The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is the humanitarian arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Church members donate to ADRA, pray for ADRA, and, in part, participate in fundraising for ADRA.

“The social engagement of church members in the community is an essential part of the church’s ministry,” explained Joao Martins, ADRA Europe Director. “All human beings were created in God’s image, and it is our prophetic role to restore this dignity with all our capacities. If the church fails to open [up] to the community, it risks being dull and irrelevant. Having churches closed to communities is a waste of talents and resources,” concluded Martins.

Recently, ADRA Europe published a comprehensive report about its work all over Europe, being done through its regional branches. The following are some excerpts from the report.

Romania

In the 31 years since its establishment, the social activity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Romania, through ADRA Romania, has been fruitful in numerous interventions for its beneficiaries, helping them get through difficult times.

Established in 1990, Adventist Development and Relief Agency - ADRA Romania – has been mainly involved in development projects that benefit the entire population and provide unconditional support regardless of the religion, race, ethnicity, or gender of its beneficiaries. Its aim is to improve the quality of life for those in need and invest in people’s potential, through community development initiatives that focus on five main areas: economic development; primary education and health; combating domestic violence; assisting victims of natural disasters; and helping disadvantaged social groups.

Out of the total number of 1,075 Adventist churches in Romania, at least 600 were actively involved in ADRA Romania projects in 2020. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic—more precisely on March 8, 2020—through humanitarian interventions sustained and reported weekly, Team ADRA, in collaboration with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, has managed to distribute the following to beneficiaries: at least 350 tons of food, seven tons of clothes and footwear, five tons of hygiene items, including a disinfectant solution for personal and industrial use, soap, medical products, dental products, 100,000 individual hygiene masks, and 200,000 disposable gloves.

In total, 1,283 volunteers were involved in ADRA Romania’s 2020 projects. Even though the number of volunteers was lower than in previous years, ADRA Romania was able to provide support for a record number of 77,711 beneficiaries.

Portugal

Partnering with churches or church members can be an effective way for ADRA to extend the reach of its impact. ADRA Portugal managed to mobilize almost 10% of its church members last year and reached around 14,000 beneficiaries.

It all started in 2008 when the Adventist Church in Portugal invited ADRA to organize the social work, traditionally performed locally by member congregations. It was, at the time, poorly coordinated work, done spontaneously and often in response to emergency situations. The work was often focused on supporting the local Adventist communities themselves, inspired by Dorcas’ Biblical action. 

Meanwhile, ADRA Portugal, after consulting local churches (with the completion of a national survey and some interviews) structured an action model based on the creation of social responses, in order to meet needs as identified in official documents (such as the social diagnoses of municipalities). ADRA Portugal created support manuals for volunteers to learn how to structure projects and provided training from the north to the south of the country. 

Thirteen years later, there are currently 109 local ADRA Delegations; Of these, 89 had active projects in 2020 that involved about 1,200 volunteers.

One area where these church members help is through ADRA Portugal’s national social work program, which provides food to low or no-income families. ADRA has formed a partnership with some major supermarket chains to donate both perishable and nonperishable food items, which ADRA volunteers then distribute to beneficiaries. The 89 projects vary in the services they offer—some offer additional activities, such as distributing secondhand clothing, offering life skills classes, providing assistance in finding work, and fundraising.

In 2020, Portugal’s National Social Work Program included 1,200 Adventist Volunteers; eighty-nine national projects were run by volunteers, 14,000 beneficiaries were reached, and 900 tons of food were distributed. 

Spain

From the early 1990s, the director of ADRA Spain, Rafael Calonge Bombín, began establishing a coordination system between ADRA and the churches of the Spanish Adventist Union. His goal was to facilitate the Adventist mission of solidarity to reach the localities where the Adventist Church was present.

In 1994, ADRA Spain defined a strategy to develop a structure that would allow each church and its members to carry out solidarity programs and projects for their respective community.

ADRA Spain became an active member of the existing NGO platforms in our country: Plataforma del Voluntariado de España and the Coordinadora Española de ONGD para la Cooperación Internacional (Spanish NGDO Coordinating Committee for International Cooperation). The ADRA Spain Board is also part of the Governing Board of the Coordinating Committee for International Cooperation. It has progressively increased its participation in regional and local platforms, collaborating in working groups and their management positions.

The pandemic has meant an added and complex task in which the volunteers of ADRA Spain have once again committed themselves to supporting people in need. ADRA Spain continues to work to bring the message of God’s love to the people through our programs and the effective collaboration of our local church members. 

France

In France, the collaboration between ADRA and the local churches occurs within a particular legal context where a clear separation exists between religious and associative activities. ADRA France promotes collaboration with other associations, foundations, and state organizations.

The local ADRA offices may lead some churches to be recognised in the community as places that welcome and support those in need. They also offer church members the opportunity to express their faith through action and for the youth to be introduced to solidarity work. Many children learn about humanitarian aid or social services through the ADRA Pathfinder badge.

Italy

ADRA Italy and the church interact intensively and daily. One of the first visible aspects is that 33 of ADRA’s 40 local branches are located in Adventist church buildings. This presents the church as a serving community open to interacting with and caring for others. The second aspect is that a high percentage of the volunteers are church members, people that have chosen to translate their faith into action through the activities of ADRA.

This particular period (COVID-19) has offered the younger generation the opportunity to serve and open themselves up to the community. Many older adults and many young people have found a place to live out their mission through ADRA. ADRA Italia and the Adventist church intertwine, adding value and mutual support to each task.

This article was originally published on the Inter-European Division’s news site.