MK forum

This may have been posted previously, but I just came across a petition started on change.org by MKsafety net. It only has 5 signatures so far.

Here is the link:

http://www.change.org/en-CA/organizations/mk_safety_net

I thought you all might be interested, forgive me if this is old news.

Thank you for finding this, eyesopened! I am glad you are keeping your eyes open!

I didn't know this petition was still on the MKSN website. The wording of it is misleading, so I thought it had been removed for re-wording.

Gary Earl has not been terminated from NTM. He has resigned.

Dreamwords posted this on April 2:

From: Brian Coombs <brian_coombs@ntm.org>
Date: Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 4:14 PM
Subject: info

Lori,

I am writing to let you know that we have forced Gary to resign upon further review of our policy. We have been told that Gary will be leaving the PNG Field shortly.

Brian Coombs
Director of Personnel
New Tribes Mission
brian_coombs@ntm.org


I believe this is the last word on Gary Earl's status with NTM.

Resigned. Not terminated. Not dismissed.

Resigned.

So he was allowed to resign, we were terminated from ABWE for insubordination because we dared disagree with ABWE. Seems you can commit abuse and be allowed to resign but don't you dare disagree with the mission. Most of the churches turned their back on us. Now my husband asks to have his name eliminated from the 8 unnamed abusers that were either dead, retired, resigned or terminated and we are ignored. Will the supporting churches ever wake up? Doubt it. Full stop

He would still be in NTM, if it weren't for pressure being bravely applied. This procedure has been going on for decades. Missionaries who do not tow the theological line or do not fit the mission ideal profile are forced out, yet known sex offenders, as long as they spout the mission mantas are allowed to stay.
And missions who do this wonder why they are being labelled Cults. Very simple, it is what a lot of Cults do. They want absolute control and obedience, if they don't get it, then one is dealt with or labelled e.t.c.

Bemused, I'm certainly not intending to be the grammar police, but I found your statement "... Missionaries who do not tow the theological line ..." set me to thinking. It is one thing to toe the line (i.e. abide by the guidelines), it is quite another to tow the line (i.e. help maintain and propagate a line of thought).

Interesting comparison, interesting ramifications ...

Again to quote you, " They want ... obedience, if they don't get it, then one is ... labelled e.t.c." I think I've been labeled e.t.c. at times; and it stood for "extra troublesome candidate."

Someone hit "submit" too early... Anyway, there are still some for whom non-conformity seems to be a mortal sin, but in my experience most NTM have moved beyond that thinking. My big mouth still gets me in trouble at times, but it has been years since it was potentially terminal. However as I hear stories from specific fields, I realize that my experience is not the reality that many still live.

Oh cool, non-conformity is no longer a mortal sin, where do I sign up?

Don't worry Paul, if you fall outski for being outspokenski, you can always find a refuge here. We're a rag tag bunch of misfits anyway. Just watch out for the Upsideski Downski MKs from Downunder, some of them are pretty dodgey .

I get this, Paul . . .it seems that you've been where you are for at least a couple of years, right? You probably had a month or two at the beginning there, where you and the people around you were trying to get to know each other . . .you put out feelers, listened for flaws in judgement, got to know in/outs of relationships. That was the danger time when your self-described "big mouth" might have gotten you in trouble. But after you've been with a group of people through a crisis, a holiday, some awkward moments, then we all make allowances for each other. Everyone who really knows me would never consider bringing up certain subjects (like woman in the church.). It's really a kindness for us both.

Here are some ways to test out your theory of NTM being a place for free spirits: oh, you didn't say that? Sorry, my mistake .

1). Bring a beloved, free-spirited friend down to do a project. See what kind of assessment they do on her spirituality.

2). Go really out of your comfort zone on a social project

3). Bring along a LGTBI friend

4). You get the point . . .

Still friends?