ROLF DAMMANN,

IN MEMORIAM

a vice president of the Baptist World Alliance from 1980-1985, died on December 3, in Berlin, Germany. He was 90 years old. Dammann was general secretary of the Union of Evangelical Free Churches in the

German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1969-1989. He served in the German navy from 1942-1944, suffered serious

injury and was, for a brief period, a prisoner of war. After the war, Dammann worked for East Germany’s Inland Revenue department in various capacities, including as a tax inspector. He underwent theological training and was ordained to the

Christian ministry in 1960. From 1958-1965 he held the part time positions of pastor of Bethel Church of Berlin-Friedrichshain and chairman of East German Baptists, taking on the latter position on a full time basis in 1965. Dammann was elected the first general secretary of the renamed

and reconstituted Union of Evangelical Free Churches in the German Democratic Republic in 1969 until his retirement in 1989. This new body comprised approximately 220 churches with more than 20,000 baptized members. It included Baptists, who were the majority, as well as Brethren and Elim churches. He welcomed Martin Luther King, Jr. to East Berlin, on the

American Civil Rights leader’s visit in 1964; Ralph Abernathy, a close associate of King’s, in 1973; and evangelist Billy Graham, in 1982.

Despite travel restrictions imposed by the communist state,

Dammann attended a number of international meetings, including Christian Peace Conferences in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and Baptist World Congresses in Tokyo, Japan, in 1970 and in Toronto, Canada, in 1980.

Dammann was tasked with negotiating the relationship between

the church and the communist state of East Germany, during which time he had several meetings with the country’s Secretaries of State for Church Affairs. In addition to being a BWA vice president, Dammann served on

the General Council, the Executive Committee, the Baptist World Aid Committee, the Congress Program Committee and the Commission on Religious Liberty and Human Rights.

BWA General Secretary Neville Callam said the BWA “celebrates

Dammann’s stewardship as a leader within the Baptist community,” and that “he gave outstanding service.” Callam noted that, at a meeting in Elstal, Berlin, in 2007,

Dammann expressed gratitude to European and global Baptists for their support and encouragement to East German Baptists during the communist era. The BWA had sponsored a number of visits to East Germany. These visits, Callam recalled Dammann saying, “reminded the 20,000 Baptists in the GDR that they were a part of a worldwide Baptist family.” The funeral service was held on December 18 at St. Peter’s Luis City Cemetery in Berlin.

He and wife, Elfriede, who died in 2003, had five children. DANIEL MACHADO,

a former president of the Portuguese Baptist Convention (PBC), died on September 15. Machado was ordained to the Christian

ministry in 1959 and served several congregations, including in Queluz, Coimbra and Porto. While serving as pastor of the Third Baptist Church in Porto, Machado was

director of the Portuguese Evangelical Home, a residence for orphans and the elderly founded by his parents. He was president of the PBC for a decade and, during that time,

served as a member of the Baptist World Alliance General Council. He is a former president and professor of Old Testament at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Queluz, Portugal.

Machado earned degrees and diplomas from the seminary in

Queluz and the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Rüschlikon, Switzerland, where he met his wife, Eunice. Funeral services were held September 16 at the Evangelical Baptist Church of Cedofeita in Porto.

He leaves wife, Eunice and sons, Jónatas and Emanuel. BOOK NOTES

Bill Leonard, editor, Can I Get a Witness? Essays, Sermons, & Reflections, Mercer University Press, Mercer University Press, 2013

In Can I Get a Witness? Essays, Sermons,

& Reflections, Bill Leonard ranges far and wide. His papers deal with subjects ranging from “Perspectives on Denominationalism”

to “Who are the Nones?” Other chapters make diverse offerings extending from a sermon on “Jacob Wrestling with Strangers” to a reflection on “Vanishing Mountains.” As with other Bill Leonard’s books, this one offers helpful insights into how to understand what is happening as the church seeks to respond to perplexing issues marking the changing times in which we live.

30 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE

Doreen Morrison, Slavery’s Heroes: George Liele and the Ethiopian Baptists of Jamaica, 1783 – 1865, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

In Slavery’s Heroes: George Liele and the

Ethiopian Baptists of Jamaica, 1783 - 1865, Doreen Morrison offers a credible interpretation of an oft-overlooked story. Her thesis and approach are the fruit of fresh research throwing up a host of characters scarcely referenced in past publications dealing with the subject. By locating Liele in his African American roots, Morrison highlights an early phase of the development of African American involvement in international mission that is finally getting the attention it deserves. She also succeeds in giving voice

to forgotten heroes and heroines in the Jamaica Baptist story.