DEBRIEFING
slow down, reflect, pray, and rest in God’s presence 

 

I am a certified Le Rucher debriefer using the Exchange at the Cross Model of debriefing. 

 

​

The Le Rucher Exchange at the Cross model of debriefing will encourage you to:
 

Tell your story in as much detail as you like
Identify how your experiences may have impacted you
Look at how you are responding to the situation on a daily basis
Discover new perspectives and respond to Jesus

​

​

debriefing’s immediate value for you
 

It will give you the space to talk about your cross-cultural life with someone who understands.  Walking alongside you will be a professional debriefer who has also lived cross-culturally.  You will be free to talk one-on-one about your experiences without pressure and with full choice about how detailed or how deep you want to share.
 

It will help you evaluate and process your experiences. . . rather than trying to forget or letting them overwhelm you.  
 

It will assist you in dealing with conflicts and to process unfulfilled expectations. Disappointment and inter-personal conflicts are a major contributor to our personal stress.  This can eventually lead to burnout and people leaving the field.  You will be given an opportunity to identify root causes and tools to enrich your personal self-care strategies.
 

debriefing's long-term value for you

It will assist you in processing your experience and to gain perspective.  This kind of process will help you to integrate the story of your life on the field with your life in your home country or your new field of work.

It will strengthen your resilience.   You will identify personal strategies that will enable you to persevere in your calling.

It will bring closure to past events and help you look to the future. This is especially helpful for both those in transition or those who have been through a critical incident.

​

​

debriefing is NOT

It is NOT counseling or therapy.  While some basic counseling may be involved, I do not get involved in long-term counseling situations.  When appropriate, I will suggest some people pursue follow-up counseling in their home country.

It is NOT something that is just done when people are not handling a situation well.  Debriefing is a tool that can be used as self-care, not something only to use when everything else has failed.
 

It is NOT an opportunity for administration to gather information, evaluate or confront.  Nothing that is shared in the debriefing process is communicated to anyone else without your full approval and involvement.

LeRucher Ministries

​​​​

 

Generally you should plan on your personal online debrief taking 1-3 hours per day for over the course of 5 days, though we can tailor your experience to your situation. While your debrief will generally involve 1-3 hours per day, it is wise to commit the majority of your day to your debrief. This ensures you will have time to engage the assignments as well as have time for rest, time with God, journaling, talking walks, all of which are key components to experiencing the full benefits of a personal debrief. 

​

Personal debriefings can be scheduled at any time, but are especially helpful after major times of changes/transition, in between assignments, during times of furlough, or at end of service re-entry to home culture.

​

​

Testimonies:​

​

I first heard about debriefs after a near death experience while serving in the Middle East. It sounds dramatic, but after it was over, I was left wondering who I could talk to about what had happened so the effects didn’t linger long after the incident was over. A friend told me about Le Rucher, a debriefing ministry in France. While I initially went for a critical incident debrief, I learned the value of looking at the timeline of your ministry work over several years.
 
I recently made a huge transition in my ministry moving from the Middle East to Europe. It was a perfect time to process the past as I prepared for the future. Because I was in transition, I was unable to fly to France to meet with debriefers there. Instead, I was able to meet with Jamie and another debriefer south of Atlanta for the week. It was a delightful week of thinking over the last 7 years of ministry, acknowledging the losses, grieving the pain, and celebrating the goodness. Jamie and the other debriefer made space for all the processing that needed to take place as I said goodbye to one season and hello to the next. I was thankful for the freedom to both laugh and cry as I talked through what had been very good and what had been very hard.
 
Debriefs are vital to our work in the field. Too often our stories go unheard in the rush of the needs we are faced with. It takes a special person to hold space for those stories, someone who understands our context and work. I truly appreciated Jamie's calm, joyful friendship in the work of unpacking the highlights and lowlights of years on the field. Jesus stayed at the center of all the work we did and I appreciated the continual focus on connecting my work, emotions and thinking back to His character, love, and presence.
 
In addition to looking at the past, they were so helpful at equipping me with tools to help make the transition to my new field easier. I have referred to them so often in this last year and have shared them with others on my team and who I work with in Asia and the Middle East. So many people besides myself have now benefitted from their wisdom and help.

-testimony of a worker serving in the Middle East and Europe​

​

​

Coming off the mission field after years of service in northern Uganda was both a season of difficult transition and an opportunity for deep reflection. Our missionary debriefing experience played a crucial role in our sabbatical time and helped in our adjustment into a new community in our home country that felt foreign to us.

​

As individuals, it allowed us to process the highs and lows of our time on the field in a safe and supportive environment. We were able to grieve the losses, celebrate the victories, and identify areas where God had grown us. The intentional space to unpack our experiences with skilled facilitators gave us clarity and healing that we didn’t even realize we needed.

​

As a family, the debrief provided tools and language to better communicate and understand each other during this transition. It allowed our kids to share their own stories, feelings, and challenges, which strengthened our family bond in ways we hadn’t anticipated.

We walked away feeling deeply cared for, equipped for the next season, and with a greater sense of peace and gratitude for the calling God has placed on our lives. The investment in debriefing has truly been a gift, one we would recommend to every missionary family making this transition.​

-testimony of a family serving in Uganda