Pioneer missionaries Frank and Mary Westphal arrived in Brazil. They found the Adventist message had already arrived some 15 years earlier as ink on paper in a seaside port in the state of Santa Catarina.
On February 22, 1895, pioneer missionary Frank H. Westphal arrived in Brazil. He found the Adventist message had already arrived some 15 years earlier as ink on paper in a seaside port in the state of Santa Catarina.
Frank and Mary Westphal began their work in Wisconsin, USA, where Frank worked to reach the German-speaking population. He attended Battle Creek College and taught at Union College before answering God’s call to serve as a missionary. In 1894, the General Conference decided to send him to South America as the first ordained minister.
In August, 1894, Frank, Mary, their son and baby daughter arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Frank was appointed president of the South America East Coast Mission, which covered the territories of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil. Frank wasted no time and immediately traveled to Crespo, Argentina, where a group of Adventist believers were waiting. There he helped establish the first Adventist church in South America.
Soon Frank turned his attention to Brazil. On July 18, 1894, Frank began visiting various places in the state of Sao Paulo, meeting with interested families and starting branch Sabbath schools. One of those stops was in Piracicaba where he baptized Guilherme Stein, Jr, the first Brazilian believer to be baptized in the country.
From there, Frank traveled to Gaspar Alto, to meet with another group of interested believers. When he arrived, he tried to find a place to hold meetings, but was met with opposition from the local religious leader. Finally he decided to hold meetings by the river. On Sabbath, June 8,after celebrating the Lord’s supper, eight people were baptized. A few days later, 15 more people were baptized. On June 15, the first Brazilian Adventist church was established in Gaspar Alto, less than 40 miles from where the Adventist message had first arrived 15 years earlier.
After laboring in the mission field for five months, Frank returned to Buenos Aires to tragedy. His daughter Helen had taken ill and died on June 15, two weeks before his return and on the same day he had helped establish the church in Gaspar Alto.
Despite tragedy and hardships, the Westphals continued on, and gave a total of 27 years of service in South America.
Today there are more than 1.7 million Seventh-day Adventists in Brazil and more than 18,000 churches and companies. There is one Adventist for every 122 people.
To pioneer missionaries like Frank and Mary Westphal, we say obrigado.
