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When the war began, some of the bishops from the Anglican [Church] were actually cut off by the war to the rebel areas. But they were very free in the rebel areas to move all over the southern Sudan. Their support of the people and the families who have been dying and the miracle that God has done through them have turned many enemies and others to Christianity through the Anglican church.

Have you personally been involved in evangelism?

I'm an evangelist myself. I became a bishop while I was an evangelist.

How has the war affected the church?

Everybody in the Sudan has been threatened by the war. But by the grace of God, we are alive. You don't know whether tomorrow you will be alive or not. So the threatening of physical [harm] is there because danger is everywhere in the southern Sudan. But we have a hope always that whether we die or we're alive, we glorify God. So we are not worried about what is going to happen. But we know that we are going to die like our brothers and sisters who have already gone before us. As you know, now 2 million people have died … . So we're not afraid of what is going to happen to the life of anybody else.

What are the church's biggest needs right now?

Our people have nothing. They have no education, they have no health, no clean water, and … food is not there. There is no infrastructure right now, no infrastructure at all. We need education, we need food, we need health [care].

How do you hope to obtain these things?

We hope that peace is signed tomorrow. We hope that the infrastructure will be [repaired] and many of our brothers and sisters all over the world will … help us deal with the reestablishment of our people who [will be] returning from the displaced and refugees camps. We will be dealing with rehabilitation of our people. And then we will dealing with reconciliation of our people, so our people live in peace. At the church now we have started a committee of peace and justice for reconciliation.

Do you feel that Christians will be open to reconciling with those who've committed atrocities?

That's what we are hoping now. We know that everyone has done wrong things in one way or another, and we have to breathe the love of God and forgiveness and let bygones be bygones. We want to educate our people and create awareness. We have to educate our people that they have to forgive one another. So it is a big task for us as a church people. And we will be happy to receive help from our people, brothers and sisters in the United States, the United Kingdom, and wherever they are.

What is your perspective as an Anglican in Africa about what's going on in the United States with the consecration of openly homosexual Bishop Gene Robinson?

Most African bishops say no to that because it is not part of our culture.

Does the consecration of Robinson cause you problems as an Anglican in Sudan?

Yes, it will cause problems because we are now going to be vulnerable to the Muslims. The Muslims will say, "Now you are not really believing in God." … We are going to have problems. And we feel that our brothers in America, maybe they are betraying us to the Muslims.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

More information on Sudan is available on our Sudan page.

More information on global persecution is available on our persecution page.

More on the rise of the church in Africa:

Will the Next Pope Be an African? | Sixty-four years ago, the Roman Catholic Church consecrated its first black African bishop. Is it time now for the next step? (Oct. 17, 2003)

Medical Missions' African Legacy | For generations, missionary doctors have healed body and soul in Africa. (July 25, 2003)

The African Lion Roars in the Western Church | Anglican liberals are fretting, conservatives rejoicing, and all are scrambling to their history books: whence this new evangelical force on the world scene? (June 27, 2003)

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January 2004, Vol. 48, No. 1