Amira Khalil
BIOGRAPHY
My family arrived in Toronto, Canada, in the 1960’s. We have lived in this beautiful city, ever since that time. We were members of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, shortly upon our arrival to Toronto. I have loved and enjoyed being a part of this special Coptic community for many years now. I consider myself very fortunate and blessed, to still have close relationships with many members of St. Mark’s congregation. I look forward to many more years of having loving and caring relationships with the Coptic community, at large. These early years within the Coptic church were paramount to laying the foundation for my current walk of faith with our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Fast forwarding a bit – I attended the University of Toronto, where I received my B.Sc. Pharmacy. I have been working as a Pharmacist for over 30 years. During this time, I have gained many skill sets, which I believe will prove helpful, in serving on the Board of SMSV, which in turn, serves each congregation member of the church. My work experience also includes working with people of diverse ethnicities, ages, and religions.
I became a member of SMSV, one year after it was established. A few years after that, I began serving on a regular basis. I recall being encouraged by a fellow congregation member to participate in a Small Groups Bible Study. I’ve never been involved in that before, and I was a bit hesitant, but after praying about it, I agreed to participate. After approximately 2 years of being a part of this group, I can truly say that it had a very strong spiritual impact on my life.
Because of this experience, I regularly encourage others to participate in Small Groups Bible Study. Not only does it help build a biblical foundation for one’s life; it also creates relationships and strengthens bonds amongst the congregation, which is the Body of Christ.
Currently, I serve in The Hospitality Ministry and the CREW Ministry. I have served in these two Ministries for over 4 years. I enjoy collaborating in teams, and ensuring people feel welcome when they set foot in SMSV. I also helped in such events as Open Doors Markham, and in other events or tasks, when asked, to the extent that I’m able.
When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time outdoors. I feel blessed to live in a country, where we have vast spaces to enjoy. I love walking, hiking and swimming. I also enjoy travelling, reading and playing word games. My main love language is acts of service. And I enjoy spending time with family and friends, both in group, as well as, in one-on-one settings.
I believe it’s important to be involved in our church community. Everyone has been blessed by God, with gifts and talents. And it pleases Him, when we use all of these, in service of each other, and of our community. And we need to give Him glory in all that we do.
VISION
One of the visions of SMSV that I’m passionate about, is ensuring that our church is constantly serving our community; and is seen as a bright light, especially during these increasingly difficult times. I am very pleased to see that SMSV is achieving this. I would like to see us doing even more for our community, by reaching out to organizations within Markham, and creating relationships that would further serve this goal and strengthen our ties with our community. By God’s grace, it would be wonderful if one day, every citizen in Markham could say that they’ve had a positive, tangible experience with SMSV, and would keep us in their prayers.
Secondly, I firmly believe that every member of our congregation should be involved in the functioning of the church in some capacity. I recognize that during certain phases of our lives, we can be extremely busy with family and work. However, with the shift towards more people spending more time at home, and less time at the workplace, I believe there’s more opportunity for people to participate and share their gifts and talents with our flourishing congregation. So I would work on ways to try and facilitate the involvement of all congregation members, in a Ministry or other activities.
IDEAS / SUGGESTIONS
SMSV has recently created a Senior’s Group. The Ontario government has a department that issues grants to Seniors, subsequent to approval of a written proposal. I have familiarity with proposals and drafting budgets. I would be happy to work on such a project, and try to secure a grant which could be used towards an endeavor that would benefit our seniors.
As any institution grows, including the church, there are increasing challenges in managing day-to-day operations. I have experience in operations, and in enhancing efficiencies. I’m interested in helping in this area. And I am passionate about ensuring that enhancing efficiencies do not override the importance of preserving the caring relationships that we all worked so hard to cultivate. I strongly believe that all endeavors of the church must be carried out while maintaining healthy, loving relationships. In doing so, we honour our Lord, Jesus Christ.