During the night of June 28 to 29, Elder Teófilo V. Ferreira passed away in Lisbon, Portugal, where he was born on September 3, 1941.
He was a pastor, a missionary and a teacher who studied, lived, and worked in four continents. At the age of 14, he went to Angola with his parents, who had received a call to work there as missionaries. Two years later, he entered Helderberg College in South Africa, where he studied theology and was deeply involved in the music ministry.
At 21, he was drafted into the army and served as a conscientious objector in the military. During these years, he volunteered at the Publishing House in Nova Lisboa, Angola.
After finishing his military commission, he was called by the Portuguese Union to work as an intern at Lisbon Central Church, a translator for the Publishing House and a teacher of the Bible Course.
In August 1974, he received a call to lead the Israel Mission. During his eight-year commission as a missionary in Israel, he also studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, obtaining a specialization in Ancient and Modern Hebrew Language and Biblical Archeology. During this period, he opened three schools of modern languages in Jerusalem and a health center in the city of Nazareth.
In 1984 he was called to Collonges as an Old Testament teacher, holding the position until 1995, when he was appointed to serve at the General Conference as Associate Director of the White Estate.
For more than 50 years and until now, Pr. Teófilo Ferreira was very valuable and appreciated helping hand of the Bible Society of Portugal (BSP). He was an emeritus associate of the BSP. He was actively engaged in some remarkable projects: as a translator and, later, as a proof-reader of the current Portuguese interfaith translation “A Boa Nova” and then called “A Biblia Para Todos” (the Bible for all, from 1972 to 2009). As a consultant of the New Testament audio edition, Music Psalms and revising the Portuguese translation of the Bible by João Ferreira de Almeida.
He was highly appreciated by the representatives of other religious denominations by his competencies and respect for all, despite their divergent opinions and beliefs.
“We lost a man of faith, who loved God and whose paramount passion was to dig deep into the Word of God to understand it and share it,” said the EUD President, Mario Brito.
Elder Teófilo Ferreira is survived by his dear wife Odete, a courageous and committed companion and helping hand, his son Paulo, his daughter Élia and grand-children to whom we convey our deepest sympathy and warmest affection.
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” (John 11:25)
