THEY call her the Mother Theresa of Cairo.
Mama Maggie Gobran was born into affluence. A Coptic Christian from a prominent Egyptian family, she had a taste for the opulent.
In particular, she loved to buy beautiful, latest-fashion clothes with designer labels and sashay into society, the most elegant woman in the room.
With a first-rate education, she went on to become a professor of computer science at Cairo University.
Her parents, while wealthy, were also very wise. A rare combination.
They often reminded Maggie that, ``We don't choose where to be born but we do choose to be sinners or saints''.
More than 20 years ago Mama Maggie, as she is known to the children of Cairo, forsook her prestige to care for the poorest in her city.
She established Stephen's Children, a ministry that has helped more than 25,000 families, focusing in particular on the neglected children of Egypt's garbage slums.
The mission of Stephen's Children is about ``encouraging (the destitute children of Egypt) to experience love, build self worth and seize hold of the hope that is found in Jesus Christ''.
Mama Maggie was this year nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
It was at the Global Leadership Summit here in Launceston about a fortnight ago that I was first introduced to this remarkable woman _ unfortunately not in person, but via
a video feed of a talk she gave for the occasion, in the US.
Having listened to many dynamic, charismatic, inspired and passionate speakers before her, I was ready for more of the same.
She came dressed in white cloth, from the veil resting on her head and flowing to her elbows, to the skirt that swished around her ankles.
As she opened her mouth and began to speak, explaining her calling to serve the poorest of the poor, her face was as honest as her heart. It changed from the brokenness and grief of poverty _ her cocoa eyes welling with tears _ to the unadulterated joy of her mission.
``Later, I found to be elegant comes from inside,'' she explained of her change of heart, one that led her from wearing high fashion to rudimentary white.
In the beautiful cadence of the Egyptian tongue, she continued, ``True love is to give until it hurts.''
And we in the audience, even if it was just a DVD, could see the pain of her immense love.
Her talk was plain, naked and holy. Truths spilled from her mouth.
``When one has nothing, God becomes everything.
``When I touch a poor child, I'm touching Jesus.
``If you want to be a hero, do what God wants you to do.''
And she referred to Isaiah 58:10.
``Spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.''
We love a rags-to-riches story, don't we?
But it's the riches-to-rags stories that really change the world.
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