Pimenta, Agenor Lopes (1940–2011)

Agenor Lopes Pimenta was a renowned literature evangelist in Brazil.

Agenor Lopes Pimenta was born on March 13, 1940,¹ in the region of Paraná da Eva, city of Manaus, state of Amazonas, Brazil. He was the youngest of seven children born to Fábio Teixeira Pimenta and Arine Lopes Pimenta; his siblings were Amazonilo, Amazonita, Arline, Adamor, Raimundo and Maria Emília.²

The family was introduced to the Adventist Church in 1945, through a series of meetings held by pastor Gustavo Storch in the Paraná da Eva village. Formerly Catholics, as a result his entire family embraced Adventism. When Agenor reached the age of 12, he was baptized into the faith of his parents by Pastor Walter Streithorst, at the Canaã Adventist Church, Paraná da Eva, in mid-1952.³

Agenor was a fruit of Adventist education from elementary to high school. He attended primary education at the parish school built at the local church in Paraná da Eva.⁴ Later in his adolescence, he met Pastor Leo Halliwell and helped him for some time in the Luzeiro [Lightbearer] medical-missionary launches, which it’s purpose was to offer medical and dental assistance to needy families who lived on the margins of the Amazon River. From this experience was born the dream of Agenor to study at Adventist boarding schools.⁵ He studied respectively at Northeast Brazil College, East Brazil Academy (now IPAE), São Paulo Academy (now UNASP-HT) and Brazil College (now UNASP-SP), where he completed high school.⁶

Since his time as a student, Agenor demonstrated the social abilities and Christian influence necessaries to the canvassing work, achieving great prominence for his success in sales. All his education in Adventist boarding schools was paid by this means.⁷ While in Brazil College, he represented the institution in the First National Temperance Competition, organized in 1962 by the South American Division, winning the first place.⁸ His involvement with the canvassing work extended his period as a student and became his main activity for about 40 years of his life. In most of the fields he worked at, he stood out for his wide achievements in sales and for the many young people he influenced into becoming canvassers.⁹

It was through canvassing that he shared the gospel to the family of Maria da Costa Pimenta, with whom he got married on May 21, 1968, in Natal, state of Rio Grande do Norte. From their union were born Mônica da Costa Pimenta, Marcia da Costa Pimenta and Agenor Lopes Pimenta Filho. Maria contributed to the Church as a deaconess and in the Child Ministry.¹⁰

In 1975, Agenor accepted a call to lead the Publishing department of the North Coast Mission, comprising the states of Ceará, Maranhão and Piauí. He served there until 1979,¹¹ when he was appointed as director of the Publishing, Spirit of Prophecy and Temperance departments at the Central Amazon Mission, serving there from 1980 to 1982.¹²

Afterwards, Agenor had an opportunity to go to the United States, where he lived with his family for 10 years, working in non-denominational activities. In 1994,¹³ he returned to Brazil and worked as a canvasser at the Central Amazon Mission until 1996, when he was appointed as director of the Publishing department of the same field, holding this position until 2001.¹⁴

Agenor was a literature evangelist until his death on June 11, 2011,¹⁵ in Manaus, state of Amazonas, at the age of 71. He is remembered as an enthusiastic canvassing leader who instructed and led many young people into the canvassing work, encouraging them to enter this work by speaking at the countryside churches.¹⁶

Sources

“Agenor Lopes Pimenta.” Revista Adventista, year 106, no. 1243, December, 2011.

“Colportores participam de curso.” Revista Adventista, year 92, no. 06, June, 1996.

“Curso de colportagem termina com batismo.” Revista Adventista, year 92, no. 04, April, 1996.

“Missão Costa-Norte.” Revista Adventista, year 70, no. 7, July, 1975.

Pimenta, Adamor Lopes. Norte do Brasil: Memórias de um líder. Belém, PA: Gráfica Alves, 2012.

Renato Emir Oberg. “I Concurso Nacional de Temperança.” Revista Adventista, year 58, February 1963.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, various years.

“Trienais Assembleias divulgam nomeações.” Revista Adventista, year 95, no. 1, January, 1999.

Notes

1. Marcia Martins, interviewed by Samara Souza, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, March 26, 2019.↩

2. Adamor Pimenta, interviewed by Vinicios Alencar, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, March 20, 2019.; Adamor Lopes Pimenta, Norte do Brasil: Memórias de um líder (Belém, PA: Gráfica Alves, 2012), 13.↩

3. Adamor Pimenta, interviewed by Vinicios Alencar, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, March 20, 2019.; Adamor Lopes Pimenta, Norte do Brasil: Memórias de um líder (Belém, PA: Gráfica Alves, 2012), 17.↩

4. Adamor Pimenta, interviewed by Vinicios Alencar, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, March 20, 2019.↩

5. Marcia Martins, interviewed by Samara Souza, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, March 26, 2019.↩

6. Adamor Pimenta, interviewed by Vinicios Alencar, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, March 20, 2019.↩

7. Ibid.↩

8. Oberg, Renato Emir, “I Concurso Nacional de Temperança,” Revista Adventista, year 58, February 1963, 27-28.↩

9. Adamor Pimenta, interviewed by Vinicios Alencar, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, March 20, 2019.↩

10. Marcia Martins, interviewed by Samara Souza, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, March 26, 2019.; Adamor Pimenta, interviewed by Vinicios Alencar, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, March 20, 2019.↩

11. “Missão Costa-Norte,” Revista Adventista, year 70, no. 07, July, 1975, 7; “North Coast Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1976), 256.; “North Coast Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1980), 268.↩

12. “Central Amazon Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1981), 276; “Central Amazon Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1983), 300.↩

13. “Central Amazon Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1995), 277.↩

14. “The General Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1997), 256.; “The General Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2002), 267.↩

15. Marcia Martins, interviewed by Samara Souza, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, March 26, 2019.↩

16. “Agenor Lopes Pimenta,” Revista Adventista, year 106, no. 1243, December 2011, 37; Adamor Pimenta, interviewed by Vinicios Alencar, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, March 20, 2019.↩