Judith Marianne Ferreira, better known as Marianne, passed away on January 8, 2023 in Penela, Portugal, after a four-year battle with illness, surrounded by the nurses and family who cared for her in the final stages of her life. Died at home. she has cancer. She was a doctor, a missionary, and focused on the Ministry of Health’s role in making others perfect in Jesus.
missionary’s daughter
Marianne was born in 1965 in Bulawayo, Rhodesia. She is a member of the fourth generation of Adventists in her Seventh Day, her parents were missionaries in her mission to Solsi. Her Marianne’s father died when Marianne was just two years old.
After her father’s death, the family moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where Marianne grew up and attended medical school at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She discovered her calling to be a missionary. While in her medical school, she knitted wool sweaters and sold them to her colleagues, who donated her funds to her missionary work.
her marriage
When Marianne was 19, she met Viriat at the Claremont Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cape Town. They both attended UCT. Viriat also felt called to be a missionary.
Marianne and Viriat were married in 1987 at the age of 22. After her marriage, Marianne furthered her surgical and pediatric studies in preparation for her missionary work.
mission work
In 1994, the young couple accepted a vocation in remote areas of northern Namibia to provide medical services to local people, especially the Himba, as part of the Global Mission project. They worked for her in Namibia for four years and helped establish a local mission. There, Marianne and Viriat were surgeons and general practitioners of thousands of patients.
family growth
During their time in Namibia, the couple were blessed with their first child, Daniel. The local tribe named it “Waeta”. This means “they brought”. When asked why they gave him that name, members of the tribe replied: ‘They brought us the knowledge of God’.
While in Namibia, the Ferreiras expanded their family by adopting eight-year-old Munja Mbinghe, who needed a home.
Launch of Lifestyle Center in Portugal
In 1999, the Ferreiras accepted an invitation to settle in Portugal, which helped launch the country’s first Adventist lifestyle center and clinic. They arrived in Portugal in 2002 after training in lifestyle and preventive medicine in the United States.
Marianne co-founded the Portuguese Preventive Medicine Association in 2003. To support her participation in the mission, she underwent a Portuguese medical examination so that she could learn the language and work in Portugal. She began seeing patients and providing medical assistance at a local Adventist nursing home.
Marianne was loved by patients who came to see her from near and far. Her primary focus has been on being close to patients, prioritizing their health and helping the mission grow.
Vitasalus Lifestyle Center
In 2011, Ferreiras moved to Penela, near Coimbra. There, his new VitaSalus lifestyle center was in the early stages of development. The couple devoted all their will and effort to the development of the center through personal and family sacrifices.
Her second biological child, Clarisse, was born in Portugal.
“She was always a jolly doctor, helping thousands of people day and night with unparalleled joy,” Viriat said. The VitaSalus Lifestyle Center would never have been established without the sacrificial love of Jesus.Throughout her life, many have been touched by the love of Jesus.”
Marianne died with the certainty that the next time she woke up, she would see the face of Jesus welcoming her to be with him and all his faithful forever.
of original version Portions of this article were posted to the Inter-European Division news site.
