You can find the applications here.
You will make an impact on this trip, not just in each one of the children’s lives, but also in their homes and families. But that is not the only reason I would encourage you to go. I encourage you to apply soon because you will meet so many beautiful children who will touch your heart. They will look up to you as an older sibling, with nothing but love in their hearts and smiles on their faces. The love that you receive will leave you with no alternative but to open your heart and love them back. That is when the change happens.
Interested in learning more about Serve to Learn? Check out our page and our new video, which gives a snapshot of the program! Any questions you’d like to ask a real human being? Call or email Mira Fouad, who runs Serve to Learn, at 703-641-8910 or at mfouad@copticorphans.org