Supplement to GRACE Amended Final Report

Since the release of the original and amended GRACE report, GRACE and NTM continue to
receive inquiries and questions from MKs and numerous other parties throughout the world.
NTM and GRACE also continue to receive additional information regarding the Fanda boarding
school. Accordingly, GRACE and NTM are issuing this joint statement to assist interested
parties in understanding the report and the process.

First, in the GRACE report Dick Day was listed as being identified on an NTM document as a
sexual abuse perpetrator.  NTM acknowledges that Dick Day’s name was identified on such a
document, but that it appeared as a result of a clerical error by NTM.  The name that should have
been listed instead of Mr. Day is an individual whose name already appears within the GRACE
Amended Final Report.   Instead of listing Dick Day’s name with an explanation cited in a
footnote, GRACE acknowledges its failure in that it should have followed up with NTM about
the fact that Mr. Day’s name appeared on the document without any supporting records.  Dick
Day has not been accused of child sexual abuse.  NTM and GRACE have personally apologized
to Dick Day for these grievous errors. Other than the NTM document, which NTM
acknowledges to be an error, GRACE has received no evidence that Mr. Day ever abused a child
and, therefore, he was never included among the personnel recommendations made by GRACE.

Second, in light of the statements made by Mark Adams to GRACE on the eve of the amended
report, GRACE conducted further inquiries into the conduct of Mr. Adams and has provided a
fuller explanation of the information GRACE has received regarding this matter. This
explanation is contained in the attached Addendum to the GRACE report.

Third, NTM asked GRACE to provide additional detail concerning the conduct of six personnel
before acting on the GRACE recommendations. Although GRACE has sought to protect the
identities and personal information of those victimized at Fanda, we also recognize the need of
NTM for additional information and the standards GRACE used in assessing the documents as
well as written and oral statements we received. This additional information is contained in the
addendum.

Amended GRACE Report on NTM Fanda–Amended Edition

1. On and between June 24th and June 26th, the GRACE team will be meeting with over 15 individuals who were adults during the days of Fanda and who were in some way related to the operation and/or oversight of the school.   Some of these adults have been quite defensive of how NTM operated Fanda, while others have been extremely critical.  As you can guess, these meetings will be critically important and most likely very difficult.  We covet your prayers for these days of meetings.  Please pray that God will give us the wisdom to search and find truth as we learn from, confront, and challenge those who are in attendance. These meetings will provide GRACE with the final pieces of the puzzle needed in order to prepare our final report and recommendations.
2. The GRACE team will meet on June 26th for the purpose of collecting and finalizing our primary ideas and recommendations for the preparation of the final report.
3. GRACE will spend the month of July drafting the final report and recommendations.
4. GRACE will deliver the final report and recommendations to the MK’s and NTM on a date yet to be determined in August.
5. Sometime after the delivery date, the GRACE team will be in communication with the MK’s for the purpose of answering any questions or concerns that any of you may raise regarding the contents of the report and/or the recommendations.
6. Sometime after the delivery date, the GRACE team will meet in person with the NTM Executive Committee to review the report and to begin working out the implementation of our recommendations.

April 10 Update – letter from Grace

Feb 23 UPDATE

VA went very well. About 15 former MKs were there to share their stories in individual interviews with the Grace team. Grace asked intelligent questions and displayed appropriate outrage about what happened at Fanda and the resulting NTM coverup. This was the first experience for some of us in realizing that by speaking up we are part of the solution – not the problem. To speak up is strength and bravery. Thank you to Grace for their hearts and time and expertise.

Grace will speak to many more MKs and Ms (missionaries and former missionaries) in the next month and they are shooting for final recommendations by end of spring/early summer.

Please email Grace if you still want your voice heard. We are so encouraged. Love.

——————-

Happy 2010 everyone. This is going to be an amazing year.

People have been asking for an update so I thought I’d let everyone know that things are happening! Those of us MKs who want to meet with Grace will be traveling to Virginia most likely the weekend of Feb 19. After that the phone interviews will commence and we should be seeing the final letter of findings by late spring/early summer at the latest.

So many letters are pouring in from MKs who have had an experience of abuse at other NTM schools around the world but because it is now out in the open are finding support/seeking counseling and starting to face those things we might have tried to never think about but that affect us nonetheless.

If anyone wants me to attend their interview/phone interview with Grace I am available. Please let me know at eagles@peregrinebynature.com.

Love to all,

Kari

I hope this letter finds you well.  My name is Boz Tchividjian and I am the Executive Director of a non-profit organization called Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (hereinafter, GRACE).  During the past months, GRACE has been working with former students (hereinafter, MKs) who attended the Fanda School in Senegal and New Tribes Mission (hereinafter, NTM). The purpose of our work is to independently and comprehensively investigate and review numerous allegations of physical, sexual, emotional, and spiritual abuse that was perpetrated upon MKs while attending Fanda.    Though you may very well find this to be a very difficult and painful subject, I ask that you make every effort to read this letter in its entirety.   Please understand, GRACE is not a representative of NTM but is working independently with all parties involved.

GRACE is an organization that was formed in 2004 by a group of prosecutors, counselors, and pastors who have spent many years advocating for the protection and safety of children.   It is absolutely necessary for the Christian community to understand the evils and complexities of child abuse and how it must be confronted at all cost.   Children have too often been ignored by the Church, which has contributed to the widespread epidemic of abuse within the Christian community.    The purpose of GRACE is to 1) train and equip the Christian community on how to minimize opportunities for abuse within its own environment, and 2) train and equip the Christian community on how to properly respond to child abuse disclosures.   We believe that the failure to address either of these issues is simply wrong and adds further devastation to the physical, emotional, and spiritual life of a child, the effects of which can last a lifetime.   Furthermore, when the Christian community fails to take immediate and substantive corrective action upon learning of such abuse, it is in direct contradiction to the commands of Christ when he said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these (Mark 10: 14).    You can learn more about GRACE at our website, www.netgrace.org.

