As participants in INFEMIT, we join ours to the many voices celebrating the life and ministry of Samuel Escobar. Our fellowship owes its beginnings in part to this brilliant missiologist who, along with René Padilla (Ecuador) and friends like Kwame Bediako (Ghana), Ron Sider (USA), Melba Maggai (Philippines), Peter Kuzmic (Croatia) and others, emphasized the need for contextual theologizing for the sake of the whole life witness of the whole church in the whole world. With his emblematic broad smile and his generous spirit, Samuel taught, mentored, challenged and encouraged women and men in his native Peru, across Latin America and the world round.
What follows is the introduction Ruth Padilla DeBorst offered when in 2019 Samuel was granted the Life Time Achievement Award of the American Society of Missiology, which he presided 2001-2002:
We give thanks for the life of Dr. J. Samuel Escobar Aguirre, who passed away on April 29th, 2025. To me, he is “tío Sammy.” Along with his dear late wife, Lily Artola, he knew me before I was aware of my existence thanks to the friendship of over 60 years that they shared with my parents. He become a life-long mentor to me—as to hundreds of younger scholar practitioners—an encourager, a scholarly coach, and a colleague in the Latin American Theological Fellowship, in the movement of misión integral and in the weaving together of theology, mission, and education. When I grow up, I want to be like him. And I pray for Christian friendships like theirs for all of us.
Anyone serious about mission theology is well acquainted with Samuel’s thorough, prolific, and groundbreaking scholarship, articles, and books. If you are not, you are missing out on deep, broad, and inspiring work. I will simply mention Samuel’s most recent publication, which I propose is his magnum opus, In Search of Christ in Latin America: From Colonial Image to Liberating Savior.
Let us give thanks to God for this brother whose life was such a gift to the world church. We invite you to pray this prayer with us as we remember him:
Samuel followed Jesus from Perú, Argentina, and Brazil, to Canada, the USA, and Spain.
We thank you, God, you for his committed pastoral work among students and in churches.
Samuel ministered in revolutionary contexts as well as in the halls of academia.
We thank you, God, for his insightful scholarship and his creative teaching through word and deed.
Samuel served as a bridge, interpreting and mediating between people from different worlds.
We thank you, God, for the deep friendships he nourished and inspired.
Samuel celebrated and engaged respectfully with diverse Christian traditions, cultural expressions, and literary figures.
We thank you, God, for the generous spirit he modeled and promoted.
A radical evangelical, Samuel was uncompromising in his love for God and his commitment to making known the good news of God’s good reign of love and justice—from everywhere to everywhere.
Community of love, we thank you for Samuel, and we commit his Spirit to you him in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Read some of Samuel’s work on the INFEMIT website:
