A year ago, Paulo Lopes had one word to describe the situation facing the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International: crisis.

Standing before members of the General Conference Executive Committee on October 11, the ADRA International president offered a different assessment.

“I come before you today with a positive report,” Lopes said. “A much better report.”

During his Annual Council presentation, Lopes described an agency emerging from what he called “stormy times,” with increased resources, new funding opportunities, and a renewed emphasis on compassion and ADRA’s role in the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Lopes expressed gratitude to God and church leaders and recognized the ADRA International leadership team standing behind him—Imad Madanat, vice president for People and Culture; Jair Parada, vice president for Finance; Teresa Ferreira, vice president for Strategy and Growth; and Thierry Van Bignoot, vice president for Sustainable Development. He also thanked ADRA employees and volunteers around the world.

“It takes a team to deliver a work that God has entrusted to us,” Lopes said.

Growth in a year of crisis

In 2025, ADRA served 8.6 million people and mobilized $US328 million across its global network, a 32 per cent increase in the year 2024.

But Lopes cautioned against seeing the people served merely as statistics.

“In ADRA, we are very careful, ensuring that we do not turn people into numbers,” he said. “Because behind those numbers, there are families. There are children. There are mothers. People that face tremendous challenges in their lives and their communities.”

The growth came during a year marked by significant financial challenges.

“Remember, 2025 was a year of crisis,” Lopes said. “And still, we were able to mobilize $US328 million and spend that money to serve those 8.6 million people.”

“In a year of crisis, God gives us 32 per cent more,” he added.

Hope beyond the numbers

Lopes illustrated the human impact of that work through a recent visit to Syria, where communities continue to recover from 14 years of conflict.

He recalled seeing children who had never known life without war, displacement, and uncertainty. At a school rehabilitated by ADRA, he watched children sing and talk about their dreams for the future.

In nearby communities, ADRA has helped restore access to clean water and rebuild livelihoods. One community leader described a rehabilitated water station as more than a service project, saying it represented the restoration of “a lifeline and the dignity of human beings.”

“We do more than rebuild infrastructure,” Lopes said. “We restore dignity. We nurture hope, and we demonstrate God’s love through compassion and service.”

“Sometimes,” he added, “the most beautiful evidence of that hope is found in the smile of a child who dares to dream again.”

Building a more resilient ADRA

Looking ahead, Lopes said ADRA is working to become more resilient, sustainable, innovative, and impactful. Its strategy centers on four areas: strengthening its faith identity and integration with the Adventist Church, diversifying funding, supporting the well-being of employees and volunteers, and better connecting emergency response with long-term development.

ADRA is also reviewing its organizational structure to improve efficiency and increase its impact.

“The same mission, a new model of approaching the humanitarian crisis of the world,” Lopes said, emphasizing that “we are stronger when we are together.”

He pointed to ADRA’s response to the recent earthquake in Venezuela as an example of compassion in action through collaboration with the church. Working alongside local church personnel, congregations, and volunteers, ADRA mobilized resources to assist more than 40,000 people, with relief efforts still underway.

New funding after USAID loss

Lopes also reported a significant change in ADRA’s funding outlook after the agency lost most of its U.S. government funding in 2025 following the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.

“But I never gave up in believing that God would provide,” he said.

Weeks before Annual Council, Lopes attended the launch of new U.S. government funding for a consortium of faith-based organizations. Through the consortium, ADRA is gaining access to five-year funding for two initiatives focused on public health and emergency management—one representing $US157.8 million across five years and the other $US75.7 million.

“I can’t say any other word than a miracle for what I’m just showing you,” Lopes said. “Because last year, we could never, ever imagine how God would provide in such a great way.”

‘We are 100 per cent in’

Compassion will also be central to ADRA’s participation in OneVoice27, the church’s worldwide evangelistic emphasis.

“We are in. We are 100 per cent in,” Lopes said.

ADRA plans three initiatives: the devotional book Serving Like Jesus: Love in Action, featuring stories from across its global network; a Global Day of Compassion mobilizing ADRA and church members for community service; and Compassion Hubs, which will provide digital storytelling resources for ADRA and the church.

Lopes said the goal is for the church to speak not only “with one voice,” but also “with one heart.”

“A heart of compassion,” he said.

A Ministry of the Church

That emphasis on compassion, Lopes said, is inseparable from ADRA’s identity.

“ADRA is more than an NGO [non-governmental organization] or a humanitarian organization,” he said. “We are a ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.”

Across 120 countries, he said, ADRA personnel serve people facing disasters, hunger, displacement, and other crises.

“This is not simply humanitarian work, my friends,” Lopes said. “This is ministry. This is mission at its best. This is the gospel in action.”

He appealed to church leaders not to allow that ministry to become separated from the wider mission of the church.

“Please, don’t let ADRA become invisible in the mission of our church,” Lopes said. “We are part of this mission. We share the same identity, the same calling, and the same hope.”

He asked leaders to remember the thousands of ADRA employees and volunteers serving in difficult and sometimes dangerous places. “Their ministry is also the ministry of this church,” he said. “Their ministry is our mission.”

Lopes closed by looking toward a future when ADRA’s humanitarian work will no longer be necessary.

“We are working every day toward a future in which the very suffering we exist to address will be gone forever,” he said. “But until that glorious day, there is work to be done.”

Until then, he added, “there are lives to be saved, dignity to be restored, and hope to be shared.”

He left leaders with three requests: pray for ADRA; support its work through their leadership, influence, and resources; and make its ministry visible throughout their territories.

“Let us stand together as one Church, with one mission and one voice,” Lopes said, “proclaiming the hope of Jesus Christ and demonstrating His love to a suffering world.”

To learn more about ADRA and how you can support its work, visit adra.org.