SIOUX FALLS, ND (November 26, 2008) – Being able to baptize 12 children and infants from two Sudanese Covenant churches was especially meaningful to Allan Holte.
The baptismal service was held at Prairie Hills Covenant Church, where Holte was the pastor when many of the children’s parents came to the United States as refugees in the 1990s. Holte had baptized many of the parents.
The baptismal service was held at Prairie Hills Covenant Church, where Holte was the pastor when many of the children’s parents came to the United States as refugees in the 1990s. Holte had baptized many of the parents.
Holte, now a chaplain at the local Veterans Administration hospital, says he was honored to be asked. “It’s a long-term relationship that goes back 14 years.”
The largest group of Sudanese arrived in 1994 and became the nucleus of the Evangelical Covenant Church of South Sudan. Since then, more than 200 churches have spread internationally.
The parents of the baptized children came from Mankato, Minnesota. Other Sudanese who attended, but did not have children baptized, traveled from Fridley, Minnesota.