The Seventh Day Adventist church is a Protestant grouping that was first established in Michigan, USA, in the second half of the 19th century. It now has some 14 million adherents worldwide. From its early days the church engaged in disaster relief programmes, including eight emergency assistance missions to China in the years 1921-1943. In 1937, when Westerners evacuated Shanghai in the wake of Japanese bombing, an expatriate Adventist leader stayed behind to assist local children made homeless by the war.

ADRA was founded in 1984 to serve as a professional relief and development agency. Its international network now mobilises around USD 150 million per year for projects in 120 countries.

In 1987, ADRA came to China at the invitation of the China International Centre for ... (more)

The Seventh Day Adventist church is a Protestant grouping that was first established in Michigan, USA, in the second half of the 19th century. It now has some 14 million adherents worldwide. From its early days the church engaged in disaster relief programmes, including eight emergency assistance missions to China in the years 1921-1943. In 1937, when Westerners evacuated Shanghai in the wake of Japanese bombing, an expatriate Adventist leader stayed behind to assist local children made homeless by the war.

ADRA was founded in 1984 to serve as a professional relief and development agency. Its international network now mobilises around USD 150 million per year for projects in 120 countries.

In 1987, ADRA came to China at the invitation of the China International Centre for Economic and Technical Cooperation, under the foreign trade ministry. The two agencies cooperated in a number of agricultural and water supply projects, especially in Shandong.

In 1998, ADRA established offices in both Beijing and Hong Kong in order to expand its programme on the mainland, with a new focus on environmentally sustainable development. In rural areas of Inner Mongolia and north-east China it has piloted an energy-efficient housing project to introduce the use of straw bales as an insulation technology. More than 600 houses and community buildings have been constructed, using straw bales faced with brick and tile. It is estimated that this technology cuts winter domestic heating needs by up to 70%.

At the end of 2003, ADRA began a‘sheep bank’ project in Wengniute Banner of Chifeng City in Inner Mongolia. This three-year project provides poor families with breeding stock flocks of sheep.

In 2004, ADRA undertook an exploratory mission to Yushu Prefecture in Qinghai, where it is considering the possibility of establishing medical assistance and social welfare projects. (less)