One of my favorite verses in the Bible is from Isaiah 54:2: “Enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen the stakes.” The verse beautifully describes the work in education done by Ludwig Richard Conradi. Seen by some as the most successful missionary of the Adventist Church, the “great” Conradi is a legend among Adventists. He still lives on in the memories of many as a pioneer of Adventism in Europe. His perseverance and visionary spirit have been the driving force behind the missionary work of the European Adventist Church for decades, and he is rightfully regarded as one of its most outstanding Adventist leaders.
Extremely industrious, capable, competitive and strong, with a keen mind and analytical thinking, Conradi was a persistent scholar. All of these things made him perhaps one of the finest natural-born leaders the Adventist Church has ever had. He was extremely effective as an administrator, theologian, and public speaker. However, due to his involvement in a multitude of activities, including missionary work, preaching, church organizing, writing, publishing, and establishing numerous institutions, Conradi was forced to impose on himself a spartan, rigid, and unhealthy lifestyle.
Beginning in 1889, Conradi established the German Adventist mission headquarters in Hamburg, where he opened a school to train young men. As head of this mission school, he tirelessly taught classes in peddling, grammar, dogmatics, the geography of biblical countries, hygiene, and physiology. He accompanied his students from door to door in the afternoons to establish new contacts with the local population and to distribute Adventist literature.
Based on the premise that there was a strong link between training young people and planting new churches, he decided to establish a new mission school in a more central area of Germany. Near Magdeburg, he founded Friedensau Adventist University (FAU). Over the course of a decade, he constructed a complex of buildings there, seemingly too many for the mere 2,000 German Adventists. FAU quickly developed into a school of European importance, providing academic training to many, including numerous Romanian Adventist pastors.
I am grateful to God for Conradi’s vision, which contributed to the development of the European educational system. This laid the groundwork for the emergence of kindergartens, schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. Adventist educational institutions need prayerful support and active involvement from those who have taken on this divine-human partnership for the salvation of pupils and students. Perhaps no other institution of the church has a greater impact on society than an Adventist school. The time has come to take full responsibility for the educational institutions we have and to develop new ones where the context allows, providing education for excellence. Therefore, let there be schools, as many Adventist schools as possible!
Author
Ciprian-Conreliu Ciurea
Ciprian-Conreliu CIUREA is a pastor in the Oltenia Conference of the Romanian Seventh-day Adventist Union, General Conference Inter-European Division, since 2007. He is married to Valentina and together they have two children: Kevin and Andres. During the past 11 years, Pastor Ciprian Ciurea has established and developed the activity of two kindergartens in Drobeta-Turnu Severin and Pitești. In 2011, he completed a Master's program in Social Work Counseling at the University of Bucharest. Since 2021, he has held the position of Director of the Education Department of the Oltenia Conference. In June 2023, he obtained the title of Doctor of Theology at the proposal of the University "Aurel Vlaicu", Arad, Romania.