Shalom !

I was shocked to read this web-page while interested in serving missions in jungle. This relate to the theology that institutionalized and organized religion are promoting!!!

True Jesus YaHshua, YHWH is calling : “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues…. Rev. 18:4

Here is a link about what you have experienced in false religions !!!
I can pray that true Jesus open your eyes, have compassions, and move on with HIM in peace! I have no words when I read what you went trough, it is demonic!!! True Jesus Love you and want you to trust HIM and HIM alone!
http://standingthegap.org/state_of_emergency.htm

Abused Widow, it is heartwrenching to hear of the ripple effect that sexual abuse has had on your family. Words fail me in any attempt to express to you how devastated I am to hear of the incredible destructiveness brought about by this man, who, as you say, is still walking free. Should anyone wonder who we are referring to, I will repost this link to an interview in which this monster openly confesses, at least in part, and then claims he has been pedophilia-free since 1993. If he thinks he has any of us fooled, he is sorely mistaken. http://www.fox43tv.com/dpps/news/local/former-missionary-admits-sexual-abuse_3825647

FormerNTMer :
Having been a member of NTM myself, I am very saddened and ashamed at what has taken place in the past and the seeming “slowness” and “unwillingness” to make things right. However, I know that just like in any human endeavor, there are those who (even tho profess faith in Christ) give into temptation and gross sin. Those whose comments suggest shutting down an entire Missionary organization because of the sin of a few is like saying “why don’t we just blow up the entire world because there is so much evil.” It is not logical thinking. God is still sovereign…and there will be a day of reckoning.
I personally know some outstanding men who are currently leading the mission organization. What more can you do but take each day as it comes and work with the knowledge that you have? These abuse cases mentioned were horrific, and I am truly sorry for those who had to suffer. But if you’re going to blame the mission, blame also needs to extend to the parents, whose ultimate responsibility before God is to see that their children are taken care of properly and have priority over their “ministry.”

You’d better be careful, Former NTMer. Some of the wonderful leaders you know today may still be abusing adult missionaries or……worse? They can appear to be really nice to whomever they want. They may be respected in NTM. They don’t tell anyone what they are doing behind other’s backs. Only the one who is abused knows. Abuse thrives in secret. Do you think they broadcast the abuse they are giving out? They don’t. It’s not just a few cases. It’s all over the place.

My husband, A NT MK from the PI, grew up to become a pedophile. He abused each of our 5 children and taught the oldest to become one as well. After giving a ‘full’ confession to the authorities, he shot himself. Our oldest will be in prison for years to come, serving sentences in 2 states for crimes which Daddy taught him to commit. Now tell me, New Tribes, how are you NOT responsible? Les Emory walks free every day.

@patti
I’m also interested in learning more about what happened at Tambo … I attended Tambo in 1974-75.

Dear New Tribe Missionary,

I am sorry to read that your children were abused this is very bad and not good
image for the mission.

But my people did not invite you into our village, you sent your missionarys and
take our best land. You teach us about a different god and tell us he love us,
but you do not love us because you tell us we dirty and that your country is
better because it is not third world. Your children go to good school, ours
not. When your children come home they ride their motorcycles through our land
and gardens. They tell our children that if we are educated we can be like
them, but there are no schools.

Yes we like the medicine you give, but not like the diseases you bring. We hear
that some of your missionaries are not good people, they beat people and they
take what not theres. Your missionarys say they are going to stay a long time
to help us, but they go away and not come back. You live in nice houses that
we help build, but then the people only paid small. When the catholic priest
come you say he evil, but his god the same as you have.

We did not ask for you to come and now you tell us that your children are
abused, what about us. Stop sending missionarys, stay in your country, then we all happy.

@Kelly Rehm
If you have not heard anything yet, you need to contact Pat Hendrix, who is conducting investigations of many schools already. She will give you the highest degree of privacy while still taking your case seriously.

YOUR input is going to be vital; do NOT think that it does not matter. The picture will be incomplete without it, and crimes that should be punished will not even be revealed.

