Reis, Osmar Domingos dos (1941–2023)

Osmar Domingos dos Reis, a pastor and evangelist, was born on April 12, 1941, in Rolante, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He was the fifth child of Luís and Amélia Domingos dos Reis. He had six brothers: Nelson, Nelcir, João, Helenita, Ernestino, and Eraldo. His parents became Seventh-day Adventists in 1898 at the beginning of the Adventist movement in the region. He was the nephew of the first ordained Brazilian Adventist pastor, José Amador dos Reis.¹ Osmar was baptized in 1953 in the Rolante River by an American missionary.²

Childhood and Education

Raised in a simple home, he received his elementary education at the Adventist School of Rolante.³ He had to work diligently to fund his studies in high school when he went to Taquara to attend the Cruzeiro do Sul Adventist Academy. Even though he had no money to pay the school fees, he took a bus to the city, dreaming of studying and becoming a pastor. Osmar, by working at the school to cover his fees, managed to enroll with the support and empathy of the school principal. After only three months at school, though, his brother, Eraldo, passed away at the age of six, which left him deeply shaken.⁴

Later, he turned to canvassing to fund his studies. As a successful canvasser, he financed his technical course with the profits from the sales he conducted, and he completed his accounting degree in 1964 at the Colégio Comercial Adventista in the city of São Paulo.⁵

Continuing his canvassing activities, he financed his theology degree and, in 1968, he graduated from the Adventist College of Theology at the Brazil Adventist University, São Paulo Campus, thereby becoming a pastor. In 1971, he obtained a Revalidation Diploma in Philosophy from the Universidade Católica de Pernambuco in Recife and pursued a postgraduate degree in Organizational Psychology from the Faculdade Brasileira de Recursos Humanos in São Paulo.⁶

While he was still a theology student, his life was marred by the accidental death of his friend, Waldir Souza, who had gone with Osmar to Manaus, in Amazonas, to canvass. During their rest on a Sunday afternoon, Waldir was electrocuted when he touched a radio that was in contact with a high-voltage wire. This event made Osmar wish he would never return to Amazonas.⁷ Surprisingly, one day he would become president of the Central Amazonas Mission, based in Manaus, and contributed significantly to the growth of the Church in that area. After graduating, he received three calls. He decided to refuse the first two, including one for Rio Grande do Sul and the other for São Paulo, as he had the desire to serve as a missionary. Finally, he accepted the third call to Pernambuco, in the Northeast region of Brazil.⁸

Marriage and Family

Osmar started his ministry while still single, in 1969, when he went to Pernambuco to serve as an assistant pastor at the Recife Central Church. It was there that he met his future wife, Daise Bezerra dos Reis, who was born on August 13, 1954, in Guaranhuns, Pernambuco.⁹ The two married on January 12, 1975, in Daise’s hometown. He was ordained to the ministry that July. Unfortunately, the year ended in tragedy with the passing of his other younger brother, Ernestino.¹⁰

The couple eventually had three children: Osmar Domingos dos Reis Júnior on February 5, 1977, a psychologist and pastor; Denisson Bezerra dos Reis on April 22, 1979;, and Delmar Bezerra dos Reis on May 5, 1983, both of whom became ordained pastors.¹¹ His wife obtained a degree in nutrition and serves as a psychologist specializing in family therapy in addition to being a leader, preacher, and pioneer of the Women’s Ministry in Brazil.¹²

Ministry

Throughout his life, Osmar served the Seventh-day Adventist Church in several capacities, starting in 1969 as assistant pastor and, later, head of the Recife Central Church in Pernambuco; treasurer of the Costa-Norte Mission in Fortaleza, Ceará, for two years; president of the Central Amazonas Mission in Manaus, where there was a growth from 11 to 60 churches and from 10,000 to 25,000 members during his five-year period as president; president of the Nordeste Mission in Recife, in 1982; Sabbath School and Missionary Action department of the Central Brazil Union and later president of the São Paulo South Conference, in São Paulo from 1987 to 1994; and in the department of Sabbath School and Personal Ministry of the South American Division, in Brasília, where he stayed until 2005.¹³

