And that is good information.
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Jonathan, when we left,
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we were going to talk
about the Middle East,
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and we heard so much about that,
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and then sort
of a little picture
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of what the future of ADRA is?
00:00:08.34\00:00:09.67
Sure.
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You know, I love
working in the Middle East,
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and I think I love
working in Middle East
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because I'm a spiritual person
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and I find that I could
make a spiritual connection
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with the people there.
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And that has actually
enabled us to be in areas
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that not every
NGO is working in.
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So we're working in Sudan,
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and recently
when I visited Sudan,
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we were given an award
by the Sudanese government,
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first time that
they've done that
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for a western organization.
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Yes.
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Because of the way
that we worked, they say,
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"If we want to affect
change in the community,
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we know that we
need to work with ADRA
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'cause you're in
those communities."
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We're inside Syria
which as you can imagine,
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it's not particularly easy,
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but we've got a
good relationship
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and we're able to work
effectively there as well.
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We're inside Yemen,
which is challenging
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with the war-torn things
and things happening there,
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but the staff are
being really faithful
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and stayed throughout that time.
00:01:01.39\00:01:02.82
And we're running a
significant programs there,
00:01:02.86\00:01:06.19
we're running about a
$35 million a year program
00:01:06.23\00:01:09.30
in Yemen at the moment.
00:01:09.33\00:01:11.27
Trying to help
stability for people
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amongst all the instability,
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how do you bring that
stability into their lives
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and give some hope.
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And so
throughout the Middle East,
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it's a real honor
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and a pleasure to
be able to work there
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and to be trusted there
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because, you
know, there's agencies
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that had been asked to leave
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but we've been one of the few
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that has being seen to
be a good partner there.
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Praise the Lord.
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And the future?
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You know, the future of ADRA,
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I believe is really
comes down to our name,
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the Adventist
Development and Relief Agency.
00:01:43.13\00:01:45.00
Yes.
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You know, as we said
earlier, there is 95% of the...
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Eighty-five percent
of world's population
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is affiliated with
some form of religion.
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And the way to
move, change society
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is through faith leaders.
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And how do we ignite
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and how do we
resource our church communities
00:02:01.85\00:02:05.79
to being agents
of change and hope
00:02:05.82\00:02:07.42
within our own communities
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because as an
agency, I have 7,000 staff,
00:02:08.82\00:02:11.56
you know, I'm in 140 countries.
00:02:11.59\00:02:13.73
But my resources are finite
00:02:13.76\00:02:15.60
and the greatest
resource is people.
00:02:15.63\00:02:17.67
And how do we
actually engage with people?
00:02:17.70\00:02:19.63
Give them that sense
of mission and purpose
00:02:19.67\00:02:22.10
to be the agents
of hope and change
00:02:22.14\00:02:23.47
in your own community.
00:02:23.51\00:02:24.84
And so, you know, as
much as we have plans
00:02:24.87\00:02:26.94
for how do we develop
ourselves professionally,
00:02:26.98\00:02:29.24
I think it's how do we
actually partner with church.
00:02:29.28\00:02:31.81
Yes, yes.
00:02:31.85\00:02:33.62
Wonderful. And if you...
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This is a wonderful agency,
00:02:35.02\00:02:36.35
and we thank
Jonathan so very, very much.
00:02:36.38\00:02:37.72
Our time has fast
slipped into eternity,
00:02:37.75\00:02:39.82
and now allow me
in closing to wish you
00:02:39.85\00:02:41.39
both grace and peace
00:02:41.42\00:02:42.76
through our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.
00:02:42.79\00:02:44.49
We'll see you
again soon, bye-bye.
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And God bless.
00:02:45.89\00:02:47.23