Timothy “Tim” H. Aka, associate treasurer and director of investments at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (GC), died on November 2 after a long battle with cancer in Maryland, United States (US).

A Chartered Financial Analyst and senior financial officer, originally from Canada, Aka was first elected to his role at the General Conference Session in San Antonio, Texas, in 2015. He had joined the GC team as investment manager just one year earlier. He was reelected at the recent 2025 Session in St. Louis, Missouri, for the 2025–2030 quinquennium.

Before working for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Aka had worked as a financial adviser at Edward Jones and a manager at TD Waterhouse in Toronto, Canada.  

"Tim was my colleague and close friend," said Paul H. Douglas, GC treasurer. "What a privilege it has been for me to join with Tim in the ministry of treasury."

Aka contributed thought leadership to the church on topics such as how global economic trends impacted the Adventist Church and the intersection of finance and spirituality.

"Tim was competent in a financial area for which the world would compensate him much more than the church could," said Douglas. "Nevertheless, Tim believed that God’s church needs competent people and committed himself to his work without reservation."

Aka had the unique ability to discuss financial topics and connect them with Bible-based principles and Adventist beliefs. He wrote, for instance, on the intersection of cryptocurrencies and blockchain with the Kingdom of God. “Young adults are turning to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, where they see the promise of something better,” he wrote in 2022. In the same way, he added, “people of all ages, cultures, status, and religions flocked to Jesus as they heard the promise of something better.”

As early as 2016, he had written about the dangers of unmanageable debt, and in 2017, in a video for Stewardship Ministries of the General Conference, Aka discussed what he called “Endtime Economics,” or the connection between current economic realities and the prophesied events for the time of the end. He also produced several videos for ARtv, including “Economic Calm Before the Storm.”

"The stewardship of God’s resources has been top of mind for Tim, and he always sought ways to preserve and multiply those resources so that more mission can be accomplished," said Douglas.

Aka also managed to connect contemporary economic outlooks to Bible prophecy and messages, including the message to the church in Laodicea registered in Revelation 3. “This era of Laodicea is understood to be a period in the church’s existence near the end of time and describes the spiritual condition of Christians,” he wrote. “The world around Laodicea comprises an economic system that is designed to draw in and trap God’s people into financial servitude by giving an illusion of wealth, happiness, freedom, and contentment.”

Regarding the future, Aka was keenly aware of the pitfalls of human financial systems, as he repeatedly pointed highlighted God’s way as the ultimate solution for our world. “Our financial world is broken, and neither capitalism nor socialism offers the ultimate solution,” he wrote in 2020. “Our most vital role as Adventist Christians may well be to help somebody else survive the coming economic onslaught. Our sacrifice and acts of love will share with them the true gospel of Christ.”

At the 2024 Annual Council, after returning from a period of serious illness, he told colleagues: “I wasn’t sure I would have this opportunity again . . . I am so thankful that I am standing here and so appreciative of all of your prayers.”

Aka’s father, Koei, was the first Adventist pastor on the Japanese island of Okinawa, and in 2018, he traveled back there with his father and son to take part in a three-week mission trip.

“I’ve been reminded of how gracious God is,” he said about the mission trip. “He reached out to a young 19-year-old kid in Okinawa all those many years ago, and now I’m here working at the Adventist Church’s world headquarters. [My son] Max, as well as my wife, Sharon, and our two daughters, are still very much part of the church. It’s a story of God’s grace and His wonderful care for us. He is an amazing God.”  

Aka is survived by his wife, Dr. Sharon Aka, and their three grown children: Maxwell, Danielle, and Rachel.