CAM Molestation Issue

[Josh]

It's very possible this was the case, but if it was, it shows a deep ignorance from their leadership about the nature of pedophilia. It's not just something that you can confess, repent, and be free from. Sexual sins of this nature are rooted deeply in the psychological framework of the individual, how he seems himself/others, how he thinks, etc. This doesn't just change overnight, even if the individual has every desire for it to change.

Putting someone with that history in a place where they have the opportunity to abuse again is horrendously ignorant at best.

This forgive-forget treatment is definitely not extended to seekers who do much lesser offences such as be discouraged with living a plain lifestyle or have a past of drinking, living with a girlfriend, etc.

So I don’t really buy any of this. Blatant pedophilia gets lots of grace and paid missionary positions for 10 years. A sincere seeker who has a typical worldly past would never get this kind of a free pass.

And of that you should be thankful. Giving a sinner a free pass is not being kind to him. It is damning. If we feel our church brothers are too hard on us we can thank them for keeping us accountable and helping us grow.

My point is seekers have incredibly high demands on us to be perfect, have no past, and aren’t really considered for any ministry positions of significant importance.

Contrast that to a self confessed pedophile who then gets married and goes to Haiti for a decade, and abuses lots more children.

And we, as seekers, receive harsh treatment when we speak up about these things. I ended up having to leave my church over choosing not to be silent about issues like this.

[queserasera_2]

My point is seekers have incredibly high demands on us to be perfect, have no past, and aren’t really considered for any ministry positions of significant importance.

Contrast that to a self confessed pedophile who then gets married and goes to Haiti for a decade, and abuses lots more children.

And we, as seekers, receive harsh treatment when we speak up about these things. I ended up having to leave my church over choosing not to be silent about issues like this.

Josh, I think you need to take a breather. Not every seeker has the same experience you did. One of our "seekers" who was a drug dealer is now ordained and also working with a confessed molester for accountability.

[RZehr]

Will Rodenhuis has zero Anabaptist family background and is a member and served in Haiti as a missionary and director as well as fulfilling many other church roles.

[temporal1]

Hats Off:
That which has been the accepted standard in the past is no longer acceptable (and never should have been!) Surely, surely, the time has come for new standards.
In another thread, AnthonyMartin asked what have Anabaptists brought to masculinity - based on these related threads, we might say "shame." But it isn't just Anabaptist men -

it seems to be a wide spread problem that seems to have been somewhat better addressed in the secular world than in the religious communities.

i agree, up to the arrow.

the secular world does things differently, but, i do not see “better.”
one HORRIBLE thing that’s in HORRIBLE process is, instead of learning to identify and address crimes+sins, “the world” is now convinced that de-criminalizing and normalizing crimes and sins is the way to go. it’s repulsive. i am not exaggerating. organized groups lobby to normalize pedophilia. not just pedophilia.

look. it’s much easier to remove legal labels of crime than to authentically reduce crime.
law schools teach this stuff. a signature on a bill, and, voila’, no more criminals! - it’s now legal. “look how smart we are.”

100% agreed. much needs to be learned.
but, defaulting to others who aren’t better, is a hazard on that path.

[temporal1]

Thank you for replying RZehr.

My intent and reasoning in asking is trying to understand the thought process of people within the CA culture. I'm confused how if anyone knew about even past offenses and his repentance was even indeed genuine why he would be placed in such a position of temptation? I want to hope this doesn't normally happen.

To me the fact that he was even sent out as a missionary is so troubling.

It has an affect hugely on my family, with me seeking out fellowship with CA's. I want to hope that if when such sin happens that the accountability continues and repentance doesn't just become a similar to some Evangelicals "once saved always saved" license to sin.

I can really understand your concern Wade. You have children to protect. This has left me with the same questions you have, but my children are grown and so no longer would be protecting them from harm a concern-
but if they were still in our home- this would cause me to really question if I would be placing my children in harms way in a fellowship that seems to assume repentance means that it's now okay to put a repentant sinner in a place where he can be tempted again.

That shows complete lack of wisdom, discernment, and frankly a lack of understanding
how the enemy of our soul works- and there are Scriptures that indicate you would NOT place a person back in a tempting situation!
This should have been obvious-
but I don't want to assume that all CA churches would make the same mistake.

Having served in a ministry involving people who are overcoming 'strongholds' (addictions, weaknesses, SINS) we ALWAYS stressed that they needed to avoid ANY situation or surrounding that could possibly set them up for failure- because the enemy of our soul knows our weaknesses and as the Word of God says- a dog will return to his vomit.
This should be obvious to anyone in leadership dealing with a repentant sinner of these deeply evil sins that harm so many- some for life.

Valerie, you must not yet have grandchildren.
i so looked forward to being a grandmother! my mother and mil delighted in their roles.
the glorious part of life. the reward for all that work of parenting!

Today’s reality is (all of that ^^^) ..but, a whole lot added to that.

To begin, sadness and worries about what your children are facing as adults and parents that did not exist before. The scale of it! Parents today have no rest. i am so sorry for this.

Their children are primary, stated, formal targets of evil. This, socially, and, pressured in government.
i know you know. Evil is fighting hard for control of everyone’s children’s minds.

i pray for parents to have clarity. to be guided and protected by the Holy Spirit.

[Dan Z]

From what I have learned, I think it would be safe to say that "only a few" in CAM knew.

Dan, without going into details I can’t share, this is simply not true.

I was advised to drop the issue and not become a “crusader” and to focus on issues in my home church closer to me. I did exactly that, too.

This is helpful Josh. I should say that I don’t know the Holmes County side of the story very well at all. I’m sad you were told what you were told.

