June 24, 2021
David Crouch, a long-time WEI teacher in Searcy, Arkansas, writes the following:
The number of baptisms of WEI students in the Republic of South Sudan continues to grow.
Bartholomayo Akol, who completed all of the WEI courses, is now an evangelist in that country. In June he baptized three of his fellow countrymen who are students of WEI teachers in the United States. Bartholomayo was the student of Debbie Howard in Las Cruces, NM.
On June 13, Bartholomayo baptized Gabriel Tong, a student of Lola Crouch of Searcy, AR. One week later he baptized Barnaba Gur, a student of Robert Thurman of Celina, TN, and Koul Deng. Koul had been studying with Barnaba and only recently signed up for the WEI courses.
Crouch and Thurman contacted Bartholomayo and arranged for him to meet with the WEI students. Bartholomayo said, “Lola Crouch gave me contact information for Gabriel. I kept on contacting him to share the Gospel with him. He told me that he had been baptized by pouring water. When I explained to him about immersion and its meaning, Gabriel believed, and I baptized him into Christ. He is now working with me preaching the Gospel.”
The story of the conversion of the other two South Sudanese was similar. Bartholomayo said, “Robert Thurman gave me their contacts. Then I started talking with them and encouraging them to join us. Then they believed in Christ and asked me to baptize them. I baptized them into Christ.”
There continues to be a large number of students enrolling in WEI courses from South Sudan, and many students are being taught by our WEI teachers.
