This article introduces ten volumes on church life in Sudan. While the authors are from within the church, their first purpose is not to give a fair as possible view on the story as a whole. It is evident that the account in these books has a purpose beyond the dispassionate recounting of history. Perversely to its opponents, the Sudanese church often demonstrated courage under persecution and has even grown in the face of persecution.

Despite a context of struggle and persecution, the church in the Sudan has continued to grow, both spiritually and numerically. The author, who has spent several years living and working in Sudan with the Church Mission Society, reflects on what Christians worldwide might learn from the experience of the Sudanese church. "But God is not defeated!" is the refrain famous in Sudan as used by Ezra Lawiri.