As hundreds gathered together to worship Christ in the Egyptian wilderness, they sang “I Surrender All” before receiving Holy Communion. The wilderness of Egypt is where, for centuries, Christian ascetics wandered in the Spirit of Moses and the Israelites to struggle against their passions, unite their spirits with the Spirit of God, and form monastic communities dedicated to prayer, service, and the crucifixion of their flesh. They fought to surrender all, to face the demons of the arid places, and to carry their crosses. The land of Egypt, and particularly the city of Alexandria, is also the land of martyrs, consecrated virgins, evangelists, theologians, and church fathers who who gave themselves to the cause of Christ and his Gospel.

Now, as the GSFA gathers and sings “I Surrender All,” the question remains whether those in leadership will walk out this song in their own life and in the life of the GSFA. Will we gather together to truly surrender all—to surrender our hearts, our bodies, our minds to the Lord? Or will we gather to sing a good song but then go back to the world and the Church and the way things were? Will we continue to encourage those who encourage others to not surrender all, not to pay whatever price in order to truly follow Christ, not to deny their flesh? If we surrender all, then the Lord will enable us to help others surrender all, too. It is our prayer that the GSFA will be an organization of Anglican primates, bishops, clergy, and laity who will surrender all no matter the pressure of those who oppose the GSFA’s mission.

The Apostle John writes, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18). Tonight is the moment when we come together to praise our God and declare our allegiance to him and our desire to surrender. There are not many other times when Anglicans from so many nations of the world come together to do so, showing that faith in Christ crosses tribal and national boundaries. Tonight is the moment we worship His sacrifice and declare our own sacrifice—our own desire to surrender all.

But tomorrow and the days that follow will require steps needed to walk out that surrender, to make the hard decisions, to say no to discouraging and interfering voices, to show our love for God and for others not only in our words but also in action. Archbishop Stephen Tan of Myanmar said that we must share the Gospel with tears and with blood; that even though we are in a dark cloud, we have the silver lining in the Gospel of Jesus Christ who is guiding the GSFA. With Christ, there is nothing that can discourage our journey forward in mission for the sake of the Gospel. He has called the Global South to be a light to the nations and to encourage the Anglican Communion to walk a painful yet good way that God will lead us through.

This is the kind of truth we must remember as we turn our words of surrender into action on the path ahead.