[Grace]

Grace, when Trudy has found that something she said in a blog post wasn't completely accurate she has gone back and corrected it. She has also repeatedly said that she has verification of some things that she can't currently share with the public. I've read all of your posts and it kind of feels like you are deliberately trying to pick apart everything Trudy has said or done in order to find some fault with it. You seem to agree that there should be consequences for Jeriah's actions and that those in CAM who knew should also face the consequences of their actions. It would appear that your grievance is because it was Trudy Metzger who brought this to light.

I have no grievance against Trudy. We need to remember that God is in control, and this story would have come out no matter what. Is it the responsibility of an ex-Mennonite to inform the world when practicing Mennonites are involved in misconduct? Possibly. We know she has assumed that role, and sometimes I sense a spirit of glorying in that . If that is the case, God is fully capable of dealing with her heart. God is also fully capable of dealing with Jeriah Mast, His church leaders, and those in CAM who knew, with or without Trudy's help.

I have purchased her life story book, in hopes to understand where she is coming from.

[hillperson]

Grace, when Trudy has found that something she said in a blog post wasn't completely accurate she has gone back and corrected it. She has also repeatedly said that she has verification of some things that she can't currently share with the public. I've read all of your posts and it kind of feels like you are deliberately trying to pick apart everything Trudy has said or done in order to find some fault with it. You seem to agree that there should be consequences for Jeriah's actions and that those in CAM who knew should also face the consequences of their actions. It would appear that your grievance is because it was Trudy Metzger who brought this to light.

I have no grievance against Trudy. We need to remember that God is in control, and this story would have come out no matter what. Is it the responsibility of an ex-Mennonite to inform the world when practicing Mennonites are involved in misconduct? Possibly. We know she has assumed that role, and sometimes I sense a spirit of glorying in that . If that is the case, God is fully capable of dealing with her heart. God is also fully capable of dealing with Jeriah Mast, His church leaders, and those in CAM who knew, with or without Trudy's help.

I have purchased her life story book, in hopes to understand where she is coming from.

Trudy is a friend of my. In her words her mission is to give a voice to the trodden down and abused, who have no voice. And she is accomplishing that.

Is she at times overzealous...... maybe. I tend to think she is at times.

With this case with Jeriah she helped to blow it wide open. In doing that she is protecting young boys from his vile acts. She is also giving him a chance to repent and perhaps helping to change his destiny. The mission boards around Jeriah do not have a good track record of putting accountability in his life.....

Whether you like her methods or not it was high time something was done. Like Jazman said I just can’t believe they sent him back and thought he was fixed....

[Aurien]

Grace, when Trudy has found that something she said in a blog post wasn't completely accurate she has gone back and corrected it. She has also repeatedly said that she has verification of some things that she can't currently share with the public. I've read all of your posts and it kind of feels like you are deliberately trying to pick apart everything Trudy has said or done in order to find some fault with it. You seem to agree that there should be consequences for Jeriah's actions and that those in CAM who knew should also face the consequences of their actions. It would appear that your grievance is because it was Trudy Metzger who brought this to light.

I have no grievance against Trudy. We need to remember that God is in control, and this story would have come out no matter what. Is it the responsibility of an ex-Mennonite to inform the world when practicing Mennonites are involved in misconduct? Possibly. We know she has assumed that role, and sometimes I sense a spirit of glorying in that . If that is the case, God is fully capable of dealing with her heart. God is also fully capable of dealing with Jeriah Mast, His church leaders, and those in CAM who knew, with or without Trudy's help.

I have purchased her life story book, in hopes to understand where she is coming from.

Is it the responsibility of an ex Mennonite to inform the world? She would not have had to take on that responsibility if practicing Mennonites had not covered it over. She stated several times that she gave CAM time to do the right thing but when she saw no action being taken she thought it was best that this be exposed and not swept under the rug like so many other cases.
I'm curious. Do you ever go by the username Marigrace?

[Aurien]

Grace, when Trudy has found that something she said in a blog post wasn't completely accurate she has gone back and corrected it. She has also repeatedly said that she has verification of some things that she can't currently share with the public. I've read all of your posts and it kind of feels like you are deliberately trying to pick apart everything Trudy has said or done in order to find some fault with it. You seem to agree that there should be consequences for Jeriah's actions and that those in CAM who knew should also face the consequences of their actions. It would appear that your grievance is because it was Trudy Metzger who brought this to light.

I have no grievance against Trudy. We need to remember that God is in control, and this story would have come out no matter what. Is it the responsibility of an ex-Mennonite to inform the world when practicing Mennonites are involved in misconduct? Possibly. We know she has assumed that role, and sometimes I sense a spirit of glorying in that . If that is the case, God is fully capable of dealing with her heart. God is also fully capable of dealing with Jeriah Mast, His church leaders, and those in CAM who knew, with or without Trudy's help.

I have purchased her life story book, in hopes to understand where she is coming from.

Trudy is a friend of my. In her words her mission is to give a voice to the trodden down and abused, who have no voice. And she is accomplishing that.

Is she at times overzealous...... maybe. I tend to think she is at times.

With this case with Jeriah she helped to blow it wide open. In doing that she is protecting young boys from his vile acts. She is also giving him a chance to repent and perhaps helping to change his destiny. The mission boards around Jeriah do not have a good track record of putting accountability in his life.....

Whether you like her methods or not it was high time something was done. Like Jazman said I just can’t believe they sent him back and thought he was fixed....

I agree that it's past time for something to be done. This particular story of sexual abuse is not an isolated incident. There are way too many cases of sexual abuse in Anabaptist circles that are covered up.
I don't really see Trudy as extremely overzealous but maybe that's because I agree with a lot of her ways of getting things done. I think we can politely agree to disagree on this point though and agree that it's time to stop protecting abuser. Whether they abuse abuse adults or children and whether they abuse physically or sexually.