Dear Friends,

It is with heavy hearts we share news about a former worker Dean Bruer who has been accused of living a double life. There is substantial evidence that this is true which all has come to light since his passing. He never labored in our area but because he was a part of the (sic) this ministry it affects us all. I realize that many of you through different sources are already aware of this. We want you to know that this hurts us all.

We realize that we have a holy trust and this breach of confidence grieves us all. We want to live worthy of the trust you place in us and expect of us. So we apologize to you all that this has happened.

We know that you deserve to feel safe about our presence in your homes and around your children. In our area Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri we have our workers take instruction from MinistrySafe which teaches us to recognize unsafe tendencies and situations.

It grieves our heart to have to say these things, but if we work together, we can facilitate a safe environment that will promote a spiritual fellowship that edifies faith.

As members of this ministry, we want to assure you of how much we love and care for you. We are heartbroken by the disgrace of human failure, but our faith in the Lord’s ministry is unchanged. This is the ministry that our Lord established in the earth. Human failure can compromise its testimony, but it cannot undermine its validity. Judas Iscariot was also a part of this ministry, but in the wake of his betrayal the Holy Spirit still impelled this same ministry forward.

We want to assure you that we will do what we can to assist those who are victims of this abuse. We encourage you to first make sure that child abuse has been reported to the proper authorities. You can call the Oklahoma Abuse Hotline 1-800-522-3511 or www.okhotline.org ; Arkansas Abuse Hotline 1-800-482-5964, Missouri Abuse Hotline 1-800-392-3738.

Please feel free to visit with the workers in your field or with us or person you trust if you have concerns or questions. We will be confidential in-as-much as we can. It is also our legal responsibility in the case of underage victims to report abuse to the proper authorities. We understand that this is a very difficult journey for everyone. We remind all that by bringing to light this horrible behavior, we may be saving others from being victims of the same abuse.

A website devoted to provide victims of abuse a place to find the resources to help them is Voicesforthetruth.org.

A brother, Craig Winquist