MK forum

I worked for a bit in our local prison. One of my jobs as a nurse, was to look thru requests for care, and decide which prisoners I would see, which would go to the doctor. No matter how many policies and protocols there were, you still had to make judgement calls.

I'm torn over the insurance issue. There are chemo meds that are critically important to give precisely, without a single gap.

I treated murderers, rapists, just ordinary unlucky guys.

In the nursing office, we would frequently disagree on the best action to take.

This is a grandmother. My grandmother would wail on her kids, chase them around the farm with a 2 x 4.

Mixed feelings.

“In confirmed cases of physical abuse, NTM-USA will dismiss the member …” NTM Child Protection Manual (p. 11)

"While our administrative decision for forced retirement imposed significant disciplinary restrictions on Gary, after careful review, the Board has determined it was not fully compliant with current policy. The Board is therefore requiring Gary Earl to resign." Confidential Communication Follow-up, April 2,2014

Fully compliant with current policy? Read it again, guys. Epic fail.

Some people are doing a double-take, about to high-five their fellow protesters for our victory. No, wait. Hang on a minute.

Isn't "requiring to resign" about the same as "dismiss"? Almost?

No, it is not.

Words matter.

We have already seen that Gary Earl is a master word manipulator. That is clear from the prayer letter posted on the other thread.

"Required retirement" turned into "Due to several factors, including my age (67 this year) and Annie's need for continued cancer medication and regular exams, God is directing us from overseas to continue full-time ministry here; one in which we are VERY excited about!"

So now the new prayer letter may read, "With great heaviness of heart, we must share with you that God has led us to resign from NTM."

The words "required" and "resign" will never be linked together in the same phrase. Not by Gary Earl.

Words matter.

Brian Coombs attempts a little switcheroo to make the medicine a bit easier for Lori to swallow. "Requiring Gary Earl to resign" now turns into "we have forced Gary to resign". FORCED him to! Woo-hoo! Tough guys! Wrestled him down and FORCED him to do something he would never ever have even considered, had we not made him do it. Look what we did for you, Lori! Aren't you happy now?

So here's my "words matter" statement to you, New Tribes Mission:

Requiring someone to resign when your policy clearly states they deserve to be dismissed is NOT being fully compliant.

Requiring someone to resign is NOT the same as dismissing, terminating or firing them.

This is NOT what Lori asked for.

She asked you for two things: "To be clear: I want two things from NTM and that is all. 1) I want Gary Earl exposed in a statement to all of NTM and all Earl supporters. 2) I want Gary Earl terminated from New Tribes Mission, no longer able to represent the thousands of good missionaries in NTM."

We apparently will never know just what information has been told to Earl supporters, and just how widely that information was disseminated. Remember that originally NTM only agreed to telling ONE church. I should hope that by now, other supporters -- ALL supporters -- have been notified, but as far as what was communicated, we cannot confirm that. Again: words matter.

We have seen the notification sent to NTM USA members last Friday night. Take a look through that document again. What is Gary being exposed for? For being a child beater? For being accused of being a sexual predator? Look again. It looks to me more like Gary is in trouble for being insubordinate and not obeying the Executive Board, not for being a child abuser.

Words matter.

And the second thing Lori asked for? "I want Gary Earl terminated from New Tribes Mission."

Not happening. Not happening.

Keep writing those letters, folks. Keep up the pressure.

We haven't reached the end of this yet.

Words matter. YOUR words matter.

Thank you for all of those words spoken and written and posted in support of MKs!

MKs matter even more than words do.

Playing with word to deceive the same old game.