Living in Sudan as the Episcopal Church’s only full-time missionary in Sudan, I am seeing Christianity, and membership in the Anglican Communion, in a new light.

What I see and hear in Sudan has nothing to do with being an Anglican. No one asks me about Windsor or sexuality or pastoral oversight.

Instead, Sudanis ask, “Are you praying for us?”

They want to know, “Will you walk with us?” not just on their journeys of faith but in their entire lives.

They beg, “Do not forget us.”

This is what it means for me to live and move and have my being in Renk: Sudanis presume I represent not only the whole Episcopal Church, which I do as an appointed missionary, but all of Christianity in America. Because Sudan also has close ties to the Church in England, many Sudanis also presume that I can and do speak for that portion of the Communion as well.

This is not a situation unique to me; most missionaries will tell you: Our denomination is not important.

What is important is whether we believe in Jesus, whether we pray for the people we serve, whether we are willing to walk with them in their difficult lives -- and most important, in Sudan, whether we will remember them.

The 21-year civil war was brutal, pitting tribe against tribe, North against South, Arab against black, Muslim against Christian. Millions died, millions more were displaced. During that war, Christians in the South felt they were forgotten by the rest of the world. They do not want to be forgotten ever again.

Thus, my call as a missionary is to be a witness, to the Sudanis by my presence, thus reassuring them they are not forgotten, and for them through my telling of their story on their behalf. Before coming to General Convention, every Christian Sudani I knew charged me: Tell our story. Ask your people to pray for us. Do not forget us.

In their church services – which are part worship, part community gathering, all completely Sudanese, the people boldly proclaim: We have been faithful, even in the face of death.

And they boldly ask: Are you being faithful as well?

They are not just asking me personally.

They are not just asking the Episcopal Church in America.

They are not even asking the entire Anglican Communion.

They demand to know this of all Christians.

Believing in Jesus – and being faithful to Jesus – is all that matters. The work we do in Sudan is based on our personal relationships. We don’t debate doctrine or dogma, Windsor or DEPO or Dromantine. We worry about famine and continuing war, about a lack of education and a lack of medicine. We care for the sick, seek peace, work for justice, teach reconciliation. We work one on one. We preach Jesus.

This is how we are faithful in Sudan.

For me, it is a refreshing approach to living out my faith.

And it has nothing to do with being an Anglican.

But it has everything to do with being a Christian.