MK forum

Hey all, I've finally joined the forums although I've been reading for a few years and greatly appreciate the courage and hard work done by all those striving to bring accountability to NTM and seeking justice for victims.

I'm finally writing because the NTM report on Panama is supposed to be released soon...supposedly. I'm trying to remember, but think I did the interview in 2011 when pregnant with my son. He is now 4 and in pre-school. That gives me a tangible way to think of the passage of time. So over 4 years since I did the interview with the first investigators...

NTM says that Pii officially started the investigation in January 2012. They completed it in July 2014. Instead of releasing the results of the investigation, NTM fired the Pii investigators. Then they hired IHART who declared the first report was incomplete in January 2015 and had Theresa Sidebotham take over. Now it is September 2016 and we still have no report. Am I the only one who thinks this whole process is sketchy and demonstrates an incredible level of incompetence to take nearly 5 years to produce a single report?
I have a few thoughts and questions like:
1) How much $ did NTM spend to fund two complete reports and do their supporters know that's how they spent the $?
2) What was in the first report and why wouldn't NTM release it? I don't think anyone actually believes the report was incomplete but that NTM didn't like the results so hired someone else to "find" a different conclusion.
3) Will the report that finally gets published be in any way accurate and will it include the information we've all been waiting for to really demonstrate the level of abuse those of us who grew up in NTM Panama experienced and know existed?
4) I was told the investigation was completely independent of NTM when I interviewed, but it sounds like IHART is very much connected to NTM now. Does anyone know the real nature of the relationship?
5) Why is IHART making it difficult to get an actual copy of the report? After nearly 5 years, you'd think they'd want to make it as easy to access as possible for all those interested. But, apparently they can't keep track of the contact information of those who participated and you have to personally email them and ask for the report...putting the burden once again on others. I emailed asking for a copy and did not receive any reply or confirmation.

I guess we'll have to see what's in the actual report. But, NTM has demonstrated themselves to be so entirely untrustworthy that it's hard to believe the report will be worth the wait and effort.

Independent my foot! NTM and IHART are in bed together, no ifs, buts or maybes. It's all a perverse scam, paid for with money that is making some people no doubt rather rich. NTM is a cult, so it has no desire for anyone to be looking at what has been going on, so why not spin this out for years while offenders kick the bucket and victims get fatigued!
IHART will produce a report that avoids putting responsibility for this disgusting mess on NTM. Just a few vague comments and lots of scapegoating!

Open the jail doors and lock up the criminals, sue those who hid them and set the victims free from their personal hell!

And that is about all I've got to say on the matter! Life is for living, not waiting for NTM to piss into the wind and get it's pants wet! And living I am doing

lafula, welcome.
You have asked some good questions.
Just from what we have learned on these forums about abuse in Panama, it was horrid!
It seems that the general public will never learn what is in the report.
Those who gave interviews will get their interview material back.
That's how it appears.
It would be very interesting to know what was in the PII report.
And how this one differs.
We may never know that.

Thanks so much for answering these questions and providing the useful info!!

I read the report the paper co-authored by Theresa. This is a must read if you want to understand the world view and principles guiding our investigation. http://telioslaw.com/pdfversions/new-market.pdf
It leaves no doubt regarding the approach and what we can expect from the Panama report. I'm thoroughly disgusted but the paper. The driving purpose is to figure out how to not spend too much $ on reports of abuse and payouts to victims...learning from the Catholic experience.

I think the key excuses we will see included in the Panama report include:

1) Much of what has been reported as abuse what culturally acceptable during those years and the response was on par with investigative and disciplinary standards of the time

2) Abuse is more widespread in secular settings and they aren't sued as much. Why are Christians holding leaders accountable. (NTM switching the table to be the victim and make it look like those who are abused and their attorney are on a witch hunt to get rich).

3) MK's have psychological issues related to being MKs or TCKs and claim abuse when much of what they experience are just normal issues related to growing up in another country. (Quote from her paper which is particularly disgusting and again turns the blame away from mission agencies).

"Some allegations of abuse in missionary boarding schools conflate actual abuse with
typical MK psychological issues or confuse the two. Most MKs have feelings of disorientation,
dislocation, abandonment, and rejection, whether or not they attended a boarding school.52 The
MK experience is also complicated by strong elements of spiritual shame and coercion that were
often present in the evangelical subculture during the relevant periods.

These experiences, though painful, were often not abusive, but an outcome of a particular
choice of lifestyle and occupation by the parents. For a missionary child to face a boarding school
separation is no more abusive than for military children to have their fathers sent to Iraq
for a year. However, some claimants and some investigators are confused about this.53 Any
team that investigates alleged abuse in missions agencies, especially historic abuse, should have
an in-depth and realistic understanding of MK and TCK issues and the historic subculture."

4) Slams the GRACE report for doing all the right things in a report that doesn't coddle NTM leadership but actually presented their findings including naming some abusers. She repeatedly uses the word "usurp" to say the GRACE report wrongly provided recommendations to leadership and to MKs. (How dare the report actually find wrongdoing in NTM...we should just trust the leadership to review the condemning findings and let them bury it!)

5) Fear mongering - the conclusion leads the reader to be scared of how bad the situation can get with potential payout costs rather than doing the most simple and right thing...admit the wrongdoing publicly, deal with the abuser, and bring restitution to the victim. Instead, she focuses on the worst case scenario and leads the reader to focus on how to best protect the organization...which is obviously the highest priority with NTM.

"When people have been injured, the Church needs to respond as the Church--with
compassion and generosity. This could include top organizational leaders meeting the victim, an
apology, and provision of therapy or other avenues of healing. Are there limits to a Church's
compassion? What if the person injured requests weekly counseling for 20 years? What if the
person requests $50,000, $500,000, or more?"

"Since 1985, Protestant organizations have watched the Catholic scandal unfold. Some
thought, "This is a Catholic problem. This cannot happen to us." The reality is that Protestant
ministries can learn from the Catholic Church's experience. We hope that this paper might help
facilitate such learning. The risks are great. Now is the time to prepare."

6) With such a focus on those bad attorneys trying to make $ off the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals, she neglects to mention how much $ the attorneys make who defend Churches and missionary organizations. I wonder how much Theresa is making off her role with NTM and managing these investigations? The last I "heard" through the grapevine is that NTM has already spent $1 million on the Panama investigation. I'm not sure if that is accurate, but what if it were? A tiny fraction of that would have covered hundreds of hours of counseling for abuse victims. That money could save lives of the poor and hungry. I guess it's all about priorities.

I am glad you took the time to read the Sidebotham article, lafula. It is indeed very, very revealing.

I reacted strongly to the article when it first came out, and stated that the detailed list in the article (pages 18-19), of everything GRACE had supposedly done wrong in the Fanda report, smelled like collusion. I was confronted by NTM for making that accusation. But as things unfolded, and the author of that atrocious article turned out to be a good friend of Scott Ross, and eventually was crowned the new head of IHART, I will state even more clearly that I believe this article, written back in 2011, was influenced by Scott Ross, who was no doubt very dissatisfied with the contents of the GRACE report on Fanda, particularly with some of the things GRACE had to say about him.

There are two threads here on Fanda Eagles, in the Miscellaneous section, where this article was discussed: "Finally! The reason NTM isn't using GRACE" and "Discussion of the Sidebotham/Nussbaum Article". I will refresh both of them under Miscellaneous, so you and other readers can find the threads easily and look through them.

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threewillows! How did you know??

I predict those sentences will be found in the yet-to-be-delivered Panama abuse report, practically word for word!

Arrghhhh!!