Last Years and Contribution

Pastor Osmar Domingos dos Reis dedicated his life to the Adventist Church as a pastor and evangelist. His ministry brought thousands of people and families to the Adventist Church. His dedication to evangelism stood out, especially in the Amazonas region where, while serving as president of the Central Amazonas Mission, Church membership increased considerably. He spent his last years in São Paulo until he passed away on March 21, 2023, in the city of Campinas.¹⁴

Sources

CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista. “Osmar Reis | Série: Pioneiros de Luz – 2012 (Memória Adventista).” Youtube, 2021. Accessed February 9, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdzK6rx7fyg.

CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista. “Pr. Osmar Reis | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista).” Youtube, 2021. Accessed February 9, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DJTv8Yws4Y.

Eneas, Jael. “Osmar Domingos dos Reis falece aos 81 anos”. Notícias Adventistas, 2023. Accessed February 9, 2024, https://noticias.adventistas.org/pt/osmar-domingos-dos-reis-falece-aos-81-anos/.

Ferreira, Orlando. “Nosso Trio Desfeito.” Revista Adventista no.11 (São Paulo, November 1967).

Paiva, Rute. “O Primeiro e o Último.” Revista Adventista no.6 (São Paulo, June 1967).

Reis, Denisson. Biografia do Pastor Osmar Reis. (História da IASD - Seminário Adventista Latino Americano de Teologia, Bahia. 1997).

Reis, Osmar. Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério. Edited by Tercio Sarli. Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial. (2007).

Terceiro Anjo. “Testemunho de Daisy Reis.” Youtube, 2012. Accessed February 9, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m7Fz4CBV3A.

Notes

1. CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista. “Pr. Osmar Reis | Série: Pioneiros de Luz – 2012 (Memória Adventista),” Youtube, 2021.↩

2. Ibid.↩

3. Ibid.↩

4. Denisson Reis, Biografia do Pastor Osmar Reis (História da IASD - Seminário Adventista Latino-Americano de Teologia, Bahia, 1997): 7-12.↩

5. Ibid., 12; CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista. “Pr. Osmar Reis | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista),” Youtube, 2021. ↩

6. Denisson Reis, Biografia do Pastor Osmar Reis (História da IASD - Seminário Adventista Latino-Americano de Teologia, Bahia, 1997): 13-16.↩

7. Rute Paiva, “O Primeiro e o Último,” Revista Adventista no.6 (São Paulo,June 1967): 28-29; “Nosso Trio Desfeito,” Revista Adventista, no.11 (São Paulo,November 1967): 26-27; CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista. “Pr. Osmar Reis | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista)”. Youtube, 2021.↩

8. Denisson Reis, Biografia do Pastor Osmar Reis, (História da IASD - Seminário Adventista Latino-Americano de Teologia, Bahia, 1997): 21.↩

9. Ibid., 17-18.↩

10. Ibid., 23; CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista, “Pr. Osmar Reis | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista),” Youtube, 2021.↩

11. CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista. “Pr. Osmar Reis | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista),” Youtube, 2021; Osmar Reis, Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, edited by Tercio Sarli (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 368.↩

12. Terceiro Anjo, “Testemunho de Daisy Reis,” Youtube, 2012; CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista; “Pr. Osmar Reis | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista),” Youtube, 2021.↩

13. Denisson Reis, Biografia do Pastor Osmar Reis, (História da IASD - Seminário Adventista Latino-Americano de Teologia, Bahia, 1997): 21-28; “Pr. Osmar Reis | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista),” Youtube, 2021.↩

14. Jael Eneas, “Osmar Domingos dos Reis falece aos 81 anos,” Notícias Adventistas (2023).↩