GTI partnership with Portuguese seminary formalized

The three-way partnership between Southwestern Seminary; the First Baptist Church of Warren, Texas; and the Baptist seminary in Lisbon, Portugal, was birthed out of unique circumstances. Brent Ray, director of Southwestern’s Global Theological Innovation (GTI), was encouraged by a theological education strategist for the International Mission Board to consider investing in the Portuguese seminary, and Ray agreed to do so. He invited David Mahfouz, a pastor in south Texas, to join him on his first visit to Lisbon in order to consider becoming a Champion Church for the seminary. While exploring this potential partnership in Portugal, Mahfouz nearly died.

Mahfouz began to feel ill on the plane ride from London, and his health quickly deteriorated. He stayed in his hotel room for the first two days of the trip, and by the end of the second day, he was no longer responding to Ray’s phone calls.

Ray sent hotel security to check on him. They found him in such bad health that they had to carry him out of the room.

Mahfouz’s glucose level was in excess of 695 (normal levels are in the low 100s). His condition was critical as he bordered on diabetic ketoacidosis. Fortunately, through connections with both the Portuguese seminary and the Portuguese Baptist Convention, Mahfouz was admitted into a private hospital and immediately placed in ICU. He spent five days there, followed by another three on the hospital floor.

During this time, representatives of the seminary and the convention visited Mahfouz in the hospital and prayed for him. He also fielded questions from doctors and nurses regarding why he came to Portugal, which allowed him to explain why God had brought him there.

So, even though he never had the chance to visit the seminary or even to see Lisbon, God impressed upon him from a hospital bed that he had been called to invest in theological education in Portugal. Despite moving to another church soon thereafter, Mahfouz maintained his relationship with the Portuguese leadership, and his new church, FBC Warren, has agreed to serve as a Champion Church for the seminary.

On March 10, the three-way partnership between Southwestern, FBC Warren, and the Portuguese seminary that had had such a rocky development phase became official. During Southwestern’s chapel service that day, Mahfouz, President of the Portuguese Baptist Convention Fernando Soares Loja, and President of the Governing Council of the Portuguese seminary Sérgio Mota all signed a GTI partnership agreement. Through this partnership, Southwestern and FBC Warren will aid the Portuguese seminary in such areas as library and IT development; the strengthening of degree offerings; and course instruction.

“We have already seen a number of good things happening in Portugal as a result of the beginning of this partnership,” said Craig Blaising, executive vice president and provost at Southwestern, during the signing. “And there are more possibilities as we see theological education extending beyond Lisbon into the interior of Portugal and also throughout the Portuguese-speaking world.” 

Ray says the investment of Southwestern and FBC Warren in the seminary is significant because it is uniquely positioned to reach Portuguese-speaking nations such as Angola and Mozambique, which are Muslim nations. Thus, by investing in theological education in Portugal, Southwestern, along with the help of Mahfouz and FBC Warren, are investing in the spread of the Gospel to some of the spiritually darkest regions of the world.