Stephen N. Haskell was the first Seventh-day Adventist minister to visit Portugal. Haskell traveled around the world at the service of the General Conference to scout the conditions for mission advancement. During this worldwide trip, he arrived in Portugal in July 1889.

Adventist work didn’t begin until September 26, 1904, with the arrival of the first missionary couple from the United States to Lisbon, Portugal. Clarence Emerson and Mary Haskell Rentfro, along with their baby were a young family with a passion to share the Adventist message. They began learning Portuguese and soon after, they began selling Adventist literature, making missionary contacts and visits, and preaching.

[image credits: ESDA and Photo courtesy of Brazilian White Center - UNASP.]

Since those humble beginnings, the Adventist church in Portugal has grown to around 10,000 members. But with 10 million people in the country, the mission challenges are still evident. It is difficult to share the gospel in the growing cities. People are busy, distracted, and interested in things outside of Christianity.

One of the ways Adventists have built meaningful connections in Portugal is through education. The Setúbal Adventist School opened in 1983. Lilita helped open the school and was its first teacher. She remembers how it started with only two students being taught in the church.

“And so it was Fernando and Jorge who first attended school here in Setúbal. From there, other children came, many children came, At the end of the first year we had 28 children and we continued, we were allowed to keep this open and many more children came to attend the school.”

They quickly outgrew the small church space, until eventually the building next door became available and they moved in. Parents noticed that this school had more to offer than just the standard curriculum found at other schools. Students’ development of Christian values has attracted families to grow an interest in the Adventist Church over the years.

“We look at the school as a center of influence. It’s a center of influence that works with our children, but also with children who are not from the church, who even belong to other churches. And this is the great method of work of this school, influencing these children and their families, who come to church for special occasions, some attend church regularly and we have several cases of young people who have joined the Pathfinder Club and eventually were baptized.”

“And that is why Pathfinders are exactly a complement to the church's educational project. Ultimately, they seek to educate for eternity.This church, at its base, clearly has a mission vision.”

“And what we have seen in these 40 years of work by this school in Setúbal is a very strong connection between what school life itself is and the life of the church.”

“We can transmit not only the knowledge of Jesus to children, but also to parents, guardians, who often attended church, and some children who ended up becoming Adventists, along with their parents.”

This small school in Portugal has big potential. Unfortunately, the space isn’t big enough for the school to continue to expand and they have few resources. Staff, students, and their families pray for a new building that can accommodate this school’s potential.

This quarter a portion of your 13th Sabbath Offerings will help construct a new school building in a fast growing area of the city. This will allow more families to be impacted by Adventist education.

“I always pray for this school so that it can grow and develop and who knows, one day we will be able to have a school with other bigger, better facilities, with more conditions, and I think that is our objective. It's in my heart, this school is in my heart.”

Please pray with Lilita for this project. Thank you for supporting the 13th Sabbath Offering that will impact the lives of families in Portugal!