@frogiveness
Well, try having this mental and physical abuse from the time you are 5 until you are 18. Forgiveness only becomes a word that can not solve the demons of guilt, insecurity and many other things. I am much older now and it has effected my life and every decision I make. I’m sorry, but I have the weight of unforgiveness every day. These people took my life along with others and threw them away for whatever reason. Yes, I’m not actually dead but I have lived a dead life as nothing seems to make sense. NTM needs to be shut down. The leaders of the school in Puruquequara Brasil need to be punished under penalty of law for the abuse they imposed. I’m sorry, I know these people will meet their maker one day but why does God allow this to continue on?

Having been a member of NTM myself, I am very saddened and ashamed at what has taken place in the past and the seeming “slowness” and “unwillingness” to make things right. However, I know that just like in any human endeavor, there are those who (even tho profess faith in Christ) give into temptation and gross sin. Those whose comments suggest shutting down an entire Missionary organization because of the sin of a few is like saying “why don’t we just blow up the entire world because there is so much evil.” It is not logical thinking. God is still sovereign…and there will be a day of reckoning.
I personally know some outstanding men who are currently leading the mission organization. What more can you do but take each day as it comes and work with the knowledge that you have? These abuse cases mentioned were horrific, and I am truly sorry for those who had to suffer. But if you’re going to blame the mission, blame also needs to extend to the parents, whose ultimate responsibility before God is to see that their children are taken care of properly and have priority over their “ministry.”

My heart sincerely breaks for those children and families who have been impacted by the abuses suffered while in the care of the NTM boarding schools. It grieves me deeply to think that those in charge did not act more responsibly in dealing with this terrible atrocity.
My experience, however, with NTM in Via (Brazil – 1975-1977) was very positive – in fact – life-changing. It was literally two of the best years of my young life. The atmosphere was very Christ-centered and the spiritual environment was incredible. For that, I will always be grateful for my years spent there.
Surely there were things (especially later on) that happened at Via that were detrimental to the students. Many lives have been negatively affected by the ministry of NTM boarding schools. On the other hand, many have also been blessed. My heart grieves that not everyone’s experience was as positive as mine. I pray God’s gracious healing in your lives.

AMEN!!!
@Ironman

My heart breaks for all those who have been wounded including myself. I am finally learning to separate Jesus from NTM and I am finally learning that the love and mercy of Jesus himself is mine. I don’t know what I would do without him.

NTM has a warehouse of secrets and lies. So many wounds and no medicine apart from Jesus himself.

I discovered this blog 3 weeks ago. I am an ntm mk. I was never abused and have many good and fond memories of ntm. I also remember the often judgmental and legalistic culture of that time. My heart and prayers are with my fellow mks…and I am praying also for Gods work in ntm. I am slowly reading through the forums….and pondering…and praying. My heart is often heavy with sorrow and grief, and I am often inspired and in tears over the beauty of Gods redemptive work displayed here.

@Kelly Rehm
It sounds like this will be one of the last places to be investigated.
At the rate they are going—maybe about 2020?
Sorry to be so pessimistic. It could be sooner.

Has there been any news or rumors of NTM investigating child abuse at Numonohi?

Dear Six year old, I am so sorry. I went to Mamou where there was a lot of abuse thirty years before Fanda. It is a life long struggle to overcome the lies we were taught by those who claim to love God and the tribes they went to. You are correct they had their own demons to deal with, but that is no excuse to abuse children. One of the lies has to do with forgiveness. You are to forgive and that means the abusers and their defenders are off the hook. That is not forgiveness that is approval of abuse.

We often start off with denial as children and young adults, or we believe the abuse was normal behavior. Then we come to the stage where we acknowledge the abuse and the evil of it. That jumps us right into anger, it is a righteous anger what happened to us was evil period, no excesses. We tell our story and try to make the abusers and their defenders accountable. Often nothing happens. Then we come to the place of accepting the horrid past and that we can not change it. But we can continue to fight for exposure of the abusers and their defenders. Just as this site has done and we must never give up. I am so thankful for those who started this site and all they are doing to help other MKs. Thank you so much. Keep telling your stories MKs the world needs to know the truth.

Thank you. Your story shows the twisted priorities that we dealt with. Now we are adults who accept less than the best and sacrifice as a way of life. @Six year old

@Six year old
You have the support of many of us who care about justice and healing for victims.
I am outraged to hear what you went through. I put my arms around you, six year old.

