This article is an attempt to examine a number of interrelated factors which can be cited to account for the relative failure of evangelical Christianity in three pastoral, Nilotic-speaking communities of the southern Sudan, the Dinka, Nuer, and Atuot. The social context of missions was largely created by the British colonial presence, so that it is best to understand missionary efforts in thaflight. At the same time, it can be argued, the colonial administration fostered a mission of its own, on secular rather than sacred grounds.