FAST Day 20/40--Healing the Broken Body

Healing the Broken Body
Lessons from the Professional Review

"Review and learn from what happened,
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
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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

For if they do these things when the tree is green,
what will happen when it is dry?
 Luke 23:31

Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer…
Luke 24:46

Jesus Christ
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Following Jesus to Confront Corruption

Take a Stand--Speak Out--Live in Integrity
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

"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)

NCI Summary

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.

YWAM Summary

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.

Member Care 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.

Le Rucher Summary

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

...the body belongs to Christ
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)

”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)

“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

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

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.

--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)