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Is there a continuity of practicing Christianity from early encounters like the Ethiopian eunuch's?

Unfortunately there is no archeological evidence to support patristic references that the Ethiopian eunuch went back to his homeland and started a church there. The evidence for Christianity in the Sudan comes much later, probably through the Coptic Church from about the fourth century and then there's a dramatic conversion in the Byzantine period under Justinian and Theodora where there are three separate kingdoms that are converted, but to two different kinds of Christianity. The difference is that the council of Chalcedon, determined Christology for the western churches, but not for the Monophysite church of Egypt and Ethiopia. The emperor, Justinian, favored what was called in Calcedonia the Melkite version of Christianity, whereas his very forceful empress Theodora favored the Monophysite version of Christianity. She even hid Monophysite monks at the palace at Constantinople. And they sent rival missionaries out to these three kingdoms.

Who was Simon of Cyrene?

Cyrene was a Greek colony [in North Africa]. Of course there were natives in the hinterland, but these would not be blacks, they would be Berbers. That is they spoke the Berber language, similar to the Berbers who are found today in North Africa. There was eventually a strong Jewish community in Cyrene and these are mentioned in the book of Acts and in the Gospels. Most notably Simon of Cyrene was impressed to carry the cross or the horizontal bar of the cross for Jesus.

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May (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48