The risks of traveling abroad have never been greater.

Back in September I told you that the Christian Security Network was working on several partnerships to bring critical resources to you and the Christian community as a whole.

CSN has never accepted advertising and we have no plans to do so in the future even though we are contacted on almost a weekly basis from some company that provides products or services that would like to place an ad on our website.

But our goal is to keep our website clear, simple, uncluttered and to bring to you only valuable and critical resources that we see most Christian organizations should have in place, but do not. We know you do not have the time to go out and research companies, organizations, products and services, and all the details that come with it, so we do that for you.

That is why this past week CSN formed a partnership with Global Rescue and we are quite excited about this opportunity.

As I have stated in past training and articles, while I was at a State Department OSAC briefing a couple years ago in D.C., then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated in her opening day remarks that for the first time, faith based organizations are now one of the top five "at-risk" groups in the world. That statement alone should be enough for you to be weary of travel in this world, but if that were not enough on a daily and weekly basis we forward information that is issued to CSN about warnings and alerts in different parts of the world through our CSN twitter account and our newsletters.

However as Christians we can't live in fear and stop our worldwide outreach.

Up until now, when CSN spoke about Christian churches and ministries having Crisis Management Teams, conducting training and briefings for those traveling abroad, and having contingency plans, there was always a piece missing about true contingency planning while traveling abroad.

Now we have a solution, a very good solution - Global Rescue.

If you’re injured, ill or find yourself in harms way more than 160 miles from home, Global Rescue is the only company in the world that will come get you, wherever you are, and get you home. From routine medical advisory services to complex and sometimes dangerous medical and security evacuations, Global Rescue is there, in any capacity, when you need it most.

Global Rescue regularly evacuates its members from some of the most remote places in the world. Take the case of Blackstone Dilworth, who was hiking through Colca Canyon, Peru, when he had a terrible accident. While negotiating a narrow mule path, he lost his footing and tumbled head over heels down the canyon wall, his 50-foot fall stopped only by a cactus. Using a satellite phone, a member of his party called Global Rescue. Within 20 minutes of receiving the call, Global Rescue activated local assets in Peru and deployed a medically equipped helicopter to the scene, where the patient was located by signal fire. Mr. Dilworth was stabilized, brought to a local hospital for evaluation and flown home to Texas for major medical treatment.

If you can get there, Global Rescue can get you home.

Last year, through one of my prayer lists I receive, I followed a story of a young man doing mission work in Kenya. He was texting his mother events that were taking place over a period of time. He was in an area that was deemed "safe" and there were no warnings about being there, yet riots broke out very quickly and people were being killed. The rioters were not targeting Christians; they were targeting any outsiders and many insiders of their own country.

I followed the terrible text messages of this young man as he sent them to his mother, how they were trying to make it to an airport, hiding in huts along the way, not knowing if they were going to be betrayed by the people hiding them. It took them days to make it to the airport and then even longer to get a flight out.

This would not have happened if they had coverage through Global Rescue; instead of agonizing days it would have been hours.

This is not an expensive program; in fact it is amazing how much protection you get for so little. You can pick a plan for 7 days, 14 days or longer. If you, your Pastor or mission groups travel frequently you can by annual coverage.

Once you are covered, you are one call away from being rescued when something goes wrong.

If you think our government will help you abroad or your insurance company, you are mistaken...they don't have the resources and the logistics and costs fall onto your lap.

I often tell the story of a woman from the Cincinnati area that had a vehicle accident in Mexico. By the time her family was called she was in a coma and a Mexican hospital wanted thousands of dollars up front to treat her...in most instances there is no insurance coverage when you are abroad...it is cash. Once this woman was admitted it was clear they could not care for her, so the family had to hire a private medical helicopter out of Houston to go get her. Again, there were thousands of dollars the Mexican hospital required before they would release her.

Tragically it took a long time to get her back home and she passed away. It is unknown if immediate care would have saved her. But her family went through so much, emotionally and financially, to get her back...the total cost was close to $100,000 when it was all over.

How much would you pay to know that with one phone call Global Rescue would come get you and your loved ones 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

I know I will be using them on all trips that I take in the future and I encourage you to request more information by going to the RESOURCES part of our website and clicking on the "Safe Travelers Program". 

In Christ,
Jeff Hawkins
Executive Director