THROUGH HUMANITARIAN ACTS WE MAKE known the just, merciful, and loving character of God." This powerful statement, the first of 16 "beliefs" that describe our foundational values and ideals, embodies the very essence of ADRA's ministry.

ADRA's history is rich with the heritage of a church that is motivated by its love for humanity. In a sense the agency's roots can be traced back to 1918, when the church raised funds for relief supplies for Europeans affected by the "Great War." In 1944/1945, warehouses established in New York and San Francisco processed relief materials that were sent to 41 countries and island groups in response to needs arising out of World War II.

A Personal Journey
When I was a student at the University of Concepcion in Chile in the early seventies, I began my own journey as a humanitarian. As dentistry, law, and medical students at Concepcion, we took advantage of our newfound skills and used them to establish programs providing legal advice to those coping with unemployment, poverty, disease, and occupational stress.

Years later my own home became the center of humanitarian operations. We operated several activities for the 1,200 children housed at a large orphanage in Santiago, Chile. In 1973, when I received an invitation to become ADRA's country director, I accepted without hesitation. Here was an opportunity to perform humanitarian work within the formal infrastructure and framework of our church.

Significant Changes
Back then ADRA was known as the Seventh-day Adventist World Service (SAWS), which had grown out of a corporation established by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in November 1956. That corporation-the Seventh-day Adventist Welfare Service, Inc.-had a broad mandate, yet its primary focus was to "carry on national and international relief among peoples of all nations, in times of peace or war." In 1973 church leadership replaced the word "welfare" with "world" as SAWS began to include community development as part of its activities.

Originally SAWS was an organization of limited proportions, especially from a global perspective. It had a presence in no more than six or seven countries, including Chile, India, and in Africa. Prior to 1983, the year that ADRA was founded, SAWS focused mainly on disaster relief. The implementation of development projects was in its very early stages.

The church faced a very difficult challenge in the seventies, years of social agitation that challenged the church to respond appropriately to world events. There was social revolution in Europe and numerous social movements in Latin America, and Africa was consolidating its independence.

SAWS and church leaders recognized the need to go beyond disaster relief, and they accepted the daunting challenge of addressing the need for long-term development initiatives. Development projects empower individuals and communities with the resources and opportunities they need to help themselves.

When SAWS was renamed the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in 1983, it became a wholly owned separate entity, and embraced development along with its traditional disaster response.

Making a Difference
Since then, ADRA has taken phenomenal strides in establishing a presence in more than 125 countries worldwide. ADRA has also acquired a reputation of diligence and tireless commitment by remaining in places where care is most needed but often ignored. For example, in 1988, ADRA was the first humanitarian agency to work in the leper colony of upper Khokana in Nepal. Excluded from society, more than 1,600 afflicted residents lived there. Thanks to ADRA's programs in upper Khokana, the majority of its residents now live in mainstream society.

In 1994 ADRA was the only humanitarian agency remaining in Rwanda in the wake of the civil war, treating more than 1,000 patients a day at its field hospitals and clinics and in refugee camps. In 1997 ADRA was granted general consultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). ECOSOC is comprised of 19 member states, and the consultative status awarded to ADRA provides us with the opportunity to submit items of interest to the ECOSOC agenda. Out of 1,600 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with consultative status, only 110 have general consultative status.

ADRA's current global budget of $107 million enables the agency to assist more than 16 million people worldwide. As an agency ADRA is still growing. While we have a global presence in 125 countries and a body of some 5,000 employees worldwide, we are still a growing agency that is dwarfed by other agencies with budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

Yet when we see the tremendous impact of our programs and how far we make our esources stretch, we're making incredible progress. Truly our resources are multiplied with the blessing of our Lord.

A Shared Burden
ADRA's unprecedented growth is the result of three essential elements: deep commitment of our workers who sacrifice much of their personal lives to go the extra mile to alleviate pain and suffering; sister organizations that accept ADRA's work as a true ministry of the church, helping to open the floodgates of support from administrators, pastors, and church members; and our thousands upon thousands of loyal donors who provide consistent, prayerful, and often sacrificial financial support.

ADRA's mission today is marked by an overarching Christian solidarity. ADRA's ministry demonstrates to the world that God works through those who make themselves available to give life better meaning. Through its loving actions ADRA does not aim to transform the world, but to better it one life at a time.

Over the years I've seen firsthand how ADRA maintains a connective thread to the people it partners with in development. And ADRA's ministry will change and save lives right up until Christ comes again and puts ADRA out of business.

And doubtless there will be many who will see heaven because ADRA workers demonstrated--through humanitarian acts of kindness--God's unconditional love and mercy for all of humankind.

_________________________
Mario Ochoa is executive vice president of Adventist Development and Relief Agency International.