After a tornado struck Paraná, Brazil, on November 7, 2025, volunteers traveled to the region to support residents as they began rebuilding homes and lives. Among them was Günther Marvin Wallauer, director of ADRA, the humanitarian arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Paraná, who remained on site for about two weeks.

In his role, Wallauer coordinated volunteer teams responsible for registering affected families, organizing the distribution of resources, and supporting operations of the ADRA “Solidarity Truck,” a mobile unit that prepared hot meals, offered laundry services, and provided psychological support to residents and volunteers.

The assignment carried special meaning for Wallauer: it was his final deployment before retirement from ADRA. After 35 years of humanitarian service in more than 20 countries, he officially retired on November 25, his 65th birthday.

“We serve a merciful God, a God of love, a God of forgiveness. And at this moment, we can only thank this God for using someone like me, who knew nothing about ADRA when I was in my fourth year of Theology, and God led me to work in this ministry for all these years. I also give special thanks to someone who left many things behind to be a volunteer. My wife, Adelcy, has been a companion. I need to acknowledge that if my ministry has been as it has been, it is because she has always been supporting me,” said Wallauer in a speech after receiving an award at the Annual Council of the South Brazilian Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Church's administrative headquarters in Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul.

A life of mission

Born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, in 1960, Wallauer married Adelcy Kruger Rodrigues in 1987. Two years later, he completed a degree in theology at the then Adventist Institute of Education (IAE), now the Adventist University Center of São Paulo (UNASP).

His service with ADRA began in July 1990, when the couple accepted a volunteer assignment in Mozambique. After four years there, they moved to Angola, where their daughter, Nayana Ellen, was born in Luanda in 1996. In 1998, the family was called to Bolivia, and in 2003 they returned to Brazil to work with ADRA at the North Brazilian Union.

In 2005, Wallauer accepted a new assignment in Rwanda. From 2008 to 2014, he served at the South American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which oversees the denomination’s work in eight countries. Beginning in 2015, the family relocated to the Middle East to serve with the “Missionaries to the World” project.

His last post with ADRA was in the state of Paraná, where he worked from 2022 to 2025. As director of the humanitarian agency, he coordinated aid projects for vulnerable populations and provided assistance in natural disasters, with the reconstruction of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu being his last contribution.

"Günther's heart beats for ADRA's mission", his wife concluded.

The original article was published on the South American Division Portuguese news site.