A person’s life typically passes through various stages, among the most significant of which are the stages of education: primary education, secondary education, university education, and sometimes postgraduate studies. These stages shape a person’s character and prepare them to work in the various fields of life and serve society.

However, a person’s experience grows even more when they are offered opportunities for education abroad through different academic or training programs, which enrich their love of knowledge and add new aspects to their personality, refining their skills and talents. Naturally, traveling abroad to gain renewed knowledge is a great addition to anyone who aspires to broaden their horizons through learning and scholarship. As the Arabs once said, travel brings seven benefits, the foremost of which is limitless knowledge.

Fifty years ago, I graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, in June 1975. My years of study were very dear to me. I had wanted to enroll in this college since childhood, fascinated by medicines, their effects, manufacturing, and production. I spent my years there happy and proud, with my family sharing in this joy. I graduated with a grade of “Very Good with Honors” (comparable to a “B” or “B+” in the U.S. grading system), and began working in one of the clinics under the Ministry of Health for two years as a mandatory rotation.

After that, I received a scholarship from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Higher Education, along with a one-year leave to study “Pharmaceutical Engineering,” which was known as industrial pharmacy, a subject we studied in the final years of college. Only five students were accepted into this scholarship, which I completed successfully, ranking first among my peers, and I received a commendation award from the university.

That was at the end of 1979. I returned to work in a pharmaceutical factory, and time passed. I began studying at the Theological Seminary in Alexandria in 1980. It was a delightful study experience with esteemed professors, although it was interrupted by the conflict between the Church and the state in September 1981. At that time, Egypt experienced great turmoil, especially after President Sadat was assassinated the following month (October 6), casting a shadow over the entire society.

I pursued my seminary studies (1980–1983) with dedication and commitment, finding joy in theological learning and spiritual friendships. Then God granted me three study opportunities outside Egypt, each with its own flavor, type, and field. All of them added to my intellectual maturity and personal development.

The first opportunity was in 1985 in England, before I entered the monastery in 1986. It was to receive a fellowship from the World Health Organization in the field of drug quality and safety assurance. The study took place at Churchill Hospital in Oxford University, one of the largest hospitals in the United Kingdom. It lasted around 100 days. I had colleagues from England, India, Pakistan, and Ireland. Due to this educational opportunity, I learned about each of their lives and work. I was diligent and disciplined to the point that the scholarship administration awarded me a monetary prize after a month to purchase pharmacy books. However, I used the money to buy books on photography, a passion of mine, even though I didn’t own a camera! The only one I spoke to in Arabic was God through my prayers, praises, and readings. I would ask Him to help me buy a camera. Just before the end of the scholarship, they gave me another bonus, which I used to buy a camera. I was overjoyed to fulfill a dream that had lived in my heart for years. After returning to Egypt, I worked for a few more months before resigning to enter the monastery. I left behind the camera among the things I gave up. Such is the nature of dreams: once realized, the longing for them ends. It is like chasing the wind. I entered the monastery, and became a monk, then a priest.

The second opportunity came in 1991 in Cyprus, where I studied Church and development at the Canadian Coady Institute. The Middle East Council of Churches arranged a first-level program lasting a month, attended by 30 students from the Middle East churches. It was taught by foreign professors from the institute in an intensive and fascinating course. I learned a new field in ministry and was deeply influenced by the professors’ and colleagues’ experiences in their churches. The word “development” was new at the time in the context of ministry—how it helps uplift people, especially the marginalized, the voiceless, and those living on the fringes of life. The professors wrote reports evaluating each participant. I was among the top ten. They repeated this program over the next two years with new groups of 30 participants each, totaling 90 participants (30 × 3). These individuals went on to work in development across various churches. Then came the second level. They selected the top ten from each group (30 in total) to attend an advanced course in 1993, also in Cyprus, lasting two weeks. It was an opportunity to deepen my knowledge in this field and apply it to church service. It was truly a great, beneficial, and impactful experience.

The third opportunity came in 1999 after I had become a General Bishop. I studied leadership and Christian education at the Haggai Institute in Singapore for a full month. There were forty servants from churches representing 32 countries, and I was the only one from Egypt. It was a new field and a chance to meet dedicated professors from many nations. They lectured sincerely and attentively on leadership, human relations, biblical teaching, and lessons on service, stewardship, knowledge, and influence. That month was a new experience for me, as I lived in a highly developed Asian country with a modern, clean, very organized, and cheerful Eastern character.

I remember one class where the instructor asked: “If you received one million dollars now, what would you do with it?” Some answered: build a school, a hospital, a language center, etc. When my turn came, I said: “I would distribute the million dollars equally among us forty participants.” My answer was so unexpected and surprising that they all stood up and applauded enthusiastically. The instructor himself was impressed and delighted by the unexpected reply. During that month, my knowledge and experience multiplied greatly, and I was filled with deep gratitude and thankfulness to God, who granted me this wonderful opportunity.

At the time, I didn’t fully appreciate the value of these educational opportunities, both domestic and international, which spanned nearly twenty years (1979–1999). But after God placed me in my current responsibility in 2012, I felt that they were part of His providence and plan for my life—to equip me with the knowledge and experience needed for the responsibilities of my service. I am profoundly grateful and appreciative to everyone who supported, encouraged, and facilitated these beneficial opportunities, foremost among them my family, my father of confessions, the late Metropolitan Pakhomius, and many others.

This article is a call to pursue learning in many useful fields, whether locally or internationally. We now live in a time of abundant and diverse opportunities through online study. I encourage everyone with the desire to learn to take advantage of it, for the journey of learning never ends as long as there is life, as St. Paul the Apostle said: “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:16, NKJV).

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