New Republic Picks Up Donn Ketcham Story
There is a natural tendency to keep things “in house.” I’ve been in law enforcement and investigations my entire adult life. I saw this pattern repeatedly in the Navy. A unit would try to “investigate” criminal misconduct itself, to keep things “internal” before going to military police, to see “if there is any credibility” to the reports. I saw it as a Pastor, and was criticized by some for refusing to do this very thing. We see it with the ABWE scandal. Let me be politically correct, nuanced and sensitive for a moment:
- THAT IS A VERY STUPID THING TO DO. REPORT ALLEGATIONS IMMEDIATELY. IMMEDIATELY. IMMEDIATELY. IMMEDIATELY.
If you don’t, you are being stupid. I don’t care what your motives are. You are being stupid. It will look like a cover-up. It will be a cover-up. You will contaminate testimony, destroy evidence, poison the well, and generally make yourself and your organization look like idiots. You’ll deserve the ridicule you get. You’ll deserve to be called stupid. You have no idea what you’re doing. You’re destroying the victims. You’re protecting the potentially guilty. The truth will come out in the wash.
Always report. Don’t “check on things yourself.” Don’t “consult with the deacons.” Don’t “get counsel and advice” from the local Pastor’s fellowship - two weeks down the road. Please, don’t be stupid. Pick up the phone and call the authorities. Do it now.
ABWE? They were stupid. Real stupid. Idiots. I’ve seen this my entire life, repeated over and over again. They deserve to go through the fire for their stupidity. Hopefully, others will learn how not to be so stupid.
Peace out.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
Tyler, do you have any opinions about the above article on ABWE?
G. N. Barkman
No. I don’t feel I should weigh in on this one. I think ABWE had a tough decision on its hands, and it did what it felt was best. Who are we to judge? We should trust that they did what they felt was right. Amen. (Yes, this is a joke).
There is a man at my church who was an ABWE missionary to Bangladesh for decades. He doesn’t like to talk about this.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
It’s worth noting here that in terms of sexual sin, figuring out what to report is often not terribly difficult. Any contact, including touching of private areas for no medical purpose, is off limits when the person is 16 or under, depending on the state. Any nonconsensual contact is off limits, including contact while intoxicated. Someone comes to you reporting this? Write down what they told you and encourage them to go to the police.
And Biblically, reporting ought not trouble us, since Scripture gives us about the same rules. You’ve got the prohibitions of adultery and fornication, and if I’m reading Song of Songs right, it clearly indicates only physically mature women—breasts, hips, belly a “mound of wheat surrounded by lilies” (think about it a moment)—were eligible for marriage. I would dare say that the description could even indicate a degree of emotional maturity—the girl is not married off as soon as she starts having the monthly visitor, but waits until her body is developed. The boy waits until he builds them a home, and his description in the same book also indicates physical and emotional maturity.
Reluctant to report? Look at the article. Kim’s gone through Hell as a result of Ketcham’s abuse, and judging by the reports of her boyfriend and cutting, she’s lost her faith, too. Some people at ABWE have a millstone around their necks, brothers. Don’t let it be you.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
I spent much of my time as a Christian school principal/administrator. My policy was that if there were an accusation of abuse or Child Services showed up at school to investigate something, I let them have free access to the school. I was surprised at how many people in similar positions as mine thought I was “too cooperative”! Right now at least one state is opposing legislation intended to require daycare/childcare workers in Christian schools to be screened as too intrusive.
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
Tyler said everything that I had thought about saying while I was reading. It’s also worth nothing that interfering with a criminal investigation, no matter how well intentioned you are, could potentially put YOU at risk for criminal charges as well.
Just don’t. Call the cops and let them deal with it. Stay in your lane and deal with the spiritual fallout.
I am utterly dumbfounded at how many ministers think that getting a ministry gives them carte blanche to adjudicate crimes. Utterly. Dumbfounded.
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
Worth noting is that an assistant football coach at my alma mater, Michigan State, was arrested for interfering with investigations when his action was simply to discuss the matter with the players accused of sexual assault. (at least that’s what he said, OK, it’s debatable) Beyond the obvious fact that I’m not terribly proud of MSU right now, it illustrates that mandatory reporters (like coaches) are not getting off easy anymore if they don’t report crimes promptly. I believe that several other MSU staffers have also lost their jobs for failing to report when suspicions of gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s crimes became known.
