ADRA Provides Relief Items for Thousands in Philippines

Metro Manila, Philippines—Targeting more than 16,000 people affected by three destructive typhoons that hit the Philippines during the past month, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is providing items worth U.S. $43,000 to aid the relief effort. Items provided include food, blankets, clothing and building materials.

“Thousands have fled their homes as the strong winds [up to 137 mph] destroyed everything in its path,” said Göran Hansen, director for ADRA Philippines. “With heavy rainfall, many of the hillsides have collapsed and formed deadly mud-rivers. Bridges were also destroyed, delaying responses of relief supplies and rescuers.”

With the help of volunteers, ADRA Philippines is working in the province of Quezon to minimize damages caused by typhoons Unding/Muifa, Violeta and Winnie. ADRA International, ADRA Asia, and ADRA Philippines funded the response.

ADRA is working with the local Social Welfare and Development office, which helps direct aid to the neediest, along with the Non-governmental Organization (NGO) Network for Disaster Response, which includes the local Adventist Community Services (ACS). According to ADRA this will avoid duplication of services.

ADRA is present in more than 120 countries providing individual and community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age or ethnicity.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.

Adventist World Radio to Ring in the New Year with Turkish Broadcasts

Silver Spring, Maryland, United States—Adventist World Radio (AWR) will start off the New Year airing programs in the Turkish language, which is the result of the combined effort of producers in Turkey and France, said Bert Smit, AWR Europe region director. “Initially, the programs will be available via AWR’s direct-to-home Hotbird satellite service in Europe and via a live stream on the Internet,” he added. AWR plans to start introducing the programs to local FM stations in Turkey as a public service later in the year.

Broadcasting in a new language is in keeping with AWR’s mission, which is to share the gospel with groups that do not have access to the gospel by any other means. This requires the cooperation of AWR and native speakers who can tailor each program to local audiences. AWR helps new studios with equipment, engineering assistance and training for radio production, while overseas church organizations provide space for a studio and find native speakers of the language. Once the programs are produced and supplied to AWR, they are distributed via satellite, shortwave transmitters, AM/FM stations and the Internet.

AWR currently broadcasts in 62 languages, including Arabic, Bulgarian, French, Farsi, Tagalog, Kazakh, Uzbek, Russian, German, Italian and Romanian. Created in 1971, Adventist World Radio is the international radio service of the Seventh-day Adventist church, and is financed by contributions from Seventh-day Adventist church members and other supporters around the world, as well as the world church budget.