For decades a copy of Ellen G. White’s classic Life of Jesus—printed in 1973 by Brazil Publishing House and sold by a colporteur—remained in an attic, almost forgotten, in a house in Teresina, in Piauí State, Brazil. Covered by dust, the book was rediscovered, by chance, in 2000, while the property was being remodeled.
Hired to do the job, contractor Paulo Santos got clear instructions: “Throw those old books stuck in the attic away,” the landowner told Santos. As he was following her request, he found the copy of Life of Jesus and was drawn by its golden title and an embossed image of Jesus. Curious, Santos asked if he could keep the book. “You can take it,” she said.
“That woman had a treasure at home, something invaluable, but she didn’t know it,” Santos now says.
Santos took the book home and read it. But when he shared what he had learned with his local priest, the priest got mad. “Burn that book!” he told Santos. But Santos didn’t do it. On the contrary, kept reading. Inside the book he also found a Voice of Prophecy card, with an invitation to learn more about the Bible.
Moved by this calling, Santos began a spiritual journey that led him, in 2024, to visit an Adventist church for the first time. This journey led him to the most important decision of his life: accepting Jesus as his Savior, as well as being baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. And the moment chosen for the baptism could not be more symbolic. He was baptized during the Brazil Publishing House’s 125th anniversary celebration service. Those attending said it was a moment shaped by surprise and emotion, as Santos met Ildete Silva, one of the proofreaders of the book that informed his decision.
International speaker Alejandro Bullón preached on Isaiah 55:11, emphasizing that God’s Word never returns void. “It always fulfills its purpose, even if it takes years, decades, or even more than half a century,” he said.
While highlighting the importance of canvassing, an essential ministry in the proclamation of the message since the early days of the Adventist movement, the program also presented the fruits of another missionary movement that for almost two decades has mobilized the church in evangelism through the printed page.
A Silent Message
The story of Kátia Cruz de Souza Lima is directly related to this initiative. In 2023 her family was facing a very difficult time after the loss of her brother. Plunged into despair, she and her daughter decided, one day, to walk aimlessly along the boardwalk of the city of Praia Grande, on the south coast of São Paulo. At one point along the way, a couple approached them and offered them the book The Greatest Hope. While skimming through the book, de Souza came across a quote from Psalm 121 and a comforting explanatory statement.
On the back cover there was the address of one of the Adventist churches in São Paulo. De Souza Lima and her daughter decided to visit the congregation and were eventually baptized.
A new chapter of this story was written during the commemorative program of the 125th anniversary, when de Souza Lima and her daughter met Eliana and Denilson, the couple who were used by God that day to give them the book that changed their lives.
Pages in Motion
Throughout its history Brazil Publishing House has contributed significantly to the spread of the message, “like autumn leaves.” One of the highlights of the program was the arrival of an old vehicle similar to the first vans the publishing house purchases to transport books and magazines.
Inside were boxes containing two special gifts for participants: miniatures of this historic vehicle and copies of a commemorative edition of the book The Ambassadors, a version of The Acts of the Apostles in updated language. The vehicle will be displayed at the headquarters as a reminder of the institution’s humble beginnings and its ongoing commitment to take the message to all people.
Instrumental in Its Growth
In 1900, when Brazil Publishing House took its first steps in Rio de Janeiro, Adventism in the country had only 26 congregations and about 700 members. Visionary people, however, understood that the country needed a publisher capable of taking God’s message to the entire territory.
Currently Brazil has more than 1.8 million Adventists and almost 20,000 congregations, the largest in the world. “Undoubtedly, the Brazil Publishing House was fundamental for the growth of the church,” said Stanley Arco, president of the South American Division.
Through the years the publishing house grew with the regional church. In the first 10 years of operating, the publishing house printed 2,700 books. In the 1940s the number of copies reached 1.3 million, and jumped to 6 million copies in the 1970s. During the past 10 years of the twentieth century the publishing house published 17 million books.
“In God’s hands the ‘autumn leaves’ multiplied exponentially. In 2024 alone we printed more than 38 million books, equivalent to 5.2 billion pages,” said Uilson Garcia, president of the Brazil Publishing House. “To give you an idea, during the first decade of the publishing house only three tons of paper were consumed. Today we use 642 tons of paper per month.”
Reaffirming the publishing house’s long-standing commitment, church leaders and more than 300 motorcyclists joined others after the event to distribute 14,000 copies of the mission book The Key to Change in a nearby city. “It is a great blessing to be part of this sacred ministry and to know that our work can transform lives,” volunteer distributor Edwin Castilho said. “It was with this feeling that we went out to distribute this literature of salvation and hope.”
Garcia agreed. “This publishing house remains firm in its mission: to print in order to save,” he said.
The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Portuguese-language news site.