A few months ago, GRACE was approached by the executive committee at NTM and informed about its failures to adequately address the numerous allegations of abuse related to the Fanda School.  We were asked to consider whether we would review the entire matter and make certain recommendations to NTM to ensure that it finally and correctly demonstrates authentic repentance for this dark chapter in the lives of so many individuals.   After much thought and prayer, the GRACE board informed NTM that we would conduct a comprehensive review and investigation into the entire Fanda matter.   A non-negotiable condition to our engagement was that our work be wholly independent from NTM and that our final report and recommendations be made simultaneously to the MKs and NTM.   NTM agreed to this condition while again expressing its desire and need to demonstrate repentance.

GRACE has spent the past two months reviewing hundreds of pages of documentation we requested and received from NTM related to Fanda.  We have also spent a significant amount of time reading the many blog entries and substantive comments that have been posted on www.fandaeagles.com.   This time of review has allowed GRACE to become significantly familiar and educated about the various horrors which transpired at Fanda and the repeated failure of NTM to take immediate responsive action upon learning of this abuse.    Though we have benefited greatly from this extensive document review, GRACE believes it is imperative that we hear from each of you.   It is time for us to listen to those whose lives were forever changed while living in Africa as children of missionaries.    It is through your experiences that GRACE intends to effectuate substantive change at NTM so that no other child of a missionary will ever have to walk through a similar nightmare.   Just as important, it is through your experiences that we expect to make very specific and substantial recommendations on how NTM can demonstrate authentic repentance to each of you.    We plead for your assistance.

GRACE would like to meet with each of you to hear of your experiences at Fanda, and how those experiences have impacted your life.   Our hope is that during the coming months, we can arrange for you to travel to our headquarters in Lynchburg, Virginia to meet with a GRACE team.    We are happy for you to bring someone with you to this meeting if it will make you more comfortable.    Ideally, we would like to arrange such visits on or about the same time so that you all will have the opportunity to fellowship with each other.  We have arranged that all expenses related to such a visit will be underwritten by NTM.    If you are unable to meet with us in person, we would very much like for you to take some time and prepare a detailed written statement for our review.   It is imperative to understand that everything you communicate to GRACE (whether in person or in writing) will be held in the strictest confidence and will not be disclosed to anyone outside of GRACE, including but not limited to, NTM.

We believe the most practical way to move forward at this point is for each of you to complete the attached confidential survey.   This will greatly assist GRACE in understanding some basic information about each of you as it relates to your experiences at Fanda.   Upon receipt of the completed survey, GRACE can begin to move forward and contact each of you individually to coordinate your visit to Lynchburg, or the preparation of your written statement.   It is our hope that we can hear back from each of you via the completed survey no later than Friday, December 18, 2009.  This will provide us with the opportunity to begin contacting each of you after the Christmas holidays.

Although we pray you will be able to help us in this process, we also realize that your experiences are deeply personal and that you may not want to discuss or in any way re-visit your experiences. Please know that we will completely understand if you choose not to participate in the survey or the in-person interviews. Your physical and emotional well-being must come first.

In closing, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this letter.  For many of you, any mention of Fanda or New Tribes Mission understandably brings up various difficult and uncomfortable emotions along with scores of very painful memories.     Many of you may be extremely reluctant to engage in a process that in many cases is twenty years overdue.   All of these responses are extremely reasonable and justified.    GRACE simply asks that you give us the opportunity to do what has never been done to this day, the complete, comprehensive, and independent investigation and review of all abuse matters related to the Fanda School.    The purpose of our work is to demonstrate love, respect and honor for all those children who were so neglected and hurt while innocently attending a missionary school so many years ago.   Each of you is owed nothing less than complete accountability and repentance from New Tribes Mission for its failures to let the little children come unto me.

We would greatly appreciate if you could return the completed questionnaire within the next ten days.  This will assist us in moving forward with this process in an expeditious but thorough manner.

There are a number of individuals who attended the Fanda School that GRACE has not been able to locate.    If you know of any individual who should have received this letter but did not, please encourage them to contact us at the above listed email address.   We very much want to establish contact with everyone who attended Fanda School.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Basyle Tchividjian

Basyle J. Tchividjian, Esq.

Executive Director, GRACE

Hi all Fanda ex-MKs,

Those of us who are seeking closure in this matter would love if you were all willing to speak with GRACE and tell them what you were or were not aware of what was going on on the field. The more insight we have on this matter the more thorough their investigation can be. I personally would be so grateful for your participation.

If NTM lawyers or anyone else “representing NTM” contacts you I would encourage you to refer them to GRACE. We know from speaking to GRACE that they hold the position that the cover up that happened at Fanda is Biblically wrong. GRACE does not represent NTM in any way but has agreed to mediate for both parties as an objective third party.

GRACE would love the opportunity to talk with everyone who attended Fanda from 1985 until it closed in 1997. Please feel free to contact them directly at info@netgrace.org.

I hope everyone takes this opportunity to give your thoughts and share your perspective. I understand some of you wont have abuse claims…GRACE wants to hear from you too. Everyone’s input will be helpful in uncovering how this abuse could have happened.

I’d love to talk to anyone who wants to contact me.

eagles@peregrinebynature.com