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New pastor at SDA Church

Pastor Andrew Raduly
Lori Bothum

Andrew Raduly, who arrived in Karlstad on July 2 to be the new pastor at the 7th-Day Adventist Church, is: a single man originally from Hungary, a marathon runner for the American Cancer Society, a triathlete - run, bike and swim - and does kayaks.
“I’m addicted,” Raduly (pronounced “Rad-oo'-e”) said. “In the summer, I run about 50 miles a week. One of my main staples is running for ACS. I race competitively, and my next major race (26.2 miles or 42K) is in Chicago October 12, but first Nick Amb, Karlstad mayor, and I will run and finish the Karlstad to Canada run, 35 miles in September!”
He laughed and said this commits Nick Amb to the run.
Being a pastor in the United States is nothing short of a series of miracles.
It started back in Hungary. Andrew was in the seminary and also working as a tour guide.
“I was in Budapest, the capitol city. When Lady Di died (1997), I sent to the British Embassy in Budapest a big bouquet of flowers and a card signed by me. I wrote, “Lady Di, I’m so sorry. Rest in peace.” There were thousands of bouquets, and as luck would have it, mine was published on the front page of the “Budapest Sun,” with my letter and a picture of Lady Di. Headlines were “Hungarians pay farewell to Lady Di.
“I did not know it happened, until a man from Maplewood, New Jersey, by the name of Howard, was on vacation in Budapest. He picked up this newspaper in his hotel, Castle Hilton, read it and went for a walk with his newspaper under his arm. I was working as a tourist guide in the Castle district, which is very pretty, very historic, like the Versailles.
“My job was to bring tourists into the stores and introduce them to Hungarian culture and folklore. This man came into the store where I was, and after some small talk, I asked what he was reading and he said, ‘The Sun.’ He opened it up and I saw the picture and my note and I jumped up and down! A friendship started and he invited me to see New York. I was very busy with seminary and work.
“Finally I decided to take off two weeks and came to New York in 1999. I had two wonderful weeks, visited New York, New Jersey, Arkansas, Georgia and Florida. What happened is that a friend in Georgia asked me ‘Why don’t you continue school here?’ He was also Hungarian and a naturalized American. But I couldn’t afford it.
“He said, ‘Is the Lord too small to take care of your needs? Why don’t you call the president of the college?’ “So I did call him, Louis Torres, and asked what are my chances of going to your school when I’m broke? The school is in Hermosa, near Rapid City, Iowa.
“He said, ‘When can you get on a bus and get out here?’ I told him I didn’t have a visa, just a tourist. He said, ‘Come visit and see the college,’ which I did. He said, ‘Stay and the Lord will take care of everything else.’
“He got my papers and visa and I started studying. I went there the first semester and owed several thousand dollars. The last day of the first semester, a Christian couple, John and Karrie Newman, came up to me and said, ‘Let’s pray, Andrew,’ so we knelt down and prayed together. Then he looked at me. ‘Unbeknown to you, we have been watching you and feel God has called you to the ministry.’
“They paid all of my expenses for the year! Also seven more students!
“I finished school, graduated and was looking for a job. Another miracle! I went to Pipestone, invited by a local church there, to be a guest speaker since they had no pastor. I preached there one Sabbath, got home and the phone rang. An elder of the church asked if I would consider being their pastor. I said ‘sure, if the Lord opens the doors, I’d be glad to.
“On Sunday, the same elder, Bob Bergh, called the president of the conference, telling him they would like to consider me for their pastor. The president said sure. On Monday, the president, ministerial director and vice president were on a conference call, interviewing me and would call me back. They did on Thursday and I was hired.”
The amazing thing, Andrew said, is that usually this is a long involved process.
“I became pastor at Pipestone Church, where they had been without one for two years. Stipulations were to be married and have experience, which I didn’t. I was 23, and the next four years were the best days of my life. We just clicked. I had two churches, Pipestone and Artichoke. Parishioners were Norwegians, Philipinos, and some Mungs. In 2005, I left for graduate school at Andrews University in Michigan. Our seminary is like Harvard. All clergy from the U.S. and Canada are trained there. It is the sixth most diverse university in the U.S. Students come from over 130 countries. I graduated in May, and Karlstad is my second assignment.
“Besides running, my other main staple is that I love doing mission work. From October 20 to November 20, I will be in India.
“I speak four languages, Romanian, Hungarian, English and Spanish. I absolutely am infatuated with daisies. Simplicity. The less you have the happier you are!”