@threewillows I was six when I was sent to boarding school. In the mornings I would wake up to parasites on my bed that would come out during the night because I was so full of them. Instead of telling the dorm parents who “spanked” me often, I stole a coffee can from the kitchen and put them in there until it was full, and then dumped it down the out house. I wet my bed for fear of the out house at night and was made to wash my sheets in front of the other students in the morning as punishment. I learned early to keep my mouth shut, and find a way to survive. For a six year old this was not a boarding school, this was a hostage situation. When the hostages were taken in NT, I remember thinking of all the man hours that went into finding them and negotiating their release. I wish someone had of cared enough about me to try to release me. When I almost drown while taking a bath in the dark waters of the river, no one even comforted me. I was invisable, and as I walked past the headstones of the other children who had drown, I realized they didn’t care enough to allow me to take a bucket bath in the rainy season when the current was so strong that my frail body had no power over it. I visited that river when I was 30 and sobbed at the memories that flooded my mind. The sexual abuse of my sister and the months of emotional and physical pain. How can a mission love tribal people so much that they would sacrifice the children? That thought long confused me. Did they love…or were they all escaping their own demons? That six year old girl is still very confused. As an adult I have purposed to forgive, but that small voice speaks to me several times a day, and I believe she will haunt me for the rest of my life.

@Craig Olson
Tragically, your story has a familiar ring.
I am so sorry to hear about your son and other victims. And the utterly inadequate response from the mission board.
Yes, all too familiar.

My son was abused by a TEAM missionary when we served together in Japan. I didn’t find out until years later when he suddenly erupted in violent behavior. He had been harboring rage that his mother and I had not protected him from this pedophile.

I tracked down the man on the web and found him teaching at a Christian school run by Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, CA. The superintendent fired him after talking with me and getting a confession from him.

Then I posted a blog on the Internet. Another victim contacted me when he Googled the pedophile’s name. He and this two brothers were all molested by the same man. So I contacted TEAM mission and asked them what they planned to do for the victims. I had spent my entire life savings and gone deep into debt to pay for medical expenses and boarding school costs for my son who was too violent to remain at home.

First the denied the abuse. When I produced additional victims, they admitted there had been a problem. But they said they fulfilled their obligation when they sent the abuser home. But they never filed a report with the authorities in Japan or in the States. That is why the pedophile was able to get another job working with young people. And they never did anything for the victims.

To make a long story short, they refused to compensate any of the victims for the losses caused by their negligence. They responded the same way the NTM leaders did, “What can we do now? This all took place so long ago.” Well, that just doesn’t cut it.

When Matthew decided to follow Christ, he repaid three times the amount in taxes that he had stolen from his victims. Religious leaders should not be able to hide behind their clerical status to escape responsibility for actions that those in secular occupations would pay for dearly.

Dear Dad,

Look at this:

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/former-missionary-admits-sexual-abuse

Now put your hand on your heart and tell me again that this never happened! Tell me that this was not the New Tribes Mission you served in, that this was not one of the men who’s ministry you supported. Tell me again “it is no concern of mine” when you see this clip.
You know where this man should be, you know where our neighbour spent time for his sexual crimes and you know what hideous crimes you are covering up too!

Come on Dad, don’t call yourself a christian, stand up and be A MAN, then you can call yourself a Christian. And once again I’ll be proud enough to call you my father.

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/former-missionary-admits-sexual-abuse

W
@Janqua
Where can I find documentation onBolivia?

http://usa.ntm.org/field-news/update-from-investigation-team
last update from ihart posted at ntm.org
dated 9/20/11

meanwhile, 71 “mission news” updates since 9/20/11
http://usa.ntm.org/field-news/mission-news/P0

the “ministry” will always be the priority…the children will always be in 72nd place

Look, this wasn’t just Fandas, as so many have pointed out. I know NT MKs in Panama and Bolivia personally, who have told me horrific stories of sexual abuse, usually starting around 10 years of age.

