Ferraz, Itanel (1922–2011)

Itanel Ferraz was a pastor, evangelist, and administrator from Brazil.

First Years

Itanel Ferraz was born December 26, 1922, in the city of Curitiba, state of Paraná, Brazil. The only child of Arthur Romagnolli and Elisa Ferraz Furquim Romagnolli,¹ his parents moved to São Paulo when he was three months of age, a city where he would spend his childhood, youth, and great part of his adult life. When he was about one year old, his parents divorced, and after that he lived only with his mother. At the age of seven he started working in a print shop and, later, as an office-boy in a lawyer's office.² He attended middle school at Oswaldo Cruz Academy where he excelled as a student in the subjects of history and geography.³

During his youth, he nourished the dream of becoming an officer in the Brazilian Navy, but as he was not used to swimming, he then decided to join the Army. He began serving in the Army cavalry of São Paulo at the end of 1939. Determined to pursue a military career, he served in the barracks in the morning, studied in the afternoon, and at night attended classes to prepare for the entrance exam of the Agulhas Negras Academy, a school for Brazilian Army officers. He earnestly served in the Army for eight months. However, God had other plans for his life, and it was in midst of this intense routine that he became acquainted with the Adventist message.⁴

While serving the Brazil Army he attended a Presbyterian Church, but under the influence of an Adventist uncle who came to live in his home he started attending the Central Adventist Church of São Paulo. The things he learned at the Adventist worship services made him question some of his beliefs, which in turn motivated him to study the Bible in order to reach his own conclusions. After three months of study, he was convinced that he should become a Seventh-day Adventist. From that point on, in June 1940, he decided to leave the night classes and the military career. He then received Bible studies from Pastor Nelson Schwantes and was baptized on October 6, 1940. Prior to his baptism he had already decided to study theology at Brazil College (today UNASP-SP).⁵

Itanel began the theology program in March 1941. In 1943 the college’s administrative board developed a program in which students would go to secular universities in order to study mathematics, science, and philosophy, having their costs entirely paid. After graduating, they would be hired as teachers at Brazil College. The students who were chosen were Nevil Gorski, Orlando Ritter, and Itanel Ferraz. However, the desire to be a preacher-evangelist caused Itanel to refuse the invitation.⁶ He graduated from the theology course on December 6, 1943.⁷

Life and Ministry

After his graduation, Itanel was assigned as a Bible instructor at the Central São Paulo Church, under the leadership of Pastor Moysés Nigri. He started work December 8, 1943, assisting in the pastoral district that comprised the center of São Paulo, Pinheiros, and Lapa, extending to the surroundings of São Roque. In 1944 he accepted a call to serve in the state of Amazonas alongside Pastor Gustavo Storch, evangelist of the North Brazil Union.⁸ He also worked there with Pastor Léo Halliwell, assisting the conferences held in the city of Maués. Shortly thereafter, he was transferred to Belém, state of Pará, where he excelled as a Bible instructor, founding five churches in the state capital.⁹ In 1946 he was called to lead the youth and education departments of São Paulo Conference, where he developed camp meetings, weekly meetings, and other activities.¹⁰

As a student at Brazil College, he met Sonila Michiles, during the school’s social gatherings. After a five-year relationship, they married in 1947 at the Central Church of São Paulo.¹¹ The daughter of Rosa and José Batista Michiles, a pioneer Adventist couple in the Amazon, Sonila served as a Bible instructor, teacher, school director, secretary of the Voice of Prophecy, and secretary of various departments in the South American Division. Encouraged by Pastor João Wolff, in 1980 she started the Women’s Wing project of the Ministerial Association (AFAM), a pioneer work which aims to better prepare lay women, church workers, and pastors’ wives. From the couple’s union, two daughters were born: Márcoa (Randolph) and Marline.¹²

