MK forum

I see that no one has posted here in a while.

They sometimes say no news is good news or that ignorance is bliss. The truth of the matter is that many times truth is very painful. I am grieved, beyond words, to discover that there was abuse going on in Venezuela, beyond that perpetrated by Jim Bou. I spent a year there, as an associate missionary and high school teacher. Apparently things happened right under our noses. I sincerely regret that I/we did were not equipped, then, to recognizer the symptoms when we saw them. I regret that silence reigned there for over 30 years! The sense of betrayal I'm experiencing now is nothing compared to what the abused must be feeling. I am embarrassed to admit that I was part of an organization that permitted this and then covered it up for so long. I pray that anyone affected by this blight on an otherwise idyllic place will have the courage to bring everything out into the light.

We were part of that org for more than 30 years and are appalled to learn now of all that went on under our noses while our children were in school! How we wish it could ALL come to light and be dealt with in the right way! Seeing the movie Spotlight makes us wish that someone would do the work necessary to expose everyone in ntm who was/is part of this monstrous crime of child abuse. Much has happened here on this site in the last 7 years----as a result of those who care and have worked to shine a light on all the dark things that happened in so many places around the world. But there is so much more………
I sense your distress. Know that there are many of us with the same broken hearts.

Thank you, Watching Closely. It means a lot to know you care. To know this matters to you. So many of us (myself included) wish there was a do-over ... that we could go back in time and read the signals differently ... that we wouldn't have been so naive and trusting.

Yes, there are people who knew more about what was happening to children of missionaries than we did. They knew, and they shoved that information aside, or covered it up, or minimized it, because "the Work" was a much higher priority to them than the terror and tears of innocent MKs.

This pattern continues ... it just looks different now. Those MKs are now adults. It is even easier for mission leaders to minimize their pain. The end justifies the means. The end being world evangelization and the survival of the mission. For some of us, this feels so upside down it is mind-boggling. It seems like a mockery of everything we thought the mission stood for: the value of even the smallest, lowliest individual; the importance of being like Jesus, no matter what the cost. I no longer have any respect for NTM because of the way they have responded to child abuse in their midst. Their leaders say integrity is important to them. I do not see integrity here. Instead, I see toxicity that is spreading through the sinking Titanic, poisoning those aboard, many of whom are oblivious to the source of what is slowly killing them.

I cannot recall hearing much from NTM MKs about abuse in Venezuela. If there are any reading this who would like to join this conversation, we would welcome your voice. I do not support the idea of IHART investigations of child abuse, because I believe these investigations are bogus shams .... loads of donated money being spent, not to actually expose child abusers, but to keep the mission afloat for one more year ... one more decade.

But this Fanda Eagles forum is a place to tell your story, MKs. This is a place where you will be believed.

Agreed, Raz.
That's why I can only write ntm.
When I have to.

Watching Closely, you have a private message.
IF you feel like answering in any way.
Understood if not.

So I'm a Venezuela MK. My parents were on the mission field when Jim Bou was a leader there. My parents actually left New Tribes when I was in high school, so we lived in a nearby city working with a different mission, when we received the news about Jim Bou. I have vague childhood memories of eating at someone's house in boarding school and Jim Bou was there, regaling us with stories. He was a very "likable" personality.

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?

I have been reading through the forums here for a while. My parents were tribal missions. I went to boarding school in second grade, and then my parents decided to homeschool me. I returned to boarding school for eighth and ninth grade.

I remember in ninth grade, sitting outside one of my friend's houses late at night while she sobbed about someone having sexually abused her (someone on staff). I don't remember who it was, or what was done about it. I remember vaguely hearing some say she was just being overly dramatic.

I also have a vague, shadowy, dark memory that is also a huge bundle of horrid scary feelings from my childhood overseas that refuses to fully resurface. Until it does, I will not know if it was connected to boarding school or ntm staff, or to someone else.

My reason for posting here is an effort to find out if there are any other venezuelan mk's who had something happen at boarding school...trying to recover my memory. I would've been at boarding school the following years: 1988-1990, and 1995-1997 or thereabouts. I did have some of my best memories at boarding school...but also some of my saddest. One of my dorm moms was verbally abusive toward me and treated me differently than she treated the other girls; the other girls joined in and mistreated me and made fun of me frequently as well. I think it was because my parents had homeschooled me for a while, so I wasn't acceptable. No one ever stood up for me, but another set of dorm parents took me under their wings and told me I was welcome at their dorm anytime (they must've seen what was going on).

Hoping to find out more about Venezuela. I have appreciated all your stories and honesty.

I hope you find the answers you are looking for. And welcome.
Thank you for sharing what you remember.
It may help someone else, also.
It is terrible to have to remember things like this!
But some say that acknowledging what happened is a help toward healing.
May your journey finally take you to peace about your past.

Thank you. I appreciate your kind words.

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 ...



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.

Welcome Finding Answers!

I hope we can help you find your answers. If you have any connection to any of your former classmates encourage them to speak up in this safe place.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you ~Maya Angelou