Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) celebrated the emergency response training (ERT) program's 20th anniversary recently in Lomé, Togo, delivering the course in French, for the first time, making the training more accessible to staff from French-speaking countries across Africa.
The French-language training had been an ADRA priority for the region for several years, reflecting the organization’s commitment to strengthening collaboration and emergency response capacity across Francophone countries, said ADRA representatives.
Ben Issouf Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso Mission president and chair of the ADRA Burkina Faso board, was among 22 participants from 10 ADRA country offices who attended the training. Ouedraogo said the training reinforced the importance of ADRA's role in the Seventh-day Adventist mission, particularly while communities face emergencies.
Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges it presented to traditional forms of worship and ministry, he emphasized the importance of continuing to serve those in need, regardless of the circumstances.
“Just as ADRA, through its volunteers, was on the ground, reaching out to people to bring relief in isolation centers and providing essential supplies and care to those affected, so too will the work of ADRA never cease,” Ouedraogo said. “It will continue until the return of Jesus, always responding to humanitarian emergencies.”
He also encouraged church leaders and members to recognize humanitarian service as an essential expression of their faith.
“If church leaders and the believers grasp this reality, they will understand that ADRA represents another way of living out the Church; it serves as the hands and feet of the Church, reaching out to help the vulnerable among us.”
ADRA representatives said that connection is particularly meaningful in parts of West Africa, where the Adventist Church has a relatively small presence in predominantly Muslim communities. Through ADRA’s humanitarian work, the Church can build relationships and trust with people of different faith backgrounds, demonstrating compassion through practical service, they said.
Initiatives such as ADRA’s Disaster Ready Church aim to further strengthen this partnership by connecting congregations with disaster preparedness knowledge and humanitarian principles, equipping them to better serve their wider communities.
For Ouedraogo, who serves in a predominantly Muslim country, these relationships are an important part of serving communities with compassion and respect.
Since it began in 2006, ADRA's ERT program has trained 1,028 participants and been hosted in 33 countries, including one virtual training during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond technical skills, the program has helped establish a shared culture of preparedness, connecting humanitarian professionals across country offices and regions by building the relationships and trust necessary to respond effectively to emergencies.
“The ERT program has built a shared culture of preparedness and a network of staff connected beyond their own country offices and regions,” said Michael Peach, senior coordinator for Network Emergency Preparedness at ADRA International. “Delivering the training in French for the first time breaks down language barriers and strengthens these network connections. It’s about building the relationships, confidence, and capacity to respond as one Network.”
The original article was published on the Adventist Development and Relief Agency news site.
