1800
242 37240 Years of ADRA in Australia
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is celebrating its 40th anniversary in Australia in 2024.
ADRA is the global humanitarian arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that serves communities regardless of ethnicity, political party, or religious affiliation. The international non-profit agency works with communities, organisations, and governments to enhance the lives of millions of people via sustainable community development and disaster relief.
“Our 40th anniversary is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our staff members and partners, who have worked relentlessly to provide healing and hope to people in need. ADRA has made significant progress in its four decades of existence, nevertheless, more work remains. As we commemorate this milestone, we also look forward to the future and the opportunities to continue making a remarkable difference in underprivileged communities,” says Michael Kruger, president of ADRA International. “ADRA is grateful for the support of donors, volunteers, partners, and the Adventist Church, which make it possible for us to positively impact the lives of the millions of people we serve. We remain committed to our mission of serving humanity so that all people may live as God intended.”
You can read our press release here.
Join us for a full day of celebrations on October 26 to mark our 40 year anniversary.
Are you a past or current ADRA employee or board member? Have you served ADRA in Australia or overseas? Join us for a full day of celebrations on October 26 at Avondale University Church. Visit adra.org.au/40thevent to register.
My ADRA My Story — Video Essays
Take a look at some amazing video stories about ADRA from around the world and throughout the last 40 years!
In August 2020, Jean accepted the role of Chief Financial Officer for ADRA Australia. And in 2022 he attended the ADRA Network Finance Summit in Prague. On his flight home, while putting his belongings into the overhead locker, one of the flight attendants behind him started crying unconsolably.
“I had my ADRA shirt on and she saw the logo and she just hysterically backed up, crying,” Jean says.
In a time where passengers sometimes mistreat or abuse cabin crew, the other attendants rushed over, thinking that Jean had done something to provoke her.
“They all came running to me thinking that I said something or did something to try and hurt her, because she was almost uncontrollable,” Jean says. “But what she was saying the whole time was, ‘Thank you so much for what you have done for my family. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.’”
Jean glanced at her nametag and realised the flight attendant, Oksana, had a Ukrainian flag next to her name, indicating her country of origin.
“The other flight attendants realised that she needed to take a moment,” says Jean. So Oksana sat with Jean and told him her story.
Just months earlier, the war in Ukraine broke out and Oksana’s family lived in what would soon become the front line.
“She told me she’s one of six siblings,” Jean says. “Her brothers and dad have all been conscripted. She’s had no contact with them for months. She doesn’t know if they’re alive or not.”
Oksana’s remaining family – all her aunts, babies, grandparents, and her mum – were all staying together in the same apartment block on the front line.
“The reason why she recognised the logo is there was an ADRA van that picked them up,” Jean says. “The van came and extracted them, and as they drove off, the apartment block blew up. She expressed it as seconds away from being blown up.”
Oksana shared that ADRA didn’t just evacuate them from the front line but that they helped her family transition into Poland as displaced people.
“That was a very, very touching moment,” says Jean. “She’s like ‘Thank you so much’ and I’m just like, ‘I didn’t do that! It’s not me. But it’s the logo.’”"
["post_title"]=>
string(43) "Celebrating 40 Years of ADRA - Jean's Story"
["post_excerpt"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_status"]=>
string(7) "publish"
["comment_status"]=>
string(6) "closed"
["ping_status"]=>
string(6) "closed"
["post_password"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_name"]=>
string(40) "celebrating-40-years-of-adra-jeans-story"
["to_ping"]=>
string(0) ""
["pinged"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_modified"]=>
string(19) "2024-04-16 11:40:04"
["post_modified_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2024-04-16 01:40:04"
["post_content_filtered"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_parent"]=>
int(0)
["guid"]=>
string(32) "https://www.adra.org.au/?p=14338"
["menu_order"]=>
int(0)
["post_type"]=>
string(4) "post"
["post_mime_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["comment_count"]=>
string(1) "0"
["filter"]=>
string(3) "raw"
}
