PUERTO MONTT, Chile—In February 2010, a 8.8-magnitude earthquake shook Chile. While immediate physical needs draw concern following such a disaster, emotional needs sometimes are overlooked. But International Mission Board missionary Dick Price didn’t miss them.
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A Chilean Baptist volunteer shares Scriptures with a family of earthquake victims in a rural community near Talca, Chile. This family earlier had received food aid from Chilean Baptist volunteers from Talca’s Iglesia Bautista El Sembrador (Baptist Church of the Sower). (IMB PHOTO/Wilson Hunter)
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After serving 20 years as a U.S. Air Force psychologist and more than 10 years as a missionary to Chile, Price—who was born in Lubbock but considers San Antonio his hometown—was uniquely qualified to counsel Chileans following the quake. In the six months afterward, Price made 14 trips to Chile’s most damaged areas to deliver educational and preventative presentations about processing stress after traumatic events.
“These two-hour interactive talks stressed the importance of talking about our experiences, our thoughts, our feelings and the impact in our lives of emotionally traumatic events,” said Price, a Baylor University alumnus. “In every talk, a clear statement was made about God’s promise in Romans 8:38-39 that nothing, not even death, can separate us from his love in Christ Jesus.”
The training reached about 3,000 people, including 37 medical professionals and nearly 500 military, police and investigations personnel. It also provided small-group debriefing sessions for 1,000 people.
“It was a God-ordained opportunity to meet an identified emotional need while having an opportunity to share the Gospel,” Price said.
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