Insights from Our Notes-Quotes & Blogposts-Podcasts
"The only thing necessary for corruption to flourish
is to do nothing about it—or to do some non-efficacious and non-resolute 'thing'
[often rationalizing our motives and actions as being 'noble and necessary']
and then move on, often with our consciences placated and our livelihoods protected."
Loving Truth and Peace: A Case Study (2013)
---------
This Update provides resources for integrity and anti-corruption.
It continues the call to confront the international NCI KB fraud.
Click here for the latest PPNet weblog entry
of the PETRA People Network and our regular Updates!
In the latest PPNet Update (Issue 92), we focus on developing resilient integrity. In Part One, we continue to share new and ongoing resources to support integrity and anti-corruption in your life, organizations, and spheres of influence. We also continue to share material about the Nordic Capital Investments KB (NCI) corruption-fraud.
As with all of our Updates, we encourage you to take the time to review all the featured resources, dive deep into some of them, and discuss them and their applications with colleagues.
Resilience is facing reality:
Navigating and growing through the challenges, changes, and adversities in life;
Bouncing back better and being refined through life’s hardship and suffering.
Resilience: Lessons from the Global Geneva Trenches
For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty,
with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in [among—NIV] yourselves
and be at peace with one another. Mark 9:49-50 NASB
How Much Do You Have--of Either?
See the recent resources on the website.
"What exactly is "integrity"--the focus of GID on 9 June and throughout the year? How do we develop and maintain? And how do you and others know if you are acting with integrity--how do you evaluate "integrity"? Our default is too assume and to affirm that we got it--but that is not always true. Integrity is often "mixed"--true in some parts of our life but not all parts--and with mixed motives. All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD. (Proverbs 16:2)"
Integrity is moral wholeness—living consistently in moral wholeness—with honesty, humility and all the virtues--and with an awareness of one’s potential to deceive and harm oneself and others. Integrity needs external moral referents--standards of virtue with accountability--and not simply positive self-appraisals--in order to safeguard us all from both blind and willful hypocrisy. Global integrity is living consistently in moral wholeness at all levels--individual, interpersonal, institutional, and international; across sectors and settings; local through global; the systemic and structural.
Corruption is moral rottenness, the opposite of integrity--the distortion, perversion, and deterioration of moral goodness, resulting in the abuse and exploitation of people and the planet. It is integroty. 'If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, then how great is your darkness!" (Matthew 6:23)
Resource 4--Podcast from Into Integrity, Michele and Kelly
One of the featured quotes from Rachel: “What happens when [the abuser] is a trusted person at this church? What happens when it’s a trusted person in these other evangelical organizations? The extent that one is willing to speak out against their own community is the bright line test for how much they care and how much they understand. We have failed abhorrently as Christians when it comes to that test." Christianity Today (22 January 2018)
You can see the companion postings with a transcript and more resources on the Into Integrity weblog.
Confronting the Ongoing Corruption
Be people of integrity--always and everywhere!
See also the PETRA People website (Peace, Transparency, and Accountability--PETRA). Since 2011, this site has provided information and resources on integrity and corruption with a focus on the international fraud, Nordic Capital Investments KB (NCI).
We also recommend listening to any of our 14 Into Integrity podcasts that we have done to advocate for truth, repentance, and healing in the past and ongoing NCI KB et al. corruption and related dismissals. You can listen to the podcasts HERE and you can read the blogposts HERE.
Make every day an integrity day!
“Your task is to be true, not popular.
Luke 6:26,45, The Message
Going further--how can you help?
The informed, resolute responses to NCI by those in the church-mission community (CMC) can help bring healing to many people and the reputation of the CMC. The NCI fraud, like all corruption, will not simply go away on its own, over time, by ignoring it, or by keeping silent. Remember, the only thing necessary for corruption to flourish is to do nothing about it--or to do some non-resolute "thing" and move on, feeling self-justified, with our consciences placated and our livelihoods protected. What can you do?
1. Get accurately informed. Read the materials, court documents, and exchanges with specific CMC leaders calling for disclosures and good practice. Take the time to carefully review the Summary and Summons below.
2. Join with others and hold your organizations and leaders accountable to good practice standards (see the list of organizations and leaders in the Summary and Summons below).
3. Read, sign, and share the Integrity Petition. There is an ongoing call for signatures. See below and in Part Two.
4. Beware of the deceptive tendency to rationalize wrong behaviors and to distort our true and mixed motives. Hypocrisy. The heart is more deceitful above all else, and desperately sick; who can understand it (Jeremiah 17:9). Living in integrity and staying morally engaged involve scrupulously considering how we might be hurting people and the planet--unintentionally or even intentionally--and changing our ways.
--Some mixed and hidden motives: "I don't want to take risks. I/we might have my reputation and revenue negatively impacted. This would inconvenience me." And many more.
It is always a good time to do what is right.
PART TWO
Summary and Summons
to understand what happened and what needs to be done.
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
.
calling for integrity and action to confront corruption
in the church-mission community and in the international NCI et al. fraud.
Read, sign, and share this petition.
