Blended Threats Against the Cross-Cultural Risk Worker
It is more clear than ever that the places where the unreached people groups are located are in increasingly vulnerable and dangerous places. Criminal organizations, global money-laundering networks, and terrorist groups are dependent upon each other and increasingly interconnected. (1)
This means that in some situations, the risk threat and mitigation may seem complex, and the motivating factors for threat of kidnap or murder may be more than just religious.
Workers getting in the way of drug movement or other illicit activities - the wrong place at the wrong time - may lose their lives for reasons other than accusations of being a Christ follower.
How to assess and mitigate against this type of complex threat?
It would be easy to look at this problem and fall prey to the two things that will deplete a global worker's resiliency: Resignation and Isolation.
Resignation - "there's nothing I can do"
Isolation - "no one can help me"
Now more than ever, best practice means (but is not limited to this!):
1. Continually assess the risk situation around you, not just every 3-6 months. Name the threats concerning you right now and their source. Who is the threat actor and what are they after? In other words, what is motivating them? Who are their targets and for what reason. Mitigate against those accordingly. If you have three different types of kidnapping threat sources, than you'd be evaluating all three.
2. Create a time line and keep track of kidnapping events as well as threats, and how the threats are communicated. See if there are confirmation from other sources that the threat is real or just hot air.
3. Use the Risk Assessment template - graph out the Severity, Frequency, Geographic Proximity, and Demographic Proximity of the threats against you, and have those issuing the threat actually acted on it.
4. Work on increasing your network of information resources so you have increased awareness of the threat risk in the various elements in your geographic area (threats from the drug cartels, jihadists, police, etc.) and more information coming in from multiple sources.
5. Refine and review your mitigation and crisis procedures. Do you need a code word to give your leader that you are under threat? Have you memorized actual phone numbers for emergency reasons? Do you need to consult with a security expert on your mitigation and crisis procedures?
6. Re-examine your evacuation trigger point, and have someone out side of your context give you feedback - we so often don't realize that our "normal" is actually quite abnormal, and you may be at that point now and not realize it.
7. Decide what God is calling you to as these types of kidnapping threats are increasing. Is He asking you to Avoid, Transfer, Limit, or Accept those risks? (See mitigation in Facing Danger).
8. Act accordingly as He is leading you as an act of worship. Watch and see what God is doing in this situation.
There's so much more to this, so look through this website and download the RAM Action Guide that will walk you through all the steps of holistic Risk Assessment and Management.
(1) 5 Stones Intelligence Report: "Intelligence Based on Ethics and Principles"
Translations done with DeepL, Arabic with Tarjama. Let us know how it can be improved.