In 1949 Itanel was appointed as pastor of the district of Araraquara, in the countryside of São Paulo. The following year he was ordained to the ministry.¹³ During that time Itanel held a successful series of conferences in the city of Rio Claro, accompanied by his wife, who was a Bible instructor.¹⁴ He was later appointed to pastor the district of Ourinhos in the same state. Itanel also carried out evangelistic work in the city of Campinas where he baptized Arnaldo Christianini and his family. He would later become editor-in-chief of the Brazil Publishing House. In 1954 Itanel was sent by the Church to the United States in order to pursue his master’s degree in theology.¹⁵

Upon returning to Brazil in 1955, he was appointed as pastor of the Belenzinho district in the city of São Paulo. Afterwards, he pastored the Central São Paulo Church from July 1955 to January 1960, where years earlier he had accepted the Adventist message and begun his ministry. His service at that church had great results, with more than 600 baptisms taking place. In addition, the church building experienced a reformation, and changes were made in a large part of its structure. Following that, Itanel was called to pastor the Central Church of Curitiba, state of Paraná.¹⁶

At the beginning of his work in Curitiba, he carried out a great missionary effort and the church building was too small in the face of its membership growth. As a result, land was purchased, the old building was sold, and work was started on the construction of what is now the Central Adventist Church of Curitiba. Furthermore, five other churches were inaugurated in the city, in addition to the two existing ones.¹⁷

Later he was appointed evangelist for the Paraná Conference. He organized many churches in this state and some in distant places. He carried out an evangelistic work in the city of Alto Piquiri, where many people were converted.¹⁸ He also held evangelistic meetings in Sertanópolis,¹⁹ Campo Mourão,²⁰ and Londrina.²¹ In January 1964, he was appointed president of the Paraná Conference for the 1964-1965 biennium,²² a period in which he traveled throughout the field, visiting and guiding the churches.²³

In 1966 Itanel was appointed as evangelist for the South Brazil Union Conference, with headquarters in Moema, city of São Paulo.²⁴ During this period he held conferences in the cities of Utinga, Brasília, and Cuiabá. However, while in the middle of the conference schedule in Cuiabá, the union informed him that the resources allocated to those meetings were depleted and that it would be necessary to interrupt the work and return to São Paulo. After consulting his team of workers, they decided to continue the evangelistic effort, even without remuneration. In the meantime, they relied on the assistance offered by the local church. At the end of the meetings, around 300 people were baptized and the Porto Church was organized.²⁵

After returning from Cuiabá, in 1968 he was appointed as leader of the missionary action department of the South Brazil Union, serving there until 1974.²⁶ From 1975 to 1983 he led the missionary action department of the South American Division.²⁷

Last Years and Contribution

Pastor Itanel retired in 1984 and he and his wife settled on a farm near São Paulo. However, he continued to serve the Church by preaching and visiting people.²⁸ He is author of the book Segue-me (Follow Me), published by the Brazil Publishing House in 1972.²⁹ Itanel Ferraz passed away on January 17, 2011, at the age of 88, in the city of São Paulo. The funeral ceremony took place in the chapel of the Congonhas Cemetery.³⁰

Itanel Ferraz served the Seventh-day Adventist Church for 40 years as a pastor and evangelist. During his ministry he established a total of 24 churches, in addition to participating in many other pastoral, administrative, and departmental activities. His main message to the churches was that, in his words, “Christ’s religion is one of love and joy.” As a district pastor, he liked to visit the members and get acquainted with their difficulties, in order to give them a word of comfort and strengthen their friendship.³¹

Sources

Corrêa, Genival Teixeira, “Itanel Ferraz.” Monograph. (Brazil College, s/n).

Ferraz, Itanel. “Breve relato de minha vida.” In Minha vida de pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério. Edited by Tercio Sarli, 229-239. Campinas, São Paulo: Editorial Certainty, 2007.

Ferraz, Itanel. Segue-me: novo manual para instrução de obreiros leigos. Santo André, SP: Brazilian Publishing House, 1972.

Ferraz, Sonila Michiles. “Juntos em Missão.” In Conte-me a sua História: Histórias reais de esposas de pastores no cumprimento da missão evangélica, edited by Odete Gomes Xavier de Lima, 477-487. Campinas, São Paulo: Certeza Editorial, 2010.