I just ran across the shocking article in World Magazine on line while surfing the internet here in the hotel room in Liege Belgium. I am an NTM MK from Thailand 1954-1963.I graduated from NTM Bible School in 1965 and served in the US army 1966-1970 and 1974-1980. I did not attend an NTM School as there were none at that time in Thailand. When I was 15 while on furlogh in the US my parents Glenn and Opal Snure gave me the choice of returning to Thailand with them or remaining in the US with relatives to attend school here. I chose to return to Thailand. I was home schooled most of my life or jumping from one public school to another while in the US. High school was by correspondence course. I had a goal to become a missionary pilot with NTM but various things prevented that and God has raised up others to do this job. H has taken me a different direction to teach me other things. I now support my family through international aicraft maintenance .
Enough on background . I have become aware over the years of the serious effects of abuse in its various forms. I was shocked to run across this article that linked me to this blog site. I pray for healing for all of the victims. I pray that NTM will be more than “ashamed” as Larry Brown stated but will realize that neglected oversight by the international committee in lieu of not interferinbg in local field leadership has now reflected throughout the organizatio and is open to the world to see.God’s work will continue to go forward with or without NTM. I Pray for a rise above bitterness toward a new beginning as difficult as it may be. I pray for all my fellow MK’S esspecially you in this extremely difficult situation. May The eternal God who is always faithful wrap His loving arms around you and bring healing to yoiur soul.

A fellow MK

David G Snure (Dave)

Dear God, in the faces of so many victims and survivors, and for those who did not survive this atrocity, we humbly ask that thou shalt shut down this New Tribe Mission, in the atonement for the crimes that have been committed against humanity. O Lord prosecute these bastards for condoning such an act and failed their courage to act, in thy very humble name and mine, I do pray, Amen.

wow, Joe Paterno and Penn State President both fired for cover-up of sex abuse in their organization!! Attention NTM!!! Note: Penn State alumni rushed to defend these leaders and their school reputation. Incredible! Just like the faithful NTM sheep and their denial.

@Ironman

If NTM would take your suggestion, Ironman, I could change my name to SATISFIED.
What you wrote is not a frustrated rant. It is timely. And from experience as well as recent appearances, true

New Tribes Mission leadership worldwide:

The handwriting is on the wall. Its over. I ask of you to do the only noble thing left…that is to set in motion a plan of action that will dismantle this atomic bomb called New Tribes Mission. This mission can no longer stand and shouldn’t. There are plenty of other organizations out there doing the work of the Kingdom and I’m quite certain that even if every tribe was vacated today of all missionaries, somehow I know that God is bigger than any unfunished work you leave behind. Others would rise to the challenge. Point is, you didn’t and now you shouldn’t!!!

By all means close the ministry down, but don’t leave the hurt and wounded unprovided for.
I believe this course of action is the right and noble thing to do. Trying to survive and change is not possible when the abuses, of every kind, are part of the very fabric and philosophy of NTM as so clearly pointed out in the GRACE report. The lepoard can’t change its spots and neither can NTM change its nature, as hard as all of you think you are trying. The abuses just run too consistent too pervasive and too deep. Your not seeing or thinking clearly because your vision is clouded. Self preservation will result in self destruction.

For the record, I’m an umpteenth generation NTM MK and NTBI grad, raised my whole life on foreign soil, and who did not suffer any physical or sexual abuses, but I have reached the conclusion that enough is enough and my brothers and sisters have lived in an earthly hell of the leadeships creating for far too long. (It goes without saying, we all suffered spiritual abuse.) Investigate, deal with the abuses and abusers correctly, put money in escrow for all those hurting so proper healing can take place, and in the meantime start shuttering the doors, worldwide!!! If you don’t, my money says God will.

I say all this, not out of frustration or anger nor any ill will toward any one individual, but rather it comes from a sincere and honest heart. This is not an inflamatory letter. Its just simply stating the obvious… game over, just please recognize this before you all have to find out the hard way and before you bring any more harm to Gods name and his people!

Please head this advice, if you won’t then at least its one more log on the fire to bring down the gates. In Jesus name!

Sincerely,
Ironman

@NTM child

Nice, NTM child!
You have a good way of stating that.
Very true.

