Speaking Up (June-July 2016)

"Double Lives"

"Moral Disengagement"

This entry continues the call to the international church-mission community (CMC) to practice the highest standards of transparency and accountability. It calls upon people to acknowledge their own propensity for acting deceptively (corruption) as well as their own capacity for acting truthfully (integrity). It also calls upon people to rally behind the current governmental-civil society efforts to confront and halt corruption, such as the recent Global Declaration Against Corruption (Anti-Corruption Summit, London 2016). Here is a summary excerpt:

“Corruption is at the heart of so many of the world’s problems. We must overcome it, if our efforts to end poverty, promote prosperity and defeat terrorism and extremism are to succeed. Today’s Summit has demonstrated the deep commitment of a significant number of countries, businesses and members of civil society to work together to tackle this scourge. To do this we will build on and implement existing international agreements – but also go much further, making this a top priority at home and abroad and building capacity to tackle the problem. We commit to expose corruption wherever it is found, to pursue and punish those who perpetrate, facilitate or are complicit in it, to support the communities who have suffered from it, and to ensure it does not fester in our government institutions, businesses and communities. We will fulfil our shared commitment to ‘substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms’ [as stated in Sustainable Development Goal 16]. “

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New Resources

Pope Francis: The Name of God is Mercy (2016).

"Corruption is the sin which, rather than being recognized as such and rendering us humble, is elevated to a system; it becomes a mental habit, a way of living. We no longer feel the need for forgiveness and mercy, but we justify ourselves and our behaviors. Jesus says to his disciples: Even if your brother offends you seven times a day, and seven times a day he returns to you to ask for forgiveness, forgive him. The repentant sinner, who sins again and again because of his weakness, will find forgiveness if he acknowledges his need for mercy. The corrupt man is the one who sins but does not repent, who sins and pretends to be Christian, and it is this double life that is scandalous. The corrupt man does not know humility, he does not consider himself in need of help, he leads a double life."(excerpt from chapter 7: "Sinners Yes, Corrupt No";  p. 77).

Albert Bandura: Moral Disengagement: How People do Harm and Live with Themselves (2016).

“How do otherwise considerate human beings do cruel things and still live in peace with themselves?...They do so by sanctifying their harmful behavior as serving worthy causes; they absolve themselves of blame for the harm they cause by displacement and diffusion of responsibility; they minimize or deny the harmful effects of their actions; and they dehumanize those they maltreat and blame them for bringing the suffering on themselves. (excerpt from Amazon website). Click HERE for a book review from PsycCRITIQUES (APA). “For me, it would be hard to find a book of more contemporary relevance…if we are seriously committed to understanding the confusing world in which we live. If you read it and find you better understand how other people can do such bad things and lived with them, you will have profited from the book. But if you read it and find as well that you better understand how you have done some bad things and lived with what you have done, you will truly understand the message of the book.” (excerpt from book review)

NCI Update

The NCI KB fraud is not over. It is not forgotten. It is not going away.

People are still being defrauded--by the complicity of silence.

The church-mission community is shamed. (2 Cor. 4:2)
God's name is blasphemed. (Rms. 2:24)

If there is nothing to hide, then we can speak up. Demonstrate it. 

If something is being hidden, then we can speak up. Disclose it. 

 Walk as children of light.  (Eph. 5: 8)

We are not aware of any further action undertaken by organizations to investigate and disclose how they may have been affected by NCI. Click here to see the latest update of the paper trail: (August 2014--current).

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It has been nearly nine years since the NCI fraud began to be publically confronted (2007). It has also been nearly 20 months since four of the organizations included in the Shine the Light-Together petition and several of their leaders were formally presented with the petition. Leaders in Youth With a Mission, Mercy Ships, Youth For Christ, and Crossroads Church received separate email-letters in August 2014 regarding the petition with the names and comments of 100+ people who signed it. We thus continue the resolute, public call a) for assistance from all those affected in various ways by the NCI fraud; and b) for verifiable disclosures/independent reviews (transparency and accountability) by four of the organisations listed in the petition.

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The organizations and people affected by NCI in various ways can call for and authorize independent reviews. It is not too late to model good financial practice and integrity, for one’s own sake and for the sake of the church-mission community and the general public. None of us need to live a double life--a morally disengaged life. Speak up.