MK forum

As a current member of NTM, I too have hesitated to reply before now. My husband & I have been reading the blog & the forums for over a year now and have read the GRACE report in full. I will tell you that my heart is broken, I am angered, yet sadly I wasn't shocked. Often while reading the report I was nodding my head and remembering my own upbringing. As an MK from NTM, although I didn't suffer abuse, I remember the atmosphere. I know the atmosphere of complete unquestionable authority. And I know about the abuse against fellow MKs from my field that finally was addressed in the late 90s.

I guess I just wanted to say I'm listening! I'm praying for repentance & change! And I hope & pray that the abuse on each and every field is investigated and addressed. It would seem right to me if GRACE would do that. Thank you for your courage and tenacity!

OT- I posted in Misc asking what you all would like to see 'outsiders' do to support your efforts to have the abusers brought to full justice (US law justice, not NTM justice), and only received one reply re: a petition.

For those who are *not* now NTM members and are not related to the abused or know first-hand of any abuse to report, what would you suggest we could do to ensure this is not swept under the rug?

Sincerely asking...

Thank you for your encouragement toward action, Mr. O Thornery. I agree that actions speak the loudest, and it does seem that if the members within NTM and the churches and individuals supporting them were to speak up/out, that it would be powerful. I didn't quite understand the reference to putting food on the table & jeopardizing our ministry. Are you saying it would jeopardize us & our relationship with our supporters if we spoke up? Or are you saying it would jeopardize NTM and then we'd have no ministry and then no supporters and then no food on the table? Just trying to understand! As for the first possibility, I believe each person on our support team values openness, honesty and justice. And as to the second possibility, I believe God can use our family in ministry in or out of NTM, with our without support. So no fears for either regard. Yet, please set me straight if I misunderstood you! Thank you for speaking up to encourage all of us to take action! And no offense taken!

I have been following some of your ramblings and i must embarrassingly admit that I don't often understand them. Maybe it has more to do with my not really getting poetic prose in highschool either. :P And then I was gonna say, maybe it's an MK thing--like alot of other things in life that go over my head--but that can't be right since you're an MK also.... ???
So I'm not sure what's the reference to knitting & the Tale of Two Cities (but of course I never read the story).

Have started to Twitter with NTM--anyone can follow them, just put in New Tribes. I'm johnny7june on there . . .Hoping to push a little

under "Miscellaneous," in a thread called "Dear Parents of MKs" there is a letter you can copy and paste and send to other members w/in NTM. It can also be modified and sent to NT leaders or supporters.

Yes, OT, we should notify authorities, but there is also the aspect of getting the mission to own up and make the many necessary changes to assure this never happens again!

Thanks, Ornery, for your reply.

First of all, I'm not sure if there are known perpetrators out there that haven't been located. ?? If so, I'm willing to do research to give information on where they are now so that innocent people can be notified. If there is a list, let me know.

Secondly, I see that you have contacted some major news outlets. Do you have a list (without me going through all your posts) of which ones? Or perhaps it won't really be a bad thing to duplicate those you've already notified.

At this point, I'm seeing *my* role in this being someone who notifies of the GRACE report. I don't know if legally speaking I can accuse anyone of anything because for me, it's second hand.

I am seriously considering notifying a lot of churches. I know several around here who support NTMers.

I will keep posted to the forums what I do.

Thank you, Gene. I will definitely be able to use your suggestions!

In emphasizing the cover up, what exactly can I say that is factual and that I can back up if asked?

I strongly agree that it is essential to point out the cover up. The cover up is what grieves my husband and me tremendously. My husband, without ever reading this forum or anything about NTM on the internet said to me the other day, "It's like they're a cult!" So sad and so true.