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Araújo, Wandyr Pires de (1935–2024)

By The Brazilian White Center – UNASP (2)

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The Brazilian White Center – UNASP (2) is a team of teachers and students at the Brazilian Ellen G. White Research Center – UNASP at the Brazilian Adventist University, Campus Engenheiro, Coelho, SP. The team was supervised by Drs. Adolfo Semo Suárez, Renato Stencel, and Carlos Flávio Teixeira. The following are the team members: Melissa Querido Batista, Priscila Carvalho dos Santos, Allan Sleyter Soares de Atayde, Jonatan Ferreira Nascimento, and Leo Eduardo Menegusso Valenzi.

First Published: August 22, 2024

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Wandyr Pires de Araújo was a pastor, administrator, and teacher.1

Origins

Wandyr Pires de Araújo, born on July 22, 1935, in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Wandyr’s parents, Francisco Pires de Araújo (1906-1998) and Adelaide Sophia Milbratz Rutz Araújo (d. 1993),2 were devoted Adventists committed to serving the Lord wholeheartedly. Wandyr, along with his siblings Gerson, Dario, and Célia, was part of the third generation of Adventists in his family.3 His sister became a nurse, and all three brothers, including him, became pastors. The family was engaged in music ministry, and Wandyr served as the conductor of choirs for performances such as Mendelssohn at Capão Redondo Church and Coral Vozes da Amazônia in Belém, Pará, for 10 years. He conducted choirs since he was the age of 16. Subsequently, his brother, Dario, was responsible for the translation, adaptation, and correction of 350 hymns in the hymnal Cantai ao Senhor.4

Education and Family

After finishing high school at the former Brazil Adventist College (CAB), currently Brazil Adventist University (UNASP) São Paulo campus, he graduated in Theology in 1958.5 During his time studying, Wandyr was baptized on November 19, 1949, by Pastor Siegfried Kümpel.6 In addition to the Theology course, he also studied Geography at the Federal University of Pará and earned a Master’s Degree in Science of Education at the College of Sociology and Politics (Escola de Sociologia e Política) in São Paulo.7

At CAB, he met his future wife, Clarice Costa Araújo, originally from the city of Jaraguá, Goiás, and they married on February 3, 1959, in Goiânia, Goiás. The couple had three daughters: Clarice Iara (1961), Sônia Rose (1962), and Célia Grace (1967).8

Missionary and Pastoral Ministry

He began his ministry in 1959 as a nurse attendant on the Lancha Samaritana (Samaritan Speedboat) project, a vessel that assisted the population in Ribeira de Iguape, São Paulo, with medical and dental care, health education, medicine distribution, vaccination, and assistance in flood situations, serving the cities of Cabral, Jairê, Mathias, Icapara, and Iguape until 1961. Between 1961 and 1962, he assisted in a series of conferences in the city of Franca, São Paulo, helping to establish the first SDA church in the area. During the same period, he assisted in other conferences in the city of Guaíra.9

One day, while he was working on the Lancha Samaritana project, there was such a strong storm that the boat got stuck on a rock and spun due to the wind and rain. Wandyr, his wife, and the crew feared they would not survive the storm. They decided to use the boat’s horn to ask for help and, fortunately, four men in a rowboat came to their rescue, safely taking them to the other side of the river.10

Educational Ministry

In 1962, Pastor Araújo helped establish the Grão Pará Adventist Academy in Belém, Pará, the first externship school in Brazil, where he worked for 12 years as a teacher of Geography, Manual Work, Religious Education, and Pedagogical Drawing. He also served as the school’s principal and vice-principal.11 By the grace of God, in only two years of operation, the school had 577 enrolled students in 1962.12 In Belém, he was ordained to the ministry in 1968 by Pastor João Wolff.13

Most of his ministry was dedicated to UNASP, where he worked for over 20 years as general secretary from 1974 to 1994.14 He was in charge of the regularization of the College of Theology, the introduction of the Pedagogy and Portuguese Language degrees, and the recognition of the Nursing degree.15 In 1984, he became the first principal of UNASP campus Engenheiro Coelho, remaining actively involved in the campus’s development until his retirement in 2001, after 42 years of ministry.16

