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TO: ALL MISSIONARIES:
Founded in 1942
NEW TRIBES MISSION
1000 East First Street, Sanford, FL 32771-1487
Phone: 407-323-3430 FAX: 407-330-0376
We are sending the following letter to all of our NTM missionaries: on the fields; on furlough; those en route to the field, and those in the support end of the work.
January, 1997
Dear Friend and Member of the NTM Family,
As an Executive Committee, we are very encouraged as we sense God working in our
hearts in these days. He graciously has been showing us a problem existing in our mission,
and He is leading us as we seek His wisdom in setting it right. Although we humbly give God praise for all the blessings of the work, the close friendships, and the fruit that has been produced over the years through NTM, still… we have a serious problem that has been eating at the very heart and vitality of the Mission. The evidence was there to see in the scores of broken hearted people that had spent some years in NTM and had then left or been asked to leave. All too often, the simple statement ‘lack of commitment to Christ’ was given as an explanation for their sudden departure. We believe that God is wanting us to seriously ask ourselves why this continues to happen.
What is this problem? It is a system of leading by strict oversight that teaches grace and yet demands performance and conformity. It's a harsh way of relating to other people that does not have as its source the character of Christ. Please understand our hearts. We are not saying that none of our leaders in the past have walked in the grace of Christ's life and manifested it; and taught it; and modeled it; and discipled it. All of our hearts have warmed to the blessed precious truths of God's grace, and we've been drawn by the aroma of Christ in the lives of different ones of our leaders. But somehow, contrary to the very roots of grace that NTM was founded upon, we have gravitated as leaders to a system of leading that depends heavily on control .... submission .... lack of trust..... fear. When you lay it alongside a military manual, the systems look frighteningly similar. It is a style that has fostered dependence on leadership rather than on God.
Let us make a list of some of the areas that best describe the system so there is no misunderstanding about what we are speaking:
1. Giving responsibility to people with no plan or description of how to proceed- "Just trust the Lord!"
2. Leaders talking down to students or mature missionaries in a paternalistic, condescending way, as if they are children with no previous experience in walking with the Lord; a failure to demonstrate respect and to recognize that our people are "volunteers" who have responded to the Holy Spirit, and are Christ's.
3. A mind-set that values work, and tasks, and busyness, above relationships and serving and caring.
4. The sense that only things learned within NTM are reliable. To recognize previous experience or education, could result in a person becoming puffed up with pride.
5. Questioning one another's commitment to Christ, as if we had some special discernment to determine this.
6. A lack of trust that other adults could find the Lord's mind in matters that allow room for differing opinions.
7. Not being quick to encourage people and demonstrate a thankful spirit by expressing appreciation.
8. A need for obvious love and caring for people where they feel the warmth of friendship rather than the coolness of a superior.
- - 2 - -
9. A defensive, threatened reaction to questions that are often turned back on the questioner as being 'rebellion'.
10. Leaders having to be 'in control,' with a heavy emphasis on 'submission.' Rather than being proactive with information, leaders are often slow to reveal it.
11. A negative emphasis toward people, creating fear and suspicion. A dwelling upon people's "needs" and "sin," that is exposed by leader's questioning or the 'personal ministry' of one's peers.
We want you dear missionaries to know that we, the men of the Executive Committee, take responsibility for this problem that we have described above. We have been wrong in practicing a leadership style like this. We have produced a system of legalism and negativism in our training and on our fields. Up until now, we have not sensed the gravity of the problem to the place where we would say, "We can't go on hurting people like this. Let's stop and take a serious look at our system and really ask God to open our eyes to the root cause." God has certainly been clear in His Word, that His way of relating to His beloved ones is in tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering, forbearance, forgiveness, and above all in LOVE (Colossians 3:12-14).
We are thankful to God for graciously leading us to appoint the TPRC to conduct a survey among our fellowship. The results of this survey clearly emphasized the serious nature of our problem, and through it, God led us to begin to share these findings with as many of you as possible and to make as many changes in our training program as were appropriate at the time. Also, because the survey indicated that much greater changes should possibly be made, we appointed the TEC to conduct a thorough evaluation for us of the training offered in our Missions Institutes and to make recommendations which we could consider. Not only do we take responsibility for the past, including the problems expressed, but we also take responsibility for the future of NTM and are committed to carefully and prayerfully steering the work of our Mission through any and all changes which are agreed upon.
We would like to ask you, personally and individually, to forgive us for how we have hurt you directly or indirectly, through the autocratic system that we have practiced. Please pray for us that we will see and acknowledge all that God wants to show us. He has our attention and we want to hear Him. You can be a great help to us by sharing your thoughts and suggestions with us. If you want to sit down and talk with any of us face to face, we would love that. If you are more comfortable writing your thoughts down and sending them to us, that would be wonderful too. Either way, we want to interact with you on this.
If you have been contemplating leaving NTM, would you prayerfully reconsider it? For too long, we have treated our missionaries and candidates like they were the property of NTM, rather than volunteers who responded at some point to the Holy Spirit through His Word. We are determined not to go back to the fear, suspicion, and heaviness of our former militaristic leadership style. If we are going to preach grace, then we need to model and live that grace. Please stay with us, to see things really turn around. We need you, not just because there is such an important work that still waits to be done among tribal people, but because you are inherently valuable to us as a coworker and as a friend.
Thank you for your understanding. We love you and have every reason to be positive and encouraged as we look ahead. Jesus Christ is on our side, and our eyes are on Him. The little breezes of kindness and humility and caring that are beginning to be felt in our Mission, can easily become a torrent that will blow from one end of the work to the other for the glory of our dear Lord Jesus.
In Christ's rich grace,
David Calderwood
Bryan Coupland
Macon Hare
Oli Jacobsen
Les Pederson
Chet Plimpton
Duane Stous
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