River Nile Baptism Brings Surprises, Blessings to Adventists in South Sudan

Not long after Gabriel Gatwech Puoch met his future wife, Elizabeth Kutei Daniel, in South Sudan (then part of Sudan) decades ago, he found out that that she was a Seventh-day Adventist. Elizabeth had left Sudan at a young age because of the civil war at the time, and she grew up in Ethiopia. There she got to know the Adventist faith and was baptized.

Eventually, Elizabeth returned to Sudan, met Gabriel, who was serving in the armed forces, and got married not in a church but in a traditional ceremony in their tribe.

Years later, the family relocated to Australia, where their children grew up, but Gabriel continued serving the armed forces of South Sudan and visiting his family as often as possible. Through all these years, Elizabeth continued being a faithful Seventh-day Adventist.

“About two years ago, we decided to finally seek God’s blessing on our marriage, and it was then that I told my wife that I was preparing a surprise gift for her,” Gabriel says. He explained to her that it would take some time, but that she would eventually receive it.

Unbeknownst to her, Gabriel, now a general in the armed forces of South Sudan, had gotten in touch with the Adventist Church and went through preparation to be baptized. When everyone in the family traveled to South Sudan for the marriage of a relative around the time of the Homecoming evangelistic series in Juba, it seemed the perfect opportunity to unveil his surprise.

On July 13, before scores of witnesses from the church and the community, General Conference president Ted N. C. Wilson submerged General Gabriel in the waters of a branch of the River Nile in Juba. And after baptizing the general, Wilson also baptized his 27-year-old son Wakrial, among long and loud zaghroutas (the high-pitched ululation Arab women use to express great joy or excitement).

Gabriel and Wakrial were two of the almost 200 candidates who had been studying the Bible and were ready for baptism. At the same time, scores of others committed to start taking Bible studies to get ready for a future baptism.

A Meaningful Ceremony

The July 13 baptismal ceremony took place in one of the branches of the historic River Nile. It was a meaningful event for Wilson, who, as a son of missionaries, grew up not far from the riverbanks in Cairo, Egypt. “Just the name of this river reminds students of the Bible of key moments in the history of God’s people,” Wilson said.

Before the ceremony and after the Sabbath worship service at the Juba Football Stadium, Wilson prayed that God would bless the event and protect them from “strong currents and crocodiles.” The ceremony went by without major incidents.

The logistics presented several challenges. While the candidates changed in makeshift changing rooms set up with poles and tarpaulins, there seemed not to be a place for Wilson to change. Then, local church leaders contacted a family living in a mud hut not far from the river, which gladly consented to allowing Wilson to change clothes in their humble abode.

As the woman of the house and other relatives boiled water to cook in the open and ironed their clothes with an iron heated with hot ashes under a mango tree, Wilson made use of the family’s hut to change. After he left the hut, the woman under the tree asked for Wilson to pray for her and her family, and he obliged. “Thank you, God, for the generosity of this family living by the historic River Nile,” Wilson said. “Give them a special blessing even today and show them Your love. And thank you, Lord, for the wonderful people of South Sudan.”

Elizabeth Kutei Daniel, after decades as a faithful church member, witnessed her husband and son accepting God’s truth and being baptized. “It has been a wonderful gift not only for me but for the whole family and the community,” she said with a wide smile. “But my husband had promised me a gift. I am still waiting for that special gift that will be only for me,” she quipped.