“Igreja Adventista de São Paulo.” Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista (Online). March 3, 2015. Accessed April 8, 2020, http://www.memoriaadventista.com.br/wikiasd/index.php?title=Igreja_Adventista_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo,_SP_(Central_Paulistana).

“Itanel Ferraz.” Revista Adventista, March 2012.

Kettle, Loriza. Uma Igreja na Selva: The Adventist Church pioneering story in the Amazon. Campinas, SP: Millennium Editora, 2016.

“Morre ex-diretor Ministério Pessoal da sede sul-americana adventista.” Guiame. January 2011. Accessed August 16, 2018. https://guiame.com.br/gospel/mundo-cristao/morre-ex-diretor-ministerio-pessoal-da-sede-sul-americana-adventista.htm

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1950, 1951, 1968, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1983, 1985.

Valle, Arthur, “Bienais da Associação Paranaense,” Revista Adventista, May 1964.

Notes

1. Itanel Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” in Minha vida de pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, ed. Tercio Sarli (Campinas, São Paulo: Certeza Editorial, 2007), 230.↩

2. Genival Teixeira Corrêa, “Itanel Ferraz” (Monograph, Brazil College, s/n), 34; I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 230.↩

3. I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 230.↩

4. Ibid., 230-231; Corrêa, 5-7.↩

5. Ibid., 230-232; Corrêa, 5-7.↩

6. Ibid., 232; Corrêa, 8.↩

7. Ibid.↩

8. Ibid., 232-233; Corrêa, 12.↩

9. Loriza Kettle, Uma Igreja na Selva: A história sobre pioneirismo da Igreja Adventista na Amazônia (Campinas, SP: Millennium Editora, 2016), 29.↩

10. Kettle, 29; Corrêa, 12.↩

11. I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 237; Corrêa, 11.↩

12. Kettle, 24-30; I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 237.↩

13. “São Paulo Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1950), 169; “São Paulo Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1951), 180.↩

14. I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 237; Sonila Michiles Ferraz, “Juntos em Missão,” in Conte-me a sua História: Histórias reais de esposas de pastores no cumprimento da missão evangélica, ed. Odete Gomes Xavier de Lima (Campinas, São Paulo: Certeza Editorial, 2010), 480.↩

15. I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 233.↩

16. I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 233-234; “Igreja Adventista de São Paulo,” Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista, March 3, 2015, accessed April 8, 2020, http://www.memoriaadventista.com.br/wikiasd/index.php?title=Igreja_Adventista_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo,_SP_(Central_Paulistana).↩

17. I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 234-235.↩

18. Ibid., 235.↩

19. Arthur do Valle, “Sussurro dos Pinheirais. Do Paraná para o Brasil,” Revista Adventista, September 1962, 18.↩

20. Arthur do Valle, “Mil Almas Ganhas em 1962,” Revista Adventista, April 1963, 24.↩

21. “Séries de Conferências da Voz da Profecia,” Revista Adventista, March 1963, 25.↩

22. Arthur do Valle, “Bienais da Associação Paranaense,” Revista Adventista, May 1964, 22.↩

23. I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 236.↩

24. “South Brazil Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1968), 211.↩

25. I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 236.↩

26. Ibid.; “South Brazil Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1969), 218; “South Brazil Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1975), 240.↩

27. “Associação Geral da IASD – Viena,” Revista Adventista, April, 1975, 19; “South American,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1976), 17; “South American,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1983), 24.↩

28. I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 237-238; “South American Division,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1985), 293.↩

29. Corrêa, 17; Itanel Ferraz, Segue-me: novo manual para instrução de obreiros leigos (Santo André, SP: Brazilian Publishing House, 1972), 164.↩

30. “Morre ex-diretor Ministério Pessoal da sede sul-americana adventista,” Guiame, January 2011, Accessed August 16, 2018, https://guiame.com.br/gospel/mundo-cristao/morre-ex-diretor-ministerio-pessoal-da-sede-sul-americana-adventista.html. ↩

31. I. Ferraz, “Breve relato de minha vida,” 237-238.↩