Ten years ago, Risk Management Service added four quiet words to its operational vocabulary: Risk and Safety Co-Funding.

Representing a steady commitment and sincere desire to be ministry-enabling and mission-supporting, we found that sweet spot where policy and need intersect to build resilience in Adventist communities.

What began as a modest idea has, by God’s grace and favour, grown steadily across the organisation. To date, RMS has distributed more than $2.5 million in funding across the South Pacific Division, helping Adventist churches, schools and communities strengthen their capacity to serve.

But it’s not just buildings and infrastructure that have benefited.

It’s helped people.

Like the church in the Australian outback, where long queues formed each week for foodbank assistance. In searing heat, those waiting had no shelter, no shade and no access to toilets. With financial help from RMS co-funding program, the church built a covered verandah and accessible amenities – measures that restored dignity and compassion to a ministry already anchored in love.

Or consider the dozens of churches and schools throughout the region, experiencing vandalism and burglary. These sites reached out for help and RMS contributed toward the cost of CCTV and access control. These projects often make an instant and measurable difference to risk reduction and safety improvement.

Beyond equipment, RMS has also co-funded expert training in risk and safety including emergency management and evacuation procedures, as well as strategic risk management activities like the development of risk appetite statements, risk frameworks and WHS audits.

There are hundreds more stories like these from the past decade. Looking back, we see the Lord’s hand over the work of the church and a growing determination across the SPD to improve safety and wellbeing, and to manage risks in ways that strengthen ministry. This is why we love what we do.

Yes, much of RMS’s work is technical. It’s policy and compliance-heavy. It’s full of terms that rarely make it into sermons. Our work is not, in the strictest sense, a ministry.

But we are, and always have been, ministry supporting. We stand beside you. We uphold you. We pray for you. Our intention is to ensure that ministry, and the people within it, can flourish.

We hope you join us in praising our Father in Heaven that this 10-year anniversary has been reached. We thank Him for providing for the needs of ministry through the work of RMS. And we reaffirm our commitment to the co-funding program so that, together, we can continue to build resilience in your ministry.