Are they trustworthy?

One of the key areas Collateral Damage 360 has focused on is trustworthiness. Trustworthiness is vital when hundreds of children are in the care of Ethnos360/New Tribes Mission. If they’re asking people to trust them with the lives and well-being of children, they need to have a track record of integrity. This isn’t arbitrary. It’s demonstrable.

Collateral Damage 360 is building a record, compiling documentation and firsthand accounts of the actions and consequences of Ethnos360/New Tribes Mission leadership. Each missionary, church, and supporter gets to decide for themselves if Ethnos360 is trustworthy, but that decision should be based on more than marketing. Can you look into the eyes of MKs harmed by this organization – given little to no help, support, and recourse – and feel confident in your conclusion, in the system you’re enabling? This is a Christian organization that claims to represent Christ and good news to the world, but MKs are saying their actions represent something altogether opposed to that image. Who would know better than the children?

Ethnos360 leaders say nice words like, “As a Christian organization that uses the word of God as our final authority, we have a higher standard for the treatment of children than that of the legal definition of abuse.” Brian Shortmeier said this, the former NTM USA director of child safety. That would sound great if he didn’t also compare abuse to stealing a cookie, imply children who were abused were partially in the wrong, refuse to investigate/respond to child abuse in PNG that ultimately resulted in 40+ children being harmed, act like people were exaggerating about the necessary consequences for a multi-offending abuser (his colleague), and interact with an abuse investigation’s panel dishonestly and manipulatively. And that isn't taking into account the actions of the other Ethnos360 leaders, including innumerable allegations of failing to report as mandated reporters. Does that sound like a higher standard?

Actions matter more than words, and the more that MKs speak up, the more the integrity of this organization is called into question. When you join their organization, when you send money to their missionaries, when you share their marketing material, you are basing it on the conclusion you’ve come to about the trustworthiness of Ethnos360. How much information do you need to determine they lack the integrity to earn that trust?