Longtime OC partner seminary began as a school boat

The Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC), Egypt, began as a school boat floating down the Nile River in 1863. Today, the seminary of 741 graduates has some of the most accomplished instructors and best libraries in the region and is one of the longest-running OC partner schools. Egypt is the cultural center of the Middle East and home to a large number of Christians in the region.

As one of OC’s most strategic partners in the Middle East, ETSC works diligently to bring the East and West together to glorify the Lord. The seminary is a primary training institution for the evangelical Presbyterian Church of Egypt, graduating all of its prospective pastors and a majority of its lay leadership. In an effort to preserve and explore the heritage of the Church in the region, ETSC has established the Center for Middle East Christianity. Read more about the Center here.

To answer the need of more than 100 churches lacking leadership, ETSC has developed a new one-year intensive training program for lay pastors with the hopes of graduating 15-20 lay pastors each year with specialized diplomas in areas such as mission and evangelism, counseling, teaching and preaching.

OC scholarship student Ragaee Mohey says, “The most important thing I’ve learned at ETSC was the concept of practical, living faith...The seminary helped me to be certain of my call and role as a future pastor and church leader and widened my vision to include not only Egypt but the entire Middle East…I have acquired skills that will help me to communicate biblical knowledge to people surrounding me,...[and] I have learned the concept of accepting and unconditionally loving others, even if they are different.”