Title IX might be in play, but word to the wise. Apart from encouraging the person to talk to the police themselves—remind them that they’ve got people on retainer who can get physical evidence of the crime and so on—be happy filing a report, then filing an incident report for the church and the insurance company and lawyer, and then give the insurance company and lawyer a call. Do what they say.
While you’re waiting for that sad moment to come, start a culture of reporting these things. Even boo-boos that require just a bandaid. File an incident report. Then, when you’ve got a BIG deal, you can show the court you’ve been minding your Ps & Qs about the little things. Juries and newsmen like that.
Word to the wise.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
- Every ABWE missionary should switch to a different agency and
- Let ABWE sink
I will never trust ABWE again.
ABWE could sink, or they could use this humiliation to do what the Boy Scouts did—develop a world class child protection system, with the memory of horrors there to emphasize just why it’s important.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
I *just* finished reading the New Republic article. I had no idea the Ketcham case was that bad. I’d heard bits and pieces about it through SI, but I had no idea it was anything like this. I am almost at a complete loss for words about what Kathryn Joyce wrote, and I beg you to please pardon any excessive emotion in this post.
First off, we should thank God for this article and the news coverage it gets. The scandal is getting bigger. It should. It should make us angry enough to say ‘Never again’ and demand that the appropriate people are held to justice - God’s justice and human justice. There should be a bottomless pit of righteous rage in our souls for what ABWE put these families and kids through - and that’s before we discuss the unknown hundreds or thousands of nationals that Ketcham was there to ‘help’.
Donn Ketcham was a predatory sociopath. ABWE knew about it and harbored him for decades, and they did it deliberately and at the very highest levels of the organization. Shut ABWE down NOW.
Anyone even remotely affiliated with actively covering this up should be run out of the ministry and out of town, if possible. It should go without saying that anyone who cooperated with that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but I’ll say that here just in case someone isn’t sufficiently aware enough think of it.
This is the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen in my lifetime - I would rate this far worse than the September 11th attacks - and the only somewhat comforting thing that I can think of right now is that God will deal out perfect justice; far more perfect justice than than any human court ever could possibly do. I would be terrified of His Wrath if I were in the administrative wing of ABWE and had anything to do with protecting Donn Ketcham.
If the blood of righteous Abel cried out from the ground against Cain, how much more so this case? I am afraid to even consider it.
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
[TylerR]I also know someone that was with ABWE in Bangladesh. This person has only once said anything about their time there in any length and any of the other times it was mentioned it was with pursed lips and refusal to discuss. I was left with the impression that it was a *really* big deal whatever it was that happened but no real information was ever disclosed. A lot of people were shocked when this person said something years later about having been in Bangladesh. They had no idea. I can’t help but wonder now if this is the story of what was going on. The first time I read anything of it I asked my husband-Do you suppose this is what was always bothering so and so? Why so and so never said anything about being there or anything about the mission work there?No. I don’t feel I should weigh in on this one. I think ABWE had a tough decision on its hands, and it did what it felt was best. Who are we to judge? We should trust that they did what they felt was right. Amen. (Yes, this is a joke).
There is a man at my church who was an ABWE missionary to Bangladesh for decades. He doesn’t like to talk about this.
Churches failing to keep up with regular background checks are playing with fire. Get it done!
[Joeb] I can’t believe ABWE is still supported by GARBS related institutions, but it figures.
Correction: The GARBC does not have “approved agencies” - ended more than a decade ago [ I can’t find the date]
–––– Update –––––
Ended in 2000
https://www.garbc.org/news/history-and-garbc-ties/
When the GARBC dropped its formal approval of mission agencies in 2000 …
Lest you are tempted to think this is a hit piece by a liberal writer, this is the same reporter who did an extended article about the biblical counseling movement several years ago. Given the liberal outlets she writes for, I was surprised by how “fair and balanced” she was.
https://psmag.com/social-justice/evangelical-prayer-bible-religion-born…
Donn R Arms
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