Silver Spring, USA [A. Oliver, ANN, CD EUDNews]. February 24, 2015.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church’s coordinated response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa includes eradication projects in the affected countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone, as well as support for several hospitals and more than two-dozen schools, most of which still remain closed.
Support has come from throughout the denomination’s international network, including its world headquarters, Health Ministries department, Loma Linda University, Adventist Health International, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Hope for Humanity, as well as schools, hospitals, churches and individual donors.
In December, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) established a position to coordinate response efforts among Adventist entities worldwide.
“ADRA and other Adventist entities haven’t worked together in quite this way before, but there hasn’t been a crisis like the Ebola crisis before,” said Elizabeth Foulkes, ADRA’s Ebola Response Coordinator. “Obviously everyone together can do more than everyone alone.”
“The Adventist Church in particular, as a global church with congregations and institutions around the world, has somewhat of an advantage over other [non-governmental organizations] in that almost anywhere you go, there are already people on the ground, be they from the churches, divisions, unions, conferences, missions, schools, hospitals or ADRA,” Foulkes said.
“Contributions are making a difference on the ground,” she added.
This week representatives from ADRA International, Adventist Health International, and the Loma Linda University International Behavioral Health Trauma Team met in Loma Linda, California, United States, to discuss how they can best work together in responding to the Ebola crisis and future emergencies.
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Picture: Elizabeth Foulkes, ADRA’s Ebola Response Coordinator.(Fb)