RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–Elaine Lambach, 49, a missionary serving in Brazil through the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, died after a brief illness July 14. Lambach, a mother of five, was serving in church and home outreach evangelism in the seaport city of Belém in northern Brazil. She died after being rushed to a hospital in the city.
She and her husband Paul have served on the mission field together 10 years. Paul is a church planter who teaches at the Agulha Baptist Bible Institute and the Equatorial Baptist Theological Seminary, where he is the head of the missions department.
Lambach’s death was the second to impact the South America region in just over a week. Gregory Gomez IV, a student missionary serving in Peru, was killed in a bus accident July 5.
Born Elaine Samples in Morristown, Tenn., Lambach worked in Memphis as a physical therapist at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, the Special Kids Program and Les Passees Children’s Rehabilitation Center. Lambach attended Walters State Community College in Morristown and Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn. She graduated from the University of Tennessee in Memphis with a degree in physical therapy.
In addition to her husband, Lambach is survived by her children: Joseph, serving in the military; Jonathan, a student at Union University in Jackson, Tenn.; David, a recent high school graduate; Rachel, 12; and Hannah, 9.
Funeral services are scheduled for July 26 at First Baptist Church in Morristown.
–30–
Reported by the Richmond bureau of Baptist Press.
