November 2001

Dear Friends and Supporters,

My goal is to do God’s will everyday. An author of the devotional My Utmost for His Highest, first published in 1935, wrote, "The aim of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful, not to win the heathen; he is useful and he does win the heathen, but that is not his aim. His aim is to do the will of his Lord."

As Christians, most of us also have the same goal as that author. And we most likely go about it the same way, only I find myself doing it in Egypt and you are doing it where you are.

I am a witness by the way I live my life, and by my actions and words. None of the staff or residents at the Cairo Geriatric Center are Muslims. They all have connections with the Coptic Evangelical or the Coptic Orthodox Church. They accept me as a fellow Christian who will support and encourage them and as someone they can support and encourage.

My assignment is to supervise and train caregivers in the Geriatric Center. I observe the caregivers as they attend to the residents. I am teaching the senior caregivers how to do nursing assessments, something which has not been done in Egypt. I have also started writing policies and procedures needed to open a sub-acute unit at this Center. Those are tasks assigned to me by the Center.

A part of my mission is to be present for the young people (caregivers) who are away from home, living in crowded conditions, and working long hours. They work and live with the same people. One worker, raised in an orphanage under the direction of an American woman, tells me daily that she loves me. She seeks me out, wants me to spend time with her, wants me to get to know her, and her to know me. I was sent here to support and encourage her. Two others are going to school and have high goals for themselves. They want
to learn English, and see me as someone who can help them in that way. All of them want respect and care. I pray that God is glorified in my relationships with them, and that my life will be used to guide them.

Another part of my mission is to the residents. Some express loneliness and the wish to be with their departed families. Others express boredom and the inability to feel useful. Several express concern for their family members living in the United States. I listen, talk, play games, and pray with them. I taught one who had never touched a computer to play solitaire on my laptop.

As mission workers, we are here to support one another. A South African mission worker lives in the building where I spend weekends. Recently, she approached me to talk about the "bad" day she had, when parents and teachers did not appreciate her skills and she felt alone. She does not have a support group here like the Presbyterians have. I convinced her to go shopping with me and another mission worker. She had been concentrating very hard on her work, and had not moved away from it to get a healthy perspective. We three didn’t "talk shop," but we had a good time shopping, and when we finished we stopped at a McDonald’s. I suggested that her dinner was my treat. A change in her was immediately visible. It was as if I had said, "You’re okay. I value you" in a way that she could hear and feel it. The evening was a success, although I was so tired that I slept hard and did not even hear the school busses revving up under my window at 5:00 a.m.

My contact with Muslims is in the shops and taxis or with new friendships I have developed. I pray that Christ is present in our conversations, even though His name is usually not mentioned. I have had opportunities to learn how one Muslim couple view their faith, and also how they view mine. I respect their openness to share with me.

I hope this account of my activities gives you a picture of how much alike we are in doing God’s work. I will pray that you find opportunities in your life to do God’s will. I ask that you pray for my continued study of the Arabic language, and that I may take every opportunity to be His witness here.

I feel safe here in this tumultuous time. My Egyptian friends make every effort, and take many precautions for me. The Presbyterian Church has let each of us know that we are in their prayers, and they advise us of any developments and ways to increase our safety.

God bless you,

Emily Schornstein

The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 128