Remember “The War on Terror” and the term “Colateral Damage”.
Let me refresh your memory, when you drop bombs on someone, say Al Quida or the Taliban, sometimes you miss and get women and children. To make it a bit more palatable to the public at home, you call it “Colateral Damage”, didn’t mean to get those innocent bystanders, but they were in the wrong place.
MKs are “Colateral Damage”. The generals sent the NTM troops into foreign lands to drop religon on the masses. But the MKs ended up in boarding school and a few of the Sergeants were a bit heavy with the discipline and a bit free with their hands and other bits of anatomy. The war may have been going well, but look at the “Colateral Damage”.
Time for OPERATION CLEANUP and a few court marshalls.

The NTM I grew up in wasn’t too concerned about the MK’s. Children got lost in the shuffle and were way down on the priority list. Parents were expected to sacrifice their own children in order to reach the lost and in the process many children here deeply hurt and families lost the close bond that families should have. When I read the comments here, I am often reminded of a saying a wise pastor at my church here in the U.S. has repeated time after time. “The only thing here on earth you can take to heaven with you is your family”. In other words, your ministry to your own family is one of the most important things you can do so don’t screw it up. Live, love, laugh, teach, pray, spend time together, encourage, so that they might see Christ in you and desire their own relationship with Him.

Welcome to the Fanda Eagles site, Wiki Kid. You are so correct about the failures of the screening process in NTM, at least in the past. For decades, as an MK myself and then later as an adult missionary, I saw so many people come to the field who had no business being there. Sometimes you could pick up on their issues from the first day you met them in the guest house, and you wondered, “How did they ever make it through the training?”
Other times they kept their flaws well-hidden, but left a wake of destruction behind, doing more harm than good to nationals, tribal people, their co-workers, and most tragically, to members of their own families.
Sad, but all too true.

“Also, many missionary children resent the time they spend away from their parents, and they resent the mission work that took their parents away from them. New Tribes has always been aware of this and has been sensitive to their families.” NOT TRUE. NTM has not always been sensitive to this! Were it not for the brave Fanda kids who put it out there NTM would still be covering up the horrendous pain and damage done to children at their boarding schools. Breaking family ties is not a christian value. Seeing your parents for a bit of respite for the parents to get away from the rigors of language learning or whatever is not called raising your child. Kids were second, even third, on the list of important things in the NTM I lived under.

Poogymom :@carol christoffel
I wanted to take a moment to share about New Tribes Mission and what they do. I will use the jungles of Brazil, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines as context. New Tribes Mission sends missionary couples into a region where a nomadic tribe is located. They live with the Tribe and learn their language. They reduce the language into written form and then translate the Scriptures into the Tribe’s own language. They provide medical aid and teach the people to read & write their own language. Customs of the tribe are learned. For example a tribe in PNG believed that twins were one good and one evil. The “evil” infant was taken by tribal leaders and left in the jungle. Some tribes are cannibalistic. Most wail all night in fear the spirits of dead enemies will come and kill them in their sleep. There are more things than just these the missionaries confront daily. Missionaries learn to survive in the jungle as well. Once the Tribal Peoples learn that twins are a double blessing from God, that they don’t have to live in fear, and that medical care is available for them…they say, “If you knew all of this, why didn’t you come sooner?” Eventually, one tribe will tell the missionaries of another tribe in a nearby area. Gifts are left in the form of beads and other items they treasure, until the tribe is able to meet with the missionaries on more cautious terms. Then a team is sent to that tribe to begin the process. It is wondrous to see these tribes meet together praising and worshipping God and helping one another in Christ’s love. New Tribes Mission recognizes that the Gospel and God’s Word is for every tongue and tribe and nation. It does not promote a Western Theology. The children of New Tribes Missionaries are sent to a Mission School due to the rigors of tribal work and the danger being with their parents could expose them to. Many of the children after a time do go to live with their parents and be home-schooled once the work has been established within the tribe. Sometimes the Missionary parents are given time to help at the schools and given a “break” in their work. They are also rotated into other mission duties where direct tribal contact is not taking place. Also, many missionary children resent the time they spend away from their parents, and they resent the mission work that took their parents away from them. New Tribes has always been aware of this and has been sensitive to their families…at Aritao School in the Philippines, parents often came out of the tribal area and stayed for a couple weeks reuniting with their children for R&R. New Tribes Missionaries are not employed…they volunteer and go through a screening. Their home church must provide references along with others who had long term contact with them. I am knowledgable of the admissions process and the training requirements. The mission scrutinizes all those in the Bible Institute and Training programs for several years and counsels them. Many don’t make it to the field.

