Healing the Broken Body
Lessons from the Professional Review
Lessons from the Professional Review
"Review and learn from what happened,
support good practice, and restore relationships." (p. 113)
support good practice, and restore relationships." (p. 113)
“These are the things you are to do:
Speak the truth to each other and render true and sound judgment in your
courts; do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear
falsely. I hate all this,” declares the Lord…Therefore love
truth and peace.” Zechariah 8:16,19
.
.
Antonello da Messina, circa 1486
This is My body which is given for you...
Luke 22:19
Satan has demanded permission to sift all
of you like wheat…
Luke 22:31
Luke 22:31
For if they do these things when
the tree is green,
what will happen when it is dry?
Luke 23:31
what will happen when it is dry?
Luke 23:31
Thus it is written, that the Christ
would suffer…
Luke 24:46
Jesus Christ
---------
Luke 24:46
Jesus Christ
---------
Following
Jesus to Confront Corruption
Take a
Stand--Speak Out--Live in Integrity
Pod-Post 7
Listen to the podcast here.
#integrityFAST #CMCtoo #HealUsToo
Pod-Post 7
Listen to the podcast here.
#integrityFAST #CMCtoo #HealUsToo
Warm greetings!
A reminder of the purpose of my Into Integrity FAST. It is to call attention to--and confront--the lack of disclosures by specific organizations/leaders/people affected by the international Nordic Capital Investment KB fraud (NCI) as well as the related dismissals that Michele (my wife) and I have received. I am fasting for genuine contrition and striking for resolute action within the Church Mission Community (CMC).
Reflections on FAST Day
20
(combined food FAst
and hunger Strike)
In this seventh pod-post, the final one in the first
half of the 40 day FAST, I want to bring our attention to Rand Gueberts’ Professional
Review which is posted on the Loving
Truth and Peace weblog. Below are verbatim excerpts from the overview/purpose
on the weblog. I also strongly encourage you to carefully read and consider the
conclusions in the Integrated
Summary (two pages) as well as the summaries of any of the four main sections of interest to
you (excerpts below also).
Professional Review
Overview and Purpose for Sharing It
Overview and Purpose for Sharing It
"This review [investigates] several overlapping matters that have affected the mission, member care, and church community...[and] aspires to promote transparency, accountability, good practice, and healthy relationships." (Proposal, p. 112)
"This professional review has been organized
to draw together the various events that have led to the dismissal of Drs.
Kelly and Michele O’Donnell from YWAM [and other organizations/networks] and to
the potential loss of millions of dollars by investors in Nordic Capital
Investments (NCI) and Stichting Dutch Investments (SDI). Many of these
events are related and overlap, and this review attempts to place them in
context." p.1
We are sharing this review now with the support of
many colleagues in hopes that the international Church-Mission Community (CMC)
and general public will get a better understanding of the widespread and
ongoing reality of corruption--outside as well as inside the CMC. Corruption is
far more than financial crime, since it also includes many other abuses of
power and exploitation, such as sexual misconduct, cover-ups, silencing
others, and leadership/group rationalizations. We hope that this review will
encourage the CMC and general public to hold their leaders accountable--and
themselves--for the good governance, responsible management, and personal
integrity needed to prevent corruption and bring corruption into the light.
More specifically, we also hope there will be a far more accurate understanding of the NCI et al. fraud, including what has contributed to obscure it and cover it up, and the heavy price paid by many people confronting it, especially within the CMC (e.g., discrediting, dismissals, physical danger). There is much to learn from this protracted case of corruption and the largely unanswered calls for assistance via verifiable disclosures and independent reviews. In spite of the long-term and ongoing damage, the time is still opportune for people to reverse course and act with integrity. As stated in the concluding paragraph of the Integrated Executive Summary:
"YWAM and other groups are only being challenged now because of the integrity and perseverance of the O’Donnells and those who have stood by them in these last difficult years. The need for accountability and restitution in varying degrees clearly lies with YWAM, Le Rucher, WEA-MC, MC-E and involved churches [Youth With A Mission, Le Rucher Ministries, World Evangelical Alliance-Mission Commission, Crossroads Church etc.]. In authoritarian settings nearly everyone is too vulnerable to stand up to the power of the leaders—staff have limited rights and limited resources on which to rely. The time has come for the truth to be known and justice to prevail, without which there can be no proper basis for organizational health and reconciliation. For everyone involved it is not too late to act with integrity and seek redress, both publicly and privately."
Keep in mind that Mr. Guebert conducted his 2008
initial investigation without the benefit of the 3000+ pages of documents
released in 2010 by the Swedish government--focusing on the NCI fraud case. The
Swedish documents fill in many of the details about how NCI operated and who
was affected; provide a context for why fear, cover ups and dismissals could be
so widespread in the CMC; and by and large confirm the concerns and conclusions
in the initial investigation. Additional organizations have also been approached
for assistance, for example to investigate how they (and their members or
member organizations) have been affected, share information, and hold people
accountable in light of good practice standards, but to little avail.
