BEDFORD, Texas (ABP) — Nilson Fanini, a Brazilian Baptist pastor who led the Baptist World Alliance from 1990 to 1995, died Sept. 19 after a brief illness.
Fanini, 77, was hospitalized Sept. 13 with pneumonia while visiting a new granddaughter in Texas. During treatment he suffered a stroke that put him in a coma, from which he never recovered.
Fanini, a pastor and evangelist for more than 50 years, led crusades in 109 countries, conducted about 11 thousand baptisms and preached to an estimated 50 million South Americans on radio and television.
As president of the Baptist World Alliance, Fanini stressed human rights, social justice, peace and helping those who were hungry, while putting evangelism at the center of the umbrella organization for Baptists around the world.
Memorial services are scheduled Sept. 26 at Iglesia Bautista Getsemani, a bilingual Baptist church in Fort Worth, and later in Brazil.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.