Finding Answers, we welcome your presence and your voice here. Just when I am wondering whether anyone is still interested in this long struggle we have been in, trying to raise awareness about child abuse in NTM and the mission's failed response to the concerns of their children, your post shows me that this journey continues ...
Finding Answers wrote:
I actually have a theory that Jim Bou is possibly the reason at least two MK boys from my era went on to be deeply involved with child pornography (Joel Price being one of them). But who knows?
Thank you for mentioning this. I have long wondered what might have happened in Joel's childhood that led him to his involvement in this crime. Jim Bou may be the key. Or there may be something/someone else. But like you, I suspect that childhood trauma or abuse of some kind is often a key in understanding deviant adult behavior.
Your memories from the boarding school at Tamatama are definitely significant. It is clear that in the past, NTM was tragically unwise and uneducated in how to respond to the abuse of children. Especially in regard to the uncertainties surrounding inappropriate behavior that was less overt, and could be denied by the abuser. I now know that if an adult does something to a child that causes them to be as troubled as your fellow MK was, it should be taken VERY seriously. The child needs to be believed and validated. But I am sure that all too often, mission leaders accepted the denials of the adults, and the needs of the child were just shoved aside ... leaving unhealed wounds that the child carries for the rest of their life.
I hope others will speak up about Venezuela. And I hope your own fuzzy memories will clarify and you will be able to understand the troubling feelings/memories that are stuffed into the back of your mind.