Adventist Businessman and Philanthropist Milton Soldani Afonso Dies at 104

Milton Soldani Afonso, a Seventh-day Adventist businessman and philanthropist from Brazil who spent more than 50 years funding education, outreach, and evangelistic initiatives, died in Rio de Janeiro on September 2. He was 104.

Through the decades, Afonso became known for his support to developing various areas of Adventist work, including projects in communication and Adventist education. Born in Nova Lima, Minas Gerais, on December 12, 1921, he was the main private supporter of the denomination’s communication and education projects in South America, and received, in 2012, the title of patron of Adventist communication on the continent.

The businessman’s trajectory is intertwined with the history of the Adventist organization in Brazil. Afonso embraced the Adventist message when he was 9 and was baptized in 1937. From the boy who sold homemade sweets on the streets to the entrepreneur who launched one of the largest health insurance operations in the world, he kept one single motivation behind his work, namely, to use what he built to open paths for other people.

From His Hometown to Literature Evangelism

Son of José Afonso Filho and Geneva Soldani, he grew up in a house without running water or sanitary facilities. His mother worked as a seamstress; his father was a waiter and then an electrician. As a child, Milton took the sweets that his mother prepared, and sold them on the streets to help support the family’s income.

In 1934, at the age of 13, he arrived at the Brazilian Adventist College in São Paulo, now Adventist University Center of São Paulo (UNASP). At the time, he couldn’t afford his tuition. It was there, amid difficulties to continue studying, that the promise that would guide a good part of his adult life was born: if one day he was able, he would help cover the tuition costs of those who were in a similar situation.

His work selling Adventist books helped him cover his studies. By 1943 he had become the literature evangelist with the most sales in Brazil. He graduated with a degree in law from the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Niterói in the early 1950s and, in 1951, created Casa Editora de Legislação (Legislation Publishing House), whose journal Legislação Federal became a reference in the field of income tax.

In April 1971, at the age of 49, he left his job at the Silvestre Adventist Hospital in Rio de Janeiro and opened a small office to sell health-care plans. It was the beginning of Golden Cross, a highly recognized company in Brazil. For years, part of the company profit was used to fund educational, outreach, and evangelism projects.

A Promise Fulfilled

At the end of 1985 Afonso took over the administration of the Santamarense Organization of Education and Culture (OSEC), in São Paulo. Between 1985 and 1994 he invested resources in the school, which in 1994 became University of Santo Amaro (Unisa).

At the same time, he maintained a scholarship program in Adventist institutions for decades. Tens of thousands of students had their tuition paid in full or in part by funds he provided, although many of them never met him.

Afonso also supported foster homes and orphanages, as well as initiatives in schools and boarding schools, and the construction of churches in different states. In 2015, on the one hundredth anniversary of the UNASP São Paulo campus, where he had studied, the institution inaugurated a square named after the philanthropist.

Communication of Hope

The investment in religious media is an essential part of Afonso’s legacy. When hardly anyone discussed Adventist evangelism through mass media in South America, he launched investments to create an Adventist media center. From that initiative the Novo Tempo Communication Network was born, which currently broadcasts in Portuguese and Spanish to millions of people. In addition, he was a supporter of communication initiatives worldwide.

In December 2012, when he turned 91, he received the title of patron of Adventist communication in South America. Concurrently the building that bears his name was inaugurated in Jacareí, São Paulo. The facilities include six studios, with a total of 5,000 square meters (54,000 square feet). Erton Köhler, then president of the South American Division and now president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, noted at the time that a majority of the people who come to the church on the continent do so through radio, TV, and the internet, ministries supported by the funds Afonso provided.

On December 8, 2021, Afonso’s centennial was celebrated with a thanksgiving service at the Novo Tempo Media Center. Ted Wilson, then president of the General Conference, and South American Division president Stanley Arco attended the celebration. When Afonso was asked what Novo Tempo meant to him, he replied that he always dreamed that the Adventist Church would have a strong communication footprint.

UNASP also inaugurated a special space dedicated to him. Throughout the years, Afonso donated about 1,600 artifacts, including Persian, Greek, Roman, and medieval coins, and other objects and rare books to UNASP. This collection forms the core of the school’s Museum of Biblical Archaeology.

Living Memory

Arco referred to Afonso’s legacy.

“There are people who leave marks in life,” Arco said. “And there are people who, above all, leave a legacy. It is something extremely meaningful to leave a legacy. It has to do with keeping principles and an example very much alive. His deportment, demeanor, and faith will live on for all of us and for generations to come. The legacy of Milton Afonso will certainly bear fruit for eternity, just as Proverbs 11:30 reminds us: ‘The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.’”

Köhler agreed. “I have always admired his commitment to the Adventist Church,” Köhler said. “During my time in South America I have had precious opportunities to visit him and personally express my gratitude. He understood with extraordinary vision that education could change destinies, and that communication would take the gospel far beyond our walls. This was not just a vision. He invested in it and made a tangible difference. God put the resources in his hand, and he decided to turn them into mission.”

Afonso was married to Arlete Carvalho da Silva Afonso, who died in 2020 at 96. He is survived by his children Celso, Carlos, Neide, and Paulo César.

The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division news site.