Crisis Debrief and Modern Technology

Pat & Nedra Dugan, Bethany missionaries in Brazil, were spending a week at a friend's condo in a beach town in Brazil for a well deserved rest. One evening they heard noises and lo and behold a robber brandishing a knife confronted them. They bargained that he not take their computers but he got most things of value and then forced Pat to drive him to a drop off point. You can imagine the thoughts that went through Nedra's mind in those moments when Pat was gone. One week later, still in the same condo, they heard a noise again. Pat checked. Same guy. He robbed them again, this time taking the laptops.

About a year ago Alberta and I took a week long training in crisis debrief by the family counselors at Faith Academy. When we heard about Pat and Nedra's harrowing experience we offered to debrief them. Through the miracle of modern technology we (in the Philippines) were able to spend about two hours walking them (in Brazil) through a debrief of their traumatic experience. We thank God for ministry tools like the crisis debrief and high tech communications which allow us to minister to missionaries all over the world in their time of need.