Crisis Response and First Responder Ministry
From The Missions Show by Alex Kocman & Scott Dunford
May 17, 2026 · 29 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the balance between missionary safety and gospel risk-taking with Bill Gruppen, focusing on crisis management and emergency response in dangerous regions.
In this episode of The Missions Show, Alex sits down with ABWE’s Director of International Security and Crisis Management, Bill Gruppen, to discuss the difficult balance between missionary safety and gospel risk-taking in some of the world’s most dangerous places. Drawing from decades of experience in law enforcement, emergency response, and security, Bill shares how God redirected his professional skill set into missions work through TACTICA Ministries and ABWE. Together, they explore how missionaries prepare for crises, make difficult stay-or-go decisions in conflict zones like the Middle East and Ukraine, and seek to remain faithful witnesses without embracing unnecessary danger. Bill explains how emergency response ministries can strengthen long-term church planting efforts by building relationships, serving communities in moments of suffering, and opening doors for gospel ministry. Key Topics: Why missionary safety and gospel risk must be held in biblical balance How ABWE missionaries navigate conflict zones and crisis situations Bill Gruppen’s journey from law enforcement and emergency response into missions The role of TACTICA Ministries in reaching first responders with…
People in this episode
Host: Alex Kocman
Guest: Bill Gruppen
Topics covered
- missionary safety
- gospel risk-taking
- crisis management
- emergency response
- church planting
- disaster relief
Keywords
- missionary safety
- gospel risk
- crisis response
- first responder ministry
- ABWE
- TACTICA Ministries
- church planting
- disaster relief
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: ABWE, TACTICA Ministries
Places: Middle East, Ukraine
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