MK forum

I'm reading here too, and feel much the same way as OT. I've struggled much to understand why some continue on with NTM. To make it personal, my dad was born into NTM and doesn't know anything different. NTM is family to him in a way not even I can completely understand. He bubbles over with joy when he is back in Brasil. It is one of the reasons I don't complain when he is eager to get back to it.

However, he walks closely enough with the LORD to know when something is not right, and he makes it known in his own unique way. I'm thankful for that, because if that weren't true...if I didn't know how sickened my parents are by the abuse and the cover-ups...if I wasn't sure that they support each of us whole-heartedly in our quest for justice and healing...then it would break my heart to have them leave me to continue to serve under NTM, as they did just this week. I want to believe there are more like him, who love "the work," and understand that God can use simple people to do extraordinary things despite all the mess this world is in!

My dad wrote something to be posted here several months ago, but it never made it. He is computer illiterate, and I hope to track down what he wrote and post it someday soon. Somewhere between recovering from surgery, visiting supporting churches and meeting the needs of his kids, it got lost.

Thank you, OT, and Raz for sharing your hearts. Yes, NTM is part of us--and maybe that is why all this hurts so much. Thanks for finding the words to express it so well.

Raz,

The new NT is the old NT wrapped in different cloth until proven otherwise.....NT has not proven they have changed in any substantial way in terms of leadership style here it really counts. For example, NT is still stalling....

Yes, what you're saying about NTM being FAMILY resonates deeply. In the years before internet and cheap long distance, those who left home for overseas were isolated from any family they left behind in ways that new NTMers cannot imagine or understand. The isolation and inter-dependence created something deeper than business.

And while there are no doubt tribers who wish this would go away and the victims here would "be quiet", I think there are those tribers, maybe more than we think there are, that truly want this dealt with in a godly way. I'm hearing more outrage at the silence and more compassion for the victims than I did a few months ago. So, keep talking.

I'd also like to comment on the "new NTM vs old NTM"... but that is a pretty touchy topic that I'll leave for another day. Or maybe for someone else who is currently in NTM and has been part of it for more than two or three decades...

Mosquito Bite,

You bring up a good point when you point out that GRACE made a "recommendation" that NTM evaluate its leadership system and deal with unloving leadership throughout NTM. While this is 2nd to dealing with the abuse, there is ample evidence that this style of leadership/groupthink/monoculture is not Biblical and should be repented of and abandoned.

Furthermore, it is just such a "system" or structure of leadership that fostered or allowed the child abuse to occur in the first place. Leaders lead because of their strength of character and godly example, not because they occupy a "position" such as EC. In a system such as NTM, true leaders are quickly assimilated or dismissed to preserve the system.

So, sorry, those of you who insist NTM is different, I don't see how NTM has changed its underlying value system. I do see NTM has tried to be more user freindly but the results are still the same with regard to spiritual abuse of individuals who are independent thinkers.

If I understand my Portuguese right, this guy could get 6 to 10 years for what he did to this girl, one incident. Wow, and yet so many people who do much more than that are walking free. Also, this guy was 66 years old. This type of behavior doesn't go away with old age. Those who haven't faced any consequences will go on to abuse again unless there is complete repentance and accountability in thier lives or unless they are behind bars where they can't reach other children.

I love that verse Matthew 18:10 which OT wrote above. So awesome. There is so much happening in the heavenly realm that we are unaware of.