MK forum

Hmmm, you think they were quite a bit more careful about the credentials of their defense attorney than they were about their Personnel / Child Protection Director?

I am sure that I as a proper THEOLOGIAN could tell them which Scriptures they are NOT using and should be... and I could surely clarify the facts and shine light on the Scriptures that they are currently "using" and discredit those misinterpretations... Just sayin'!

And I know that I am not the only qualified Theologian here...

I'm sure you could Marie!

[quote="wantokmeri"]I wish they'd investigate and punish child abusers with the same righteous red-heat anger they used when they found out that kids were kissing on base. Have a special chapel where everyone sat there in silence until the spirit led them to get up and confess their evil ways. Pressure all parents, siblings, schoolmates, teachers to rat out the evildoers. Fly in leadership, expel, suspend, fill up the personnel files with the horrible unnatural deeds of teenagers being teenagers. I'm dying over the list of cookies vs. shoplifting!!!! hilarious!! Being a normal teenager and kissing a boy is defintely SHOPLIFTING. It took me decades to overcome weird guilt and anger about all that, and I didn't even get the worst of it.

guess I'm jealous on that account! I got the guilt and the shame without the kiss!


I'm wondering if an automatic "suspension" is something that NTM could implement when someone is accused of child abuse. There needs to be a fair and balanced investigation, everyone is innocent until proven guilty, yes yes, I fully support due process. However, this type of charge is an extreme case and something you'd want to address immediately, right? How about suspending the person immediately by isolating them, like a house arrest or something. Build a comfortable hole in the ground with a bench and a bucket, let the person stay in there until the investigation is completed. This would (a) make sure the investigation hurried along, and (b) get the slimeball in isolation. I'm being extreme here, but I'd think the concept of "suspension" might make some sense here.

[i]My husband works for a liberal, started by hippies, group home organization. The very first day that there is an abuse allegation, the employee is put on administrative leave. They ask you to not contact any other employees, to not go to work. Next they call you in for an interview. You still get paid, and retain benefits. They interview all concerned parties. Then, either by phone call, or coming back into the office--they give you their determination. [/]

It's clear-cut. It's not a perfect system. But we are mostly confident that when an employee is found to be abusive, they will be fired.

And during the process, they can do no further harm.

Don't know the best place for this.
So why not here?
It's an article I just read about reporting abuse
Who should do it/ how/ etc.

Just 2 paragraphs of a short article.
Sound familiar?

"http://www.ccef.org/resources/blog/pastoral-wisdom-and-mandate-report-abuse

Oops! No apostrophe.

http://www.ccef.org/resources/blog/past ... port-abuse

The 2 paragraphs---

The legal and biblical mandate to report
It is very challenging to respond well to accusations of abuse. These situations generate a wide range of emotions from—outrage and a demand for justice—to fear, shame, disbelief and distrust. But when abuse is brought to our attention, we must work hard to not respond based on emotion or personal bias, but instead be willing to act wisely, justly and deliberately. Reporting abuse is not simply a legal mandate, it is a moral and biblical one as well. The laws are meant to protect the innocent and reveal the guilty, to define what is abuse and what is not. I’m sure we would all agree that protecting the vulnerable is a good goal, but to do that we must also accept that it is not appropriate for anyone, except the proper agencies, to investigate an allegation or to dismiss one. 

Why some don’t report
Yet, despite these clear mandates, I find that churches and other Christian organizations are sometimes leery of reporting abuse when it comes to their attention. They look for ways to avoid complying with the law due to any number of reasons: fear of legal consequences, repercussions within the organization, or harsh reactions from the public. These concerns are further validated by horror stories where the authorities mishandle an accusation, and the situation explodes. Looking at all these possible negative outcomes, some begin to evaluate whether it is "worth the risk,” and some go on to justify not reporting because it "will only make things worse."  
The flip side of this is the implicit belief in an organization’s own ability to evaluate and respond well to abuse. It is easy for a ministry to become convinced that they will be more thoughtful, careful, and certainly more biblically-sound in their response. But in addition to violating the law, such a decision is unwise. It is not the organization’s job to investigate and "figure out the truth," and they are inadequately prepared to do so. No church or any other organization possesses the deftness, judiciousness, and discretion to interview well. The investigators know the signs of what to look for and the techniques to draw out a victim in a safe, illuminating manner. They are knowledgeable, skilled individuals who commit themselves to understanding and responding well to such issues. Churches and other ministries are not prepared to do this type of work and should not attempt it.

On the other "Documents" discussion Lori posted:
Thank you for the outpouring of support from around the world, from within New Tribes Mission and outside of the mission. I can't tell you how much it means to me. "Courage is not a feel-good emotion," someone wrote on the forum. Oh, how I agree. But you're being courageous, too. Thank you so much.

One of the outstanding developments in what has been a very long and bleak story, is that some New Tribes Mission personnel are advocating for change by supporting Lori in ways which would not have happened in the past. It is so very, very rare that mission personnel from within any mission have actively supported reform in this way.

I am sure one reason for this growing support is that some regulars on Fanda Eagles who were and/or are a part of NTM have shown the way with your years of advocating for change! And now it is expanding beyond your involvement to more New Tribe personnel. I hope missionaries and mission staff from other mission agencies are watching/reading and gain courage from you.

As for me, you give me hope (and hope is a rare commodity!).

HOPE is so important!
An important starting place.

As far as the disconnect between what the ntm Child Protection Manual states
And what has been done in the Gary Earl case----

What's going on, ntm/ churches and supporters/ ntm employees?
This is too serious to let it pass.

If any others have taken courage from Lori's actions
It would be good to hear from other victims of Gary's.

How terrible that we even have to write things like this!

So the insurance ends through NTM. They can sign up under the Affordable Care Act just like 7 million other people are able to throughout the United States. She cannot be turned down because of a pre-existing condition.