For an updated summary regarding NCI and related events (e.g., court cases, requests for assistance, lack of disclosures), we encourage you to read The Summary and Summons in Part Two in the recent entries on the PETRA People weblog: Healing the Body--Loving Truth and Peace.
Professional Review
Conclusions from Section Summaries (excerpts)
Conclusions from Section Summaries (excerpts)
YWAM has
important issues to address related to corporate governance, financial
accountability, and staff management. YWAM needs to demonstrate to
itself that it is able to care for itself as an organization and not be
victimized by authoritarian and deceptive leaders.
In conclusion,
the record does not indicate any justifiable grounds for Kelly’s
dismissal. On the contrary, the O’Donnells have done their best to
act with integrity and perseverance. Their letters to Iain Muir were
written carefully and respectfully, and provide ample evidence to substantiate
their commitment to good practice and good relationships. YWAM should arrange
for an independent review of the circumstances leading to the O’Donnells
dismissal, and for acknowledgment of the results of this review and any
restitution that might be required. YWAM leadership should also
review other recommendations made in this Executive Summary.
Opportunities should be sought for the O’Donnells to reconnect
with individuals in MC-E, the MemCa LT, and the WEA-MC EXCO, and to take the
time necessary to exchange perspectives and clearly understand what happened…..Also,
the dismissal of the O’Donnells from MC-E…in July 2006 and of Kelly from MemCa
in June 2006 does not seem to be at all warranted… the O’Donnells have
attempted to reach out to their former colleagues in order to meet with them
since the events of 2006, but without success—perhaps the day is soon coming
when this will occur.
YWAM and the Le Rucher Board, past and present, should accept
responsibility for their relationship to Le Rucher, and not only recognize the
people who have been hurt, but take steps to ensure that harm does not come to
others. Former staff will find healing when YWAM and the LR
Board accept their parts in the sad events associated with Le Rucher.
Take Aways—Heal the Body!
…you are the body of Christ
I Corinthians 12:27
I Corinthians 12:27
...the body belongs to Christ
Colossians 2:17
Colossians 2:17
I encourage us all to consider the key messages in the Professional Review as well as in all seven pod-posts. This is especially true for many colleagues and
people related to the protracted NCI fraud and the ongoing, inadequate responses as well as the dismissals. I yearn to see the broken Body of Christ healed. The brokenness is not going away without walking in the light. Who has
the moral courage to change course and do what is right?
"Review and learn from what
happened,
support good practice, and restore relationships."
(Professional Review, p. 113)
support good practice, and restore relationships."
(Professional Review, p. 113)
”The time has come for the truth to be
known and justice to prevail, without which there can be no proper basis for
organizational health and reconciliation. For everyone involved it is not
too late to act with integrity and seek redress, both publicly and
privately."
(Professional Review, Overview)
(Professional Review, Overview)
“These are the things you are to do:
Speak the truth to each other and render true and sound judgment in your
courts; do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear
falsely. I hate all this,” declares the Lord…Therefore love
truth and peace.”
Zechariah 8:16,19
Zechariah 8:16,19
Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support. My
prayers and voice will continue on behalf of specific leaders,
people, and organizations in the Church-Mission Community--for genuine
contrition and resolute action. I will be sharing periodically over the
next few months en route to part two of the Into Integrity FAST (to start around the time
of the UN's International Anti-Corruption Day, 9 December).
Take a stand, Speak out. Live in integrity
And spread the word.
Kelly
And spread the word.
Kelly
Notes
I am doing the Into Integrity FAST in the spirit of the consecrated fast and repentance called for by the prophet Joel (Joel 1:14). And I am doing it in line with the concerns and requests in the Shine the Light-Together petition and by its signatories.
--Integrity is moral
wholeness—living consistently in moral wholeness. Corruption is
moral rottenness, the opposite of integrity--the distortion, perversion, and
deterioration of moral goodness, resulting in the exploitation of people.
--For information/updates on NCI and anti-corruption resources, see the latest postings from the PETRA People Network.
--For information/updates on NCI and anti-corruption resources, see the latest postings from the PETRA People Network.
--A Summons to a Global Integrity Movement: Fighting Self-Deception and Corruption, our article in the Lausanne Global Analysis, March 2018. "In this article we distill some of the lessons we have learned over the past 15 years in promoting integrity and confronting corruption. Why is it hard to live up to our moral and ethical aspirations? We reflect on the reality of dysfunction and deviance, highlight the challenge of self-deception, describe anti-corruption resources, and summon the church-mission community (CMC) to a global integrity movement marked by righteousness and relevance."
--Jesus' words in Luke 6: 17-49 and Mathew 10: 16-42 (The Message) have been so helpful to me, providing instructions, warnings, perspectives, and motive checks especially about hypocrisy. Some excerpts:
"Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public now. Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands. (Matthew 10:26-28). Your task is to be true, not popular….It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds” (Luke 6:26,45)
