Paterno speaks publicly about the Sandusky abuse since his departure from Penn State. He admits to passing it off to people he hoped would know how to deal with it better. As the article says, “It didn’t work out that way.”
The moral of the story? PREPARE. Leaders need to know how to handle issues like this when they happen….because they will happen. Why are churches and schools continuing to stick their heads in the sand and refusing to educate and prepare themselves?
You and YOUR MINISTRY can be prepared. Call G.R.A.C.E. We had them come give a seminar to our school and several churches in the Denver area on the topic of the prevention of and response to child abuse. The information presented in that seminar was enlightening and invaluable.
PLEASE….I BEG YOU….please be prepared to handle the issue when it arrives at your door. Prevent being another Joe Paterno. If you want more information on holding a seminar in your area, call G.R.A.C.E. or get in touch with me, Diana Durrill, and I will help you get the ball rolling. I urge you to take these steps.
ABWE – please, please follow Joe’s example and at least admit this much…”We were in over our heads with the Donn Ketcham tragedy and therefore, we grossly mishandled it to the detriment of at least one very, special mk girl, her parents and family.”
Diana Durrill
You can read the entire article here:
Child Abuse by Missionary Doctor 
God values every precious life, he does NOT see children as “lesser people.” God looks on the heart, not the outward accolades; council of 18 member, mission board administrator, board member or missionary, college/agency president, or son of one of the founders of the GARBC.
Many verses throughout SCRIPTURE warns about men who would offend children, we are taught to become like a child, to have that tender heart attitude, to be ready to forgive like a child, to have that child like faith.
By the actions of the past, but even more repugnant, by the continued actions of ABWE, a mission agency that has stated they care about” thechildren of the world,” that’s right I am sure they have sung the song:
Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world,
Red, and Yellow, Black, Brown, White,
They are precious in HIS sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world, except if your a child of a ABWE missionary!
Sounds harsh, over the years I have seen many “ABWE mission approved” missionary pictures, with that and other heart rendering songs in the background. While they were giving approval to those pictures with that song in the background they were hiding a horrible secret, and they continue to try to hide that secret today!
How do you look at a film of children, knowing the pain inflicted by one of your own “approved” missionary’s, then later one of “select” and “protected” men, and stand up in church and before God and sing that song. How do put together a slides, films, power point presentations, or pