Weiterstadt (Darmstadt), Germany, September 19, 2012/APD.
"You are there, to help the weak at home," said Pastor Bruno R. Vertallier (Bern), President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Western and Southern Europe, on September 15, during the celebration/ceremony of the 25th anniversary of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, ADRA Germany. Vertallier referred to the "Feeding of the Five Thousand" in Matthew chapter 14, with the words of Jesus to his disciples: "Give them to eat." That is exactly what ADRA Germany has done in the last 25 years: "ADRA exists, to let people live." Vertallier thanked all those who work and support this charity organization.
The current president of ADRA International, Robert Rawson (Silver Spring, Maryland / USA), in his speech to 150 invited guests from five continents, showed appreciation to Pastor Erich Lischek, director of ADRA Germany who founded the charity organization in Darmstadt in 1987. Rawson mentioned the rebuilding of the leper-colony in Khokna, Nepal, one of the first projects of ADRA Germany in 1987. Shortly thereafter, he visited Nepal and saw the beautiful new building, including the workshops, which provide work for the lepers.
Sarajevo, the city of the Winter Olympics in 1984, was under siege during the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1996. The city was destroyed. During this time, ADRA Germany brought 2.5 million tons of food, 254,000 tons of clothing, 16,000 pairs of shoes and some 511,000 food parcels from private donors into the embattled city. Simultaneously ADRA brought over 3,400 packages and 1.16 million letters to Sarajevo. Totally, about 1.7 million letters were delivered to the sieged city. About 50,000 people received medication or medical services thanks to ADRA. Two of the ADRA staff were killed during the operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and five others were injured, some seriously. Rawson himself visited the destroyed city in 1996 and talked with people who were very grateful for the protection and management of the postal service through ADRA, thanks to which they could keep contact with their relatives in Germany. This charity organization gave hope to the people.
The president of ADRA International was impressed by the records of the many other projects conducted by ADRA over the past 25 years. These records are kept in the archives of the Agency in Weiterstadt. The chairman of the Seventh-day Adventists in Germany, Pastor Günther Machel (Ostfildern, Stuttgart), thanked Lischek especially for his commitment and the 25 years of help to people in need around the world, "so that people can hope again." ADRA Germany also offers an apprenticeship in office communication.
In 1986, with only a part-time secretary, Pastor Lischek founded ADRA Germany in Darmstadt. At present 28 permanent staff and ten volunteers work in the ADRA head office in Weiterstadt.
ADRA Germany is part of the network of ADRA International, which connects 120 country-offices. Together they are committed to projects of development cooperation and emergency aid. ADRA Germany is a member of the Joint Welfare Association and co-founder of the Association of Development Cooperation of NGOs (VENRO), "Germany's Relief" and "Together for Africa". It carries out projects in food security, health, education, income promotion through small loans and disaster relief on four continents. Among the projects in 2012 are, for example, an early warning system for natural disasters in Nepal, education about early marriage and genital mutilation in Kenya, the first dual vocational training system in Haiti, building schools and training centers in Somalia, income promotion in Mongolia, a brick factory in Costa Rica and food aid for the needy in Mali. In addition, every year ADRA Germany sends, as part of 'outreach-projects' 15 to 16 volunteers to help with projects in Albania, Moldova, Tanzania, Kenya, Mexico, Costa Rica and India. For more information on ADRA go to www.adra.de
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