CAM Molestation Issue

[Ken]

But as strange as the post seems, I do hope that CAM isn’t dropping the ball again.

We're at this two years now. I've said this a dozen times before here on MN... when this all broke I had hoped that this situation would have woken up the conservative circles to abuse. A handful of groups that I am familiar with "rode the wave" for a while. Until it was put to the test... victims came forward... and then were all manner of excuses as to why things couldn't be pursued.

Like RZehr, I'm just an onlooker here. But the question I would ask is whether or not the set of circumstances that led to this horror (lax supervision, attitudes, mindsets, etc.) have been corrected or not. Is CAM now "fixed" or are we just biding our time until the next scandal erupts in 5 or 10 years because nothing was fundamentally changed?

Personally I don't have the slightest idea what the answer is. But that is the question I would be asking.

[steve-in-kville]

Personally I don't have the slightest idea what the answer is. But that is the question I would be asking.

That's an Ernie question.

Coming from a corporate environment, it doesn't work to shuffle management around and give them different roles and different titles. My employer has down this a few times and it never fixed anything. It wasn't until the owners of the company actually came out in the "field" and saw the attitude among us "working class."

[RZehr]

But as strange as the post seems, I do hope that CAM isn’t dropping the ball again.

We're at this two years now. I've said this a dozen times before here on MN... when this all broke I had hoped that this situation would have woken up the conservative circles to abuse. A handful of groups that I am familiar with "rode the wave" for a while. Until it was put to the test... victims came forward... and then were all manner of excuses as to why things couldn't be pursued.

Like RZehr, I'm just an onlooker here. But the question I would ask is whether or not the set of circumstances that led to this horror (lax supervision, attitudes, mindsets, etc.) have been corrected or not. Is CAM now "fixed" or are we just biding our time until the next scandal erupts in 5 or 10 years because nothing was fundamentally changed?

Personally I don't have the slightest idea what the answer is. But that is the question I would be asking.

I have a brother in law who is in Nicaragua right now. I’m not 100% clear about his relationship with CAM, but he is either working for them, or they are funding the clinic, or something. Anyway, I heard at one point that CAM personnel is not allowed to go ANYWHERE alone period. My impression was that this is a policy that came out of the Haiti debacle. However, I understand that my brother in law is in fact permitted to go somewhere alone.

Now I don’t know how much is true here, and how much is more qualified in terms of “alone” and “anywhere” and “because of Haiti”. But nonetheless, it does sound like CAM has made at minimum, an attempt to adjust their operations on the ground in light of Jared Mast.
I wouldn’t know of other policy changes that may have happened. I only heard about this one a few months ago.

Incidentally, this week a family moved to our church who worked for CAM in Haiti for about a year. If he wasn’t there with JMast, it must have been really near that time. Maybe I’ll ask him sometime.

[Ernie]

But as strange as the post seems, I do hope that CAM isn’t dropping the ball again.

We're at this two years now. I've said this a dozen times before here on MN... when this all broke I had hoped that this situation would have woken up the conservative circles to abuse. A handful of groups that I am familiar with "rode the wave" for a while. Until it was put to the test... victims came forward... and then were all manner of excuses as to why things couldn't be pursued.

Like RZehr, I'm just an onlooker here. But the question I would ask is whether or not the set of circumstances that led to this horror (lax supervision, attitudes, mindsets, etc.) have been corrected or not. Is CAM now "fixed" or are we just biding our time until the next scandal erupts in 5 or 10 years because nothing was fundamentally changed?

Personally I don't have the slightest idea what the answer is. But that is the question I would be asking.

That's an Ernie question.

I'm sorry but I can't answer the question either. The ones who hired Jeriah are no longer working for CAM. I'm in mid-level management in a North American department, and our department has always operated on a different accountability platform than what others seem to have had. There have been some new and improved policies, but I can't say what is actually happening in other departments and in other countries as compared to pre 2019.

Regarding the Facebook accusations, I've tracked a few of those down in the past, only to learn that there is another side to the story that is not told online. So I am not inclined to chase down further stories. Recently someone asked if he and his bishop could come visit me, to interview me about how CAM handled the Haiti crisis. This person thinks CAM lied. There are enough details that I was never able to verify, so I didn't think I could help him know if CAM lied. So I declined being interviewed. (This man already met with CAM leaders.) I encouraged him to follow the Matthew 18 route and talk to the individuals that he believes were lying. In my mind, Jesus gives us a path for taking individuals who have sinned into account. That is the only way I know to get to the bottom of situations like this.
For the record, if I was confident that someone in CAM leadership had/has sinned, I would spare no efforts to get to the bottom of it. I would follow the pattern outlined in Matthew 18, all the way to the end. If I would do that, and there was no repentance, the individuals who sinned would be treated as heathens and publicans, not the organization.

[Ernie]

And BTW, a new General Director has been selected by the board, and he will transition into this role over the next year or two.

[Ernie]

Aweful. Just aweful. I'm a little taken back by the use of evangelical mission as a justification for sheltering abusers. I guess the thing you are proudest of is a great area of weakness.

Isn’t that the exact same thing we hear when we ask for accountability from CAM? “Think of all the good they do…”

The two men who allowed Jeriah to go to Haiti were relieved of their jobs soon after the debacle. What more would you like from CAM?

[joshuabgood]

Aweful. Just aweful. I'm a little taken back by the use of evangelical mission as a justification for sheltering abusers. I guess the thing you are proudest of is a great area of weakness.

Isn’t that the exact same thing we hear when we ask for accountability from CAM? “Think of all the good they do…”

The two men who allowed Jeriah to go to Haiti were relieved of their jobs soon after the debacle. What more would you like from CAM?

Since you asked...

An independent investigation. A willingness to retract, or at least correct, the misleading statement/s Randal identified.

[Ken]

Isn’t that the exact same thing we hear when we ask for accountability from CAM? “Think of all the good they do…”

The two men who allowed Jeriah to go to Haiti were relieved of their jobs soon after the debacle. What more would you like from CAM?

Since you asked...

An independent investigation. A willingness to retract, or at least correct, the misleading statement/s Randal identified.

And assurances that they have taken appropriate steps to prevent it from happening again. Such as better screening of mission staff, procedures for dealing with allegations, etc. I expect/hope that has already happened. I just haven't seen it discussed here in detail.

[Ernie]

Isn’t that the exact same thing we hear when we ask for accountability from CAM? “Think of all the good they do…”

The two men who allowed Jeriah to go to Haiti were relieved of their jobs soon after the debacle. What more would you like from CAM?

Since you asked...
An independent investigation. A willingness to retract, or at least correct, the misleading statement/s Randal identified.

I don't know that an independent investigation will happen. It was suggested by different people.
I pursued the "misleading statement" far enough to satisfy my concerns, but I understand others are who are still not satisfied.

[Ernie]

The two men who allowed Jeriah to go to Haiti were relieved of their jobs soon after the debacle. What more would you like from CAM?

Since you asked...
An independent investigation. A willingness to retract, or at least correct, the misleading statement/s Randal identified.

And assurances that they have taken appropriate steps to prevent it from happening again. Such as better screening of mission staff, procedures for dealing with allegations, etc. I expect/hope that has already happened. I just haven't seen it discussed here in detail.

I have asked enough questions regarding these matters to satisfy most of my concerns. I recommended that a report be generated and made public. That has not happened yet. This is good incentive for me to request this again.