By Madeleine Collins

Taking tourists sightseeing to Mount Sinai may seem like a job straight out of a dream, but for the new Director of Training for the Anglican Diocese of Egypt, Mikhail Ghobrial, it was just part of a process leading up to his new full-time ministry in the world’s largest diocese.
The former tour guide was invited by the Diocese of Sydney recently to spend two weeks with trainers, students and clergy, learning how churches are training people to enter ministry.
The Diocese of Egypt is part of the Episcopal church of Jerusalem and the Middle East and includes North Africa, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.
The two dioceses have a historic relationship. Bishop Mouneer Anis is a well-known evangelical living in the midst of volatile Islamic neighbours. Sydney is resource rich and wants to increase the number of missionaries it sends out to evangelical dioceses like Egypt.
And Mr Ghobrial’s visit is just one sign that the strong partnership is set to continue. Robert Doyle, Director of Postgraduate Studies at Moore Theological College, will leave for Egypt this month to take part in early discussions to build an evangelical theological college in the port city of Alexandria.
Mr Ghobrial runs an eight-month part time training program for laity who are considering entering ministry. However, he says he is so amazed by the number of churches involved in the Ministry Training Strategy (MTS) that he plans to investigate how it can be used it in Egypt. But he says the vast size of his training ground can make training difficult.
“When you are in Sydney you can have one day and invite all the churches, but it in Egypt it is not the case,” he said. “The challenges in ministry can vary from one country to the next.”
He welcomed proposals to send more Australian missionaries to Egypt.
“If someone comes from Australia from Egypt it would enrich the ministry in Egypt, and I think it can be both ways. The exchange of experience is very important. If we had lay ministers coming for a short period of time that would also be helpful.”
However, he warned that language is a hindrance to the sending of foreign ministry workers. “It’s very difficult to learn Arabic,” he said. “It takes a long time, and it’s very difficult to communicate with people if you don’t know [the language].”
For now, his aim is to take back the experience he gained in Sydney to work with the clergy in Egypt to train pastors and reach out to his neighbours.
“The first focus is in the Arab world because we know Arabic very well so we can help there.”
“And there is a great need because you don’t find [many] Christians.”