Bern, 10.02.2012[CD-EUD] Joakim Cotting (41), chief financial officer and project manager for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA Switzerland) in the Asian region, died on February 1, 2012, after a long illness.
He grew up in the region of Fribourg and completed a commercial apprenticeship at the Post Company. Later he worked in Switzerland, where he learned Swiss German. For several years he engaged in a construction business with his father. During this time he made some important professional decisions. He came in contact with members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church durin
g a language course in Newbold College, Bracknell (England). Later on he decided to join the Adventist
faith. After baptism, he opted for a theological education.
Joakim Cotting began his theological studies at the Seminary Bogenhofen, Austria and completed them in 1998 with the Maitrise at the Faculté Adventiste de Théologie in Collonges, France. In the same year he received a BA from the University of Strasbourg, France.
During his studies, Joakim was involved in mission and social work in Albania, where he met his future wife, Vilma, a professional translator. He helped build chapels, even if the situation was very dangerous and life-threatening, he also committed himself financially to the training of Albanian youth.
In 2001 he started his two-year internship as preacher at
the Wädenswil Adventist Church, in the Swiss German Conference (DSV). After which he worked for several months as a preacher in that same church. From autumn 2003 to summer 2010, he continued managing powerful charity-projects for ADRA Switzerland. One of his creative projects was to organize and mobilize about twenty volunteers each year for a week to help a mountain farmer in difficulty.
He established the Swiss GAAP FER 21 accounting for non-profit organizations, which is the prerequisite for the ZEWO seal of approval. Joakim Cotting is survived by his wife Vilma. His tireless professional and limitless devotion in favor of the poor, leave a legacy for future generations.
