Cox savored the moment to "share the pain, passion, and privilege of helping to make a difference for those on the front lines of faith and freedom" with the Assembly. Whether she is crossing into Burma from Thailand to document the shoot-to-kill and scorched earth policy of the military junta, or landing on forbidden airstrips in Sudan, danger is never far away from Cox or the people for whom she is fighting. "I spend a lot of my time crossing borders illegally and completely shamelessly to gather evidence of oppression and persecution," she said. She shared that she was given a prison sentence for illegal entry in Sudan. "Thank you for welcoming a convict, very inclusive of you," she added.

It was a message that delegates who had experienced some pain and suffering themselves at the hands of Episcopal Church leaders could take to heart. Cox has travelled some 30 times to Khartoum where she is under sentence in absentia for travelling illegally in the Sudan. She is undeterred.

Cox has witnessed firsthand the effects of the persecution of Christians. Destruction of church buildings and Christian homes was a recurring motif of her presentation. "No other faith has faced such systematic destruction. In ruined churches the people worship with such joy. The Church grows under persecution," she said. She particularly focused on the forced Islamization of Christian populaces in countries like Nigeria and Sudan, where aid from Islamic groups is contingent on conversion to Islam. Christians are literally starving to death for their faith in Jesus Christ."

Baroness Cox's humanitarian aid work has taken her on many missions to conflict zones, including the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh; Sudan; Nigeria; Uganda; the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Chin peoples in the jungles of Burma; and communities suffering from conflict in Indonesia where she helped to establish the International Islamic Christian Organization for Reconciliation and Reconstruction (IICORR) with the late former President Abdurrahman Wahid. She has visited North Korea helping to promote Parliamentary initiatives and medical programs. She has also been instrumental in helping to change the former Soviet Union's policies for orphaned and abandoned children from institutional to foster family care.

She expressed her sense of urgency for spreading the Gospel while helping those in need. As a member of the British House of Lords in Parliament, she is a tireless campaigner for human rights around the world.

Cox is deeply worried about many things, but one overriding concern is the potential for the full Islamization of southern Sudan. Anglican bishops of south Sudan told her that Saudi Arabia is sinking $29 million dollars towards full conversion. Where is the Christian mission aid, she cried.

Cox, who is honorary chair of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund, (ARDF) was a deputy speaker of the House of Lords from 1985 to 2005. She has been heavily involved with international humanitarian work for more than a decade. She is Chief Executive of HART (Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust), a holistic ministry ranging from providing food aid to dealing with the effects of trauma on children. "One of the things we do is ask children to draw what they feel because sometimes it is easier to draw than to talk," she noted.

She emphasized the need for Western Christians to form local partnerships with the neglected and persecuted people of the world. She refers to these local partners as "people of the mustard seed" because they "multiply the little we give in ways beyond anything we can imagine." By promoting local partnerships, Cox hopes to empower the oppressed and break the cycle of financial dependence on the West. "I cannot do everything, but I must not do nothing," Cox concluded.

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