His wife’s Ministry

Clarice collaborated with her husband throughout his ministry. On the Lancha Samaritana, she prepared nursing materials for medical care. When the family was in Belém, she studied Accounting, specialized in the Higher Education Secretariat, and taught Commercial Techniques and Home Education at the Grão Pará Adventist Academy. In the churches under her husband’s responsibility, she gave Bible studies, provided guidance, and assisted the deaconesses. At UNASP, she served as secretary of the Pedagogy College in addition to being a dedicated and God-fearing mother.17

Legacy and Passing

Even while committed to educational work, Wandyr continued preaching. At the Riachão Campal in 1975, he emphasized that “our church will develop only through education in our Christian schools.”18 True to this purpose, Wandyr Pires de Araújo was an educator dedicated to disseminating Adventist education throughout his country, and his educational legacy can be seen in numerous institutions. He passed away on February 27, 2024. His life was characterized by unwavering dedication and devoted service to the work of God.

Sources

Araújo, Wandyr. “A Escola Radiopostal no Instituto Grão-Pará.” Revista Adventista 58, no. 5 (May 1963).

CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista. “Pr. Vandir Pires e Clarice de Araújo | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista).” Accessed February 27, 2024, : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hulAAC6W504.

CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista. “UNASP-EC 40 ANOS | Pr. Wandyr Pires de Araújo.” Video. Accessed February 27, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t6MUHNqh9A.

“Faculdade Adventista de Educação.” Revista Adventista 71, no. 10 (October 1976).

“Falecimentos.” Revista Adventista 94, no. 4 (April 1998).

“Grande Campal em Riachão.” Revista Adventista 70, no. 8 (August 1975).

“Pastor Wandyr Agora Secretário do IAE.” Revista Adventista 69, no. 7 (July 1974).

Sarli, Tercio. Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério. (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007).

Notes

  1. CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista,.“UNASP-EC 40 ANOS | Pr. Wandyr Pires de Araújo,” Video.↩

  2. “Falecimentos,” Revista Adventista 94, no. 4 (April 1998): 25.↩

  3. CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista, “UNASP-EC 40 ANOS | Pr. Wandyr Pires de Araújo”. Video; Tercio Sarli, Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 503.↩

  4. Ibid., 503-504. ↩

  5. CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista, “UNASP-EC 40 ANOS | Pr. Wandyr Pires de Araújo.” Video;  Tercio Sarli, Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 503.↩

  6. CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventist,. “Pr. Vandir Pires e Clarice de Araújo | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista),” Video. ↩

  7. Tercio Sarli, Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério. (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 504-505.↩

  8. Ibid..; CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista, “Pr. Vandir Pires e Clarice de Araújo | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista),” Video.↩

  9. Tercio Sarli, Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério. (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 504.↩

  10. CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista, “Pr. Vandir Pires e Clarice de Araújo | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista),” Video.↩

  11. Ibid.; Tercio Sareli,. Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 504.↩

  12. Wandyr Araújo, “A Escola Radiopostal no Instituto Grão-Pará,” Revista Adventista 58, no. 5 (May 1963): 23.↩

  13. CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista, “Pr. Vandir Pires e Clarice de Araújo | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista),” Video.↩

  14. “Pastor Wandyr Agora Secretário do IAE,” Revista Adventista 69, no. 7 (July 1974): 28; Tercio Sarli,  Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério. (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 504. ↩

  15. CNMA - Centro Nacional da Memória Adventista, “Pr. Vandir Pires e Clarice de Araújo | Série: Pioneiros de Luz (Memória Adventista)”. Video.↩

  16.  Tercio Sarli, Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 505.↩

  17. Ibid., 504-505.↩

  18. “Grande Campal em Riachão,” Revista Adventista 70, no. 8 (August 1975): 13.↩

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UNASP (2), The Brazilian White Center –. "Araújo, Wandyr Pires de (1935–2024) ." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. August 22, 2024. Accessed June 18, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=EJOI.

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UNASP (2), The Brazilian White Center –. "Araújo, Wandyr Pires de (1935–2024) ." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. August 22, 2024. Date of access June 18, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=EJOI.

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UNASP (2), The Brazilian White Center – (2024, August 22). Araújo, Wandyr Pires de (1935–2024) . Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved June 18, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=EJOI.

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