The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is a nongovernmental organization that provides community development and disaster relief services in 120 countries around the world. ADRA is an agency of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Christian North American-based religious denomination that operates an international system of hospitals, clinics, schools, universities and human service programs (). Consistent with its non-pro®t status, ADRA employs and offers services to people without regard to age, ethnicity or political or religious af®liation. ADRA's services, which are provided to approximately 19 million people per year, include food security, economic development, primary health, disaster response and basic education programs (ADRA International, 2000: 3). The agency has a humanitarian and developmental philosophy of service rooted in the belief system of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. However, the mission statement of the agency and its annual report seem to support the claim that its purpose is not to engage in proselytism. The agency's high degree of administrative and ®nancial independence from the church also seems to support this claim. In 1999, only 7 percent of

Since 1990s, social capital has emerged as a term of increasing popularity in research and social policy. In particular, recent research focuses on the benefits and environmental determinants of community social capital. Community social capital has been found to be associated with a variety of positive outcomes, including reduced rates of violent crime