Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY017107B
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00:01 And that is good information.
00:02 Jonathan, when we left, 00:04 we were going to talk about the Middle East, 00:05 and we heard so much about that, 00:06 and then sort of a little picture 00:08 of what the future of ADRA is? 00:09 Sure. 00:11 You know, I love working in the Middle East, 00:14 and I think I love working in Middle East 00:16 because I'm a spiritual person 00:18 and I find that I could make a spiritual connection 00:20 with the people there. 00:22 And that has actually enabled us to be in areas 00:24 that not every NGO is working in. 00:27 So we're working in Sudan, 00:29 and recently when I visited Sudan, 00:30 we were given an award by the Sudanese government, 00:33 first time that they've done that 00:34 for a western organization. 00:36 Yes. 00:37 Because of the way that we worked, they say, 00:39 "If we want to affect change in the community, 00:40 we know that we need to work with ADRA 00:41 'cause you're in those communities." 00:43 We're inside Syria which as you can imagine, 00:47 it's not particularly easy, 00:49 but we've got a good relationship 00:51 and we're able to work effectively there as well. 00:54 We're inside Yemen, which is challenging 00:57 with the war-torn things and things happening there, 00:59 but the staff are being really faithful 01:01 and stayed throughout that time. 01:02 And we're running a significant programs there, 01:06 we're running about a $35 million a year program 01:09 in Yemen at the moment. 01:11 Trying to help stability for people 01:13 amongst all the instability, 01:14 how do you bring that stability into their lives 01:17 and give some hope. 01:19 And so throughout the Middle East, 01:22 it's a real honor 01:23 and a pleasure to be able to work there 01:25 and to be trusted there 01:27 because, you know, there's agencies 01:29 that had been asked to leave 01:30 but we've been one of the few 01:32 that has being seen to be a good partner there. 01:35 Praise the Lord. 01:36 And the future? 01:37 You know, the future of ADRA, 01:39 I believe is really comes down to our name, 01:43 the Adventist Development and Relief Agency. 01:45 Yes. 01:46 You know, as we said earlier, there is 95% of the... 01:49 Eighty-five percent of world's population 01:51 is affiliated with some form of religion. 01:54 And the way to move, change society 01:58 is through faith leaders. 01:59 And how do we ignite 02:01 and how do we resource our church communities 02:05 to being agents of change and hope 02:07 within our own communities 02:08 because as an agency, I have 7,000 staff, 02:11 you know, I'm in 140 countries. 02:13 But my resources are finite 02:15 and the greatest resource is people. 02:17 And how do we actually engage with people? 02:19 Give them that sense of mission and purpose 02:22 to be the agents of hope and change 02:23 in your own community. 02:24 And so, you know, as much as we have plans 02:26 for how do we develop ourselves professionally, 02:29 I think it's how do we actually partner with church. 02:31 Yes, yes. 02:33 Wonderful. And if you... 02:35 This is a wonderful agency, 02:36 and we thank Jonathan so very, very much. 02:37 Our time has fast slipped into eternity, 02:39 and now allow me in closing to wish you 02:41 both grace and peace 02:42 through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 02:44 We'll see you again soon, bye-bye. 02:45 And God bless. |
Revised 2018-02-14