In light of the Swedish court documents, we are publicly calling for the following organizations to provide assistance by reviewing and disclosing how NCI has affected them. We are also asking them to review how they have responded to the NCI matter thus far. Authorizing independent and internal reviews is strongly encouraged. It is not helpful to simply try to “move on” and leaders and members are urged now to hold their organizations accountable. There is much to learn and many ways to help. We urge organizations affected by NCI to emulate the organizations in the “United Response” to the New Era Scandal: be transparent, accountable and cooperate to return money.
Individuals and organisations committed to integrity
should welcome the opportunity to help via open investigations and verifiable disclosures.
1. Mercy Ministry Associations (MM). MM International, with related associations in France, Holland, and Switzerland (set up in 1994, 1995) are related directly to Le Rucher in France. They received hundreds of thousands of NCI-related euros/dollars over nearly 10 years. Where is this money? How will past and current board members and staff help? Docs: Money Flows Confirmed by EBM * Examples of NCI Money Flows * Suggestions (see point six in this link)
2. New Generation Foundation (NGF, GF). A foundation/account was set up in 1997 at a Liechtenstein bank by a major YWAM and Le Rucher leader. Over time it received hundreds of thousands of NCI euros/dollars. Where is this money? Doc: Examples of NCI Money Flows
3. Youth With A Mission International (YWAM). NCI is an affinity-based fraud and YWAM is the main organization affected. It is seriously affected. In July 1995 Mr. Westergard presented NCI at YWAM Le Rucher during an international YWAM conference. Major YWAM leaders invested since at least 1996 and YWAM projects received NCI-related money. Senior leaders have consistently stated that senior/international leaders were not aware of NCI and that one of the major YWAM leaders actively involved in NCI (administering contracts, receiving NCI funds, etc) and YWAM Le Rucher in France were not properly part of YWAM. Hence, it is argued, YWAM has no responsibility. These assertions are hard to understand in view of the court and other documents. YWAM leaders (e.g., IFMLT, GLF, MMI), YWAM members, and YWAM donors internationally are urged to get informed and together call for an internal and an independent review of how YWAM has been affected and how it has responded, and to persevere until such reviews are done. Will they do this? Docs: Request to YWAM Leaders for Assistance 5 June 2011, with links to investors, projects, previous requests; see also this partial list of YWAM-related investors, based on EBM documents.
4. Mercy Ships International (based in Texas USA and including Mercy Ships in the UK, Switzerland, and France). An Austrian court document from 2001 and other Swedish documents indicate that Mercy Ships (part of YWAM until 2003) was to benefit from NCI funds related to a three million US dollar transaction that was frozen by the Austrian government in November 2001. How does this transaction and other NCI-related money flows relate to this respected organization and especially the refitting of the African Mercy hospital ship, including a $10 million USD matching grant (matched between 2002-2004)? Docs: See the “NCI Documents” section on the PETRA People web site, and then open up the “Austria case” folder in the attachments.
5. Youth For Christ (YFC) in Coppet, Switzerland. The name “YFC” and its physical address in Switzerland were used for a substantial amount of NCI-related correspondence (by a person actively involved in NCI but not part of YFC). Why? YFC is a respected organization yet it has not fully investigated and verifiably disclosed what their relationship was with NCI and any possible benefits. Will they do this? Docs: Two Swiss addresses used for correspondence (Note that there was overlap between Board members of YFC Coppet Switzerland, Board members of Mercy Ministries related to Le Rucher, and the Elders Board of Crossroads Church in Ferney-Voltaire, France by Geneva).
[YFC update June 2019: There have been exchanges with one leader in YFC over the past few months about the concerns above and the concerns shared in the paper trail August 2014-current. Although not willing to request an independent review, this leader nonetheless pulled together previous YFC responses and his current responses to the concerns. We see it as a helpful step in the right direction. We also believe it would be helpful for YFC to summarize and publicly share these responses in one document. Other organizations would do well to follow the example of YFC.]
6. Churches in Holland and France. One example of a church that can really help is Crossroads church in Ferney-Voltaire, France. Members of and people attending Crossroads church were aware of NCI and many of them have invested over the years. The former pastor for example helped by sharing how he was approached to invest in 1995. Will this church do a review, inform their past and current members/attendees about NCI, and seek information from them to help? Several church leaders in the Geneva/Lausanne area were updated in 2010, 2011. Docs: Letters to church leaders
--Youth With A Mission: Loren Cunningham, Darlene Cunningham, Lynn Green, Jim Stier, Tom Hallas, Iain Muir, and YWAM leaders/staff around the world. “We would be grateful if you (YWAM leaders/staff around the world) would carefully review the petition and Statement with links to core documents.” Click here to view the list of international offices from the organization’s website, many which link to specific leaders.
--Mercy Ships: Donovan and Mae Palmer. “We would be grateful if you could please review the petition and its links to core documents and share it with members of the international Mercy Ships Executive Committee and others Board members (e.g., Don Stephens as President, Myron Ullman as Chair, Rosa Whitaker, Francoise Andre, Ian McColl, and Peter Schulze as Vice-Chairs, etc.). Click here to view the list of International Board Members and the Executive Committee from the organization’s website.
(PP Net Update Aug-Sept 2012, excerpts-introduction)
(a link to excerpts and quotes for good practice, to support YWAM leaders) What can all those associated with YWAM do? Here are four suggestions to keep in mind as you review and respond to these materials:
No comments:
Post a Comment