Mr Smith was in Cairo and the Nile Delta from 1993-1994.

On Tuesday, he will be one of 37 people from the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst who will be honoured for their missionary service here and abroad. The dinner will coincide with the launch of World Mission Month.

Mr Smith was a communications student at Charles Sturt University when Sr Bernadette was transferred by her order from Australia to Italy before taking up a post in Cairo.

Mr Smith offered to ‘come and give her a hand’ and together they worked in the slums of Cairo and in the Nile Delta at Shibin El Kom where he helped out at a clinic and preschool.

He said while the majority of people in the area were Muslim, around five per cent were Christian, and an even smaller percentage were Catholic. 

Mr Smith also worked alongside Sr Bernadette in providing food relief to inmates at the Cairo Prison. 

He entered the prison with an ID belonging to an American priest, something he described as a nerve wracking experience, as he was certain he’d get caught.

The prisoners made handicrafts which they would exchange for supplies.

One of Mr Smith’s favourite moments was when he dressed up in a Santa suit for a visit to a preschool.

The only problem was it had belonged to a much smaller Santa and at 190 centimetres he acknowledged he must have looked a sight. 

It was a bright moment in what was a challenging time. “It was quite a confronting journey,” he said.

“I had never been in a third world country before.

“The poverty was truly shocking, yet they were willing to share everything they had with us.

“Twenty years later it still stays with me.”

A few years after his return to Bathurst, he was appointed the Diocesan Director of Catholic Mission for the Bathurst Diocesan by then Bishop of Bathurst Patrick Dougherty. He served in this position from 2004 to 2010. 

“It was very satisfying,” he said.