Paiva, former SBTC church planting employee, dies

HOUSTON—Silvano M. Paiva, 47, who held several positions with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s church planting team over 13 years, died July 27 in Houston after a brief illness.

Paiva planted several churches before serving as an SBTC church planting consultant and then a part-time employee with the SBTC church planting team. He resigned that position recently due to health concerns.¨

He was born Dec. 6, 1965 in Londrina, Parana, Brazil. He is survived by wife Marta, daughters Carolina and Jacqueline, and grandson Kaleb.¨

Paiva’s life verse was Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

He was a member of First Baptist Church Heights in Houston.¨

Born into extreme poverty, Paiva learned to read and taught himself for a significant part of his education in Brazil. As a young man, Paiva went to a bridge one day intent on suicide, but some young people from a nearby church shared Christ with him before he could do it, forever changing his life and eventually leading to a year as a missionary in Iraq. He moved to the United States 20 years ago, planted several churches, and worked as a translator for Spanish and Portuguese speakers in the municipal courts of Houston in addition to his work with the SBTC.