Juan Carlos Viera, Longtime Adventist Administrator, Passes at 78

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Juan Carlos Viera, former director of the Ellen G. White Estate of the General Conference, and father of Elizabeth Viera Talbot, director of the Jesus 101 Biblical Institute, a North American Division media ministry, passed away on Nov. 25, 2016, at his home in Beaumont, California. Viera, who had been ill, was 78.
 
“Everyone commented on his brilliant mind, his Christ-centered theology, kindness in administration, and his peaceful demeanor, not just for his family and friends,” Talbot said via telephone from California. “People came to him to find that peace, and I attribute that to his Christ-centered theology.”*
 
Viera served the Lord within the Seventh-Day Adventist Church for more than 40 years: first in South America as a pastor and evangelist, then in the roles of conference and union president. Viera later served in various capacities at the White Estate, eventually becoming its director, the position he held until his retirement.
 
As reported by Mark A. Kellner in the Adventist Review article, Jim Nix, who followed Viera as director of the White Estate, praised his colleague’s demeanor and service. “Juan Carlos was the consummate Christian gentleman," Nix said.
 
"As a former union conference president in South America, he applied his administrative skills to his work at the White Estate,” shared Nix. “The legacy he left behind when he retired was that of a man who loved the Lord and His end-time Remnant Church, who believed in the biblical gift of prophecy, and — on a personal note — was kind and supportive to me personally, something that was probably also true in his interactions with other members of the White Estate staff.”
 
Viera authored several books, including Ready to Meet Christ, The Voice of the Spirit, and Year 2000: Will This Be the End?
 
In his retirement, Viera worked as a Spanish translator for the Pacific Press Publishing Association, serving 15 years as translator of the “Ellen G. White Notes” published by Pacific Press to accompany the Adventist Church’s quarterly Adult Bible Study Guide. Viera also translated all the books produced by the Jesus 101 Biblical Institute.
 
For his daughter, Viera’s legacy is more personal: “My dad’s integrity, as a Christian and a person, is what I personally admired. He was the same person at home as he was outside. He did not have multiple faces as a pastor.
 
“One of the reasons I am a minister and working for the church is his integrity and example,” Talbot told Adventist Review.
 
Viera is survived by family members who, like him, believe in the assurance of the resurrection at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. His memorial service will take place on Jan. 14, 2017, at 4 p.m., at the Alhambra Seventh-day Adventist Church in southern California.
 
— For additional information please contact Elizabeth Viera Talbot, Ph.D., at gospelpastor@Jesus101.tv.
 
*Reported by Adventist Review Online.

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