Our Dear Friends,

It is with a very heavy heart we share the following difficult information, but we feel it is imperative that we do so. We trust you will understand and be in agreement.

We have come to the tragic conclusion that Dean Bruer had another side to his life that none of us, except victims, ever witnessed or suspected. It has come to the surface in recent months, and more so in recent weeks, that Dean was a sexual predator. We never respect or defend such totally inappropriate behavior among us. There is a very united consensus among us that the only thing to do is to be transparent with all of you for obvious reasons, though this is very difficult. We are very sorry for the hurt this will bring to the hearts of many. Thankfully, he is no longer in a position to hurt anyone.

Some things have come to light from Dean’s own records. Dean had his own Best Western Hotel preferred customer account and spent a considerable amount of time and money in motels. As we all know, when he died last June, it was in a motel in Government Camp, OR; a place that he frequented. The receipts often included “two guests”. Victims have come forward, and there was very confirming and incriminating evidence found on his computer and phone.

His actions include rape and abuse of underage victims. He totally abused his authority as an overseer in order to control, manipulate and threaten his victims. We are strongly recommending our staff look at the Ministry Safe Program and possibly other venues that help understand, recognize, and prevent such problems.

Overwhelmingly, our greatest concern in all of this is the victims, known and unknown. We do hope and pray this message somehow reaches the ears of every unknown victim if there are more. We feel very anxious to assure them that we are anxious to do everything possible to be a support. We understand that people like this are dangerously equipped to twist what has happened in such a way that the victim feels it’s their fault, and thereby the predator’s criminal behavior is hidden from others. We assure you, there is no possibility anyone will lay blame. except at the feet of the ONE very wrong man who has caused your pain. We are sorry! We hope you will have courage to reach out to any of us, or anyone that you feel you can talk to. We understand your need for privacy as well as support working through this, and we all intend to respect that.

None of us had any idea that such terrible things were happening until several weeks after his death. There is no possible way that this would not have been immediately reported had we known. Some of us very much regret that we didn’t somehow discover his actions and prevent more pain. We all feel betrayed naturally. We have come to the conclusion that the very dangerous thing about people like him is that they do what they do without conscience, thus it’s much easier for them to pretend to be something that they aren’t. We cannot live a lie when we love truth, and honestly live before God, respecting His approval as the scripture teaches us.

We sang recently, “All through the storm I see thy face beaming with love and with saving grace.” Our desperate prayer for you all, especially anyone that has been hurt, is that G. will show Himself very strong. In Mark 4, the disciples found themselves in the worst storm of their life which caused a lot of distress. But at the conclusion of the storm there was a greater appreciation than ever for the miracle capacity Jesus had to deliver perfect peace despite storms. Our hearts desperately ache for the disappointment and sense of betrayal this will bring to countless hearts and again especially for the pain inflicted to victims. We pray the miracle somehow, someway, someday, will be as great as it was in Mark 4 for all.

Keep close to God dear friends. There is an immense capacity in the hand of God to help us. Thank you for all the prayers we know this will generate!

Sincerely your brother

Doyle S. [Smith]