In the Name of “Mission Work” book about CAM/Mast

[steve-in-kville]

My gut tells me we have a character assassination attempt. I'll give this individual time to explain herself themselves.

[Grace]

My gut tells me we have a character assassination attempt. I'll give this individual time to explain herself themselves.

Oh my, is it me ?

[steve-in-kville]

My gut tells me we have a character assassination attempt. I'll give this individual time to explain herself themselves.

Oh my, is it me ?

No, no. The one going after Ernest right out of the gate.

I was just given the "supper is ready" signal, so I am most likely signing off for the day. Catch you in the morning.

[Ken]

Seems like the simple rule that is at play here is this: If you don't want to be mentioned in a news article or book, don't do things that will get you mentioned in a news article or book.

I think a lot of Mennos are used to being gatekeepers of information within their own communities. Both actively as well as passively. I'm not just talking about conservatives, MCUSA does the same thing. Witness the endless coverups relating to John Howard Yoder. And when information gets out in ways that they do not control there is a lot of consternation and lot moralizing about how "some things are better left unsaid, we need to move on". And there is a lot of kicking the can down the road with endless process that is always confidential and usually never sees the light of day. This is just one of many examples of that sort of thing.

[Grace]

Seems like the simple rule that is at play here is this: If you don't want to be mentioned in a news article or book, don't do things that will get you mentioned in a news article or book.

I think a lot of Mennos are used to being gatekeepers of information within their own communities. Both actively as well as passively. I'm not just talking about conservatives, MCUSA does the same thing. Witness the endless coverups relating to John Howard Yoder. And when information gets out in ways that they do not control there is a lot of consternation and lot moralizing about how "some things are better left unsaid, we need to move on". And there is a lot of kicking the can down the road with endless process that is always confidential and usually never sees the light of day. This is just one of many examples of that sort of thing.

I think this is a response to a post I made several pages back. Did you read the book? What happened to Doeurldy Cadet and the other Haitian boys was horrific and terrible. Add to that CAM handled the situation all wrong IMO.

I know I will get criticized for this. But does a very unfortunate happening and situation, such as sexual abuse, merit trashing a whole organization and all it's people, many who had nothing to do with Jeriah's evil deeds and CAM's mishandling the situation. Some of Cadet's accusations do have merit, but there is far to much airing of discontent, grievances and complaints against his Pastor Dad, Pastor Daner, the church, CAM, Anabaptist missionaries, etc.

[Ken]

Seems like the simple rule that is at play here is this: If you don't want to be mentioned in a news article or book, don't do things that will get you mentioned in a news article or book.

I think a lot of Mennos are used to being gatekeepers of information within their own communities. Both actively as well as passively. I'm not just talking about conservatives, MCUSA does the same thing. Witness the endless coverups relating to John Howard Yoder. And when information gets out in ways that they do not control there is a lot of consternation and lot moralizing about how "some things are better left unsaid, we need to move on". And there is a lot of kicking the can down the road with endless process that is always confidential and usually never sees the light of day. This is just one of many examples of that sort of thing.

I think this is a response to a post I made several pages back. Did you read the book?

yes. Much of the book actually echoes the point I made above.

[joshuabgood]

Is there any evidence that suggests the author's thoughts are not his own? If that claim is made it sort of demands evidence...otherwise it feels prejudicial. Which then begs the question of why are aspersions being cast?

This book actually is a piece of the story of what actually happened. CAMs documents, also likely edited btw by attorneys et al, represent one perspective and this book represents another perspective. And if one actually wants to understand the big picture of what happened, in the absence of compelling evidence that the author's thoughts are not his own, this perspective should be read and very thoughtfully considered. At least equally to CAMs narrative of what occurred...and possibly with more weight as it represents the victim's voice and not the institution which bears some culpability.

If one doesn't hear the victim voices, the truth is they probably aren't aware of what actually happened and what underlying social structures enabled it.

One path would be for us in the CA world to thoughtfully consider the impact of mission models we use, and existing mental models, and thank the author for reflecting his experiences for us to consider.

[pburk]

I heard that this was indeed the case. Randal says the statement is false. So I guess the jury is out on this one.
I have no horse in this race and will be glad to learn if there was "not a multitude of individuals and almost daily emails". I will also be glad to learn whether any opinions and insinuations in the book (apart from the known atrocities) are indeed from the author.

My goal in life is to not form a conclusion until I have heard the whole matter, and to keep compiling information until then.

I'm all for transparency and holding organizations accountable.

It is fascinating to see the modus operandi here... Shift the focus off the facts to undermining the credibility of the author. Oh that's right, I almost forgot you haven't even read the book yet. Fascinating, having a life goal of not forming conclusions until hearing the whole matter, and jumping in to a discussion like this without having read the book or having a horse in this race. But wouldn't working for CAM be considered a horse in this race? If this is the Ernest I think it is, you either used to or still do work for CAM. Come on, no horse in this race? This response is aimed to turn the spotlight back where it needs to be. Unless you can, with imperical and unarguable evidence, prove that the statements you made regarding this author are true ( which I'm fairly certain you will not be able to do honestly), then you are now re-victimizing this victim telling their story and defaming them as a person. It is more of the same. Until you apologize and begin turning the spotlight where it needs to be, what else can we believe from you? Or from CAM?

Do you know Ernie?

Well, I too was a bit surprised at Ernie's initial thoughts on this matter. Wouldn't you first read the book before posting your reviews? I also thought of how Ernie and some of his family is invested in CAM and hoped that wasn't a factor. I felt it was a bit misleading to say that he didn't have a horse in this race. I've always had great respect for Ernie especially regarding his interactions on MN. Perhaps there is something I'm missing in all this but my thoughts somewhat mirrored that of "Just thinking".

Gary, if you click on Ernie's profile there is a link to his website. That should clear up any confusion about who he is.

Steve-in-kville IMO your gut is wrong on this one!

Think about it. Atrocities clearly happened. CAM failed on many levels. There's no debating that. I'm not sure why anyone would want to downplay what happened.

[GaryK]

Gary, if you click on Ernie's profile there is a link to his website. That should clear up any confusion about who he is.

After interacting with Ernie for the last 12-15 years and being on the Church Planter's Forum committee with him for 6 years, I'm pretty sure I know who he is.

[joshuabgood]

Analysis by my former pastor from FJMC...written publicly online and quoted here.

I ordered it a few days back through another referral. Started reading it late evening and couldn't put it down. It makes me hurt inside to think of what he and others have suffered. And some of the twisting of Scripture that the CAM representatives did after 2019 is deeply troubling. Switch Matthew 18 around and make it sound like the ones who break a "scandal" are the ones who should have the millstone hung around the neck?

I think he exposes some of the underlying systemic problems of cultural superiority that can be present in "mission" settings. Sadly, as I read this book I believe that the main abuser is not the only culpable person in this terrible tragedy. The church in Ohio where he was from knew of past abuse, the ones in CAM administration who knew of the 2011 report and who knows what they did about it, the ones who tried to pay the hush money to the victims at garage sale prices.... Dear Lord, have mercy.

For some reason, I find that there is often an unrealistically high expectation within Conservative Anabaptist communities that, with a prayer and an apology, predators will reform their ways and "the Law" need not get involved. One thing that's so ironic about this case is that when the organization most needed to "go to the foot of the cross" and be broken about the tragedy, they lawyered up and doctored all their statements in an effort to mitigate culpability and try to sanitize any notion of liability.

I believe the author of this book was right to write it. And his call to CAM to practice what they teach in their discipleship program about repentance, brokenness, restitution. Very thought provoking.