“I want to take a moment to share”,
I heard this so many times as a child in NTM, it really was code for, I’m now going to tell you what I want and you have no right of reply.
“I am knowledgable of the admissions process and the training requirements. The mission scrutinizes all those in the Bible Institute and Training programs for several years and counsels them. Many don’t make it to the field.”
I doubt this. NTM was so desperate for members the screening process was lax. Do I have proof I hear you ask? Yes if my family had even undergone modest scrutiny it would of been obvious that we should never have been allowed out of training school. But then predators seemed to be welcomed on the field and our one fitted in quite well.

Perhaps NTM has been TOO focused on it’s very important mission to not also give this area the attention it SO deserves. I think this is a human issue, of course. I think hiding in the shadows of deliberate ignorance about sex is terribly determental to us all. I believe we should openly, candidly, and publically speak in a healthy way about sex. I think we should teach our children from a very early age (3) about the facts of life and our Bible studies with them should include Leviticus chaper 18, etc. My “ignorant instincts” about this have proven to be correct. Listen to your heart, as enlightened by the Word and Spirit of Jesus. To ignore the fact that we are sexual gives place to the Devil. I know it’s uncomfortable to address the issue but somebody has got to lead the way and have guts to do it! Consistently.

Hey, O Dear, if you are a PNG MK, you should join us on the PNG Facebook page. Search for it on Facebook using “PNG MK” – it’s a closed page so you will have to request to join (only PNG MKs can join). Hope to see you there!

30 years ago I spent my teenage years in a NTM South Pacific base. What I found most bizzare was the amount of psycholgical control exerted. Extorted signed confessions, guilt laid on in spades. And to make it worse, some of us are not from the States, so we got a good dose of discrimination thrown in for free.
Was a bit like foreign policy under the Bush regimes, the rest of the world exists for Americas pleasure.
It was a teenage full of isolation, wondering why but not daring to question.
No doubt my comments will be wiped, but it feels pretty good to tell the truth and my conscience is clear.

This abuse has been going on for decades. My teenage years were spent on a NTM base in the South Pacific. The main abuse was psycological, signed confessions, racial discrimination, having to abdicate any free thought or opinion.
And to complicate matters, I’m not an American, so a good double dose of abuse. Apparently this abdicates one’s right to a fair go, oh hang on that sounds like American foreign policy, “the world was created for White Americans to exploit and trample on … ”
But it was 30 years ago, another world away. Time has a way of healing, my sanity is still intact and I’ve found a good degree of happiness with which I’m happy.
But the scary side of all this, its probably still happening . . .

It is so interesting to read all of this. I was one who clearly was “beat” a few times at boarding school… …the woman had issues. That family was only dorm- parents for that year, and were not asked to come back. Clearly, mission boards HAVE TO DEAL WITH this issue regularly, and whether we feel justified by their action or innaction, I REST in knowing they will have to give an account to God, AS DO the abusers… …as do I for whatever sin I have done in my life, no matter how big or how small. I am so glad I don’t have to carry around the baggage of my sin or unforgiveness anymore.
I can’t… …it’s too heavy.

Poogymom, who are you speaking to? You are spouting the recuitment and fundraising line published in all the NTM materials. You obviously have no personal knowledge of what it is like to actually live it. We have lived it and we all saw things. Maybe you should lecture the NTM leadership about what the Bible says. We all know it, after all we listened to it being preached to us at least 3 times a day while at boarding school. However, knowing and doing are different things, and my experience tells me loud and clear that the NTM leadership I grew up with did not practice either the fruits of the spirit or the many other things the Bible teaches, such as family structure, the priesthood of the believer, protection of children, discipline of believers (perverts and molesters), the authority of the government, etc. The leadership I knew, could have been referred to as white washed scepulcure (sp?) or grave that has all the legalistic whitewash but stinks to high heavens of filth and rotting flesh.

@Poogymom

Who exactly are you speaking to? If it is to the MK’s, the marginalized. How dare you tell us what New Tribes is all about? You think we don’t know? We lived it. Some of us were created in it and some of us came to it at an early age.

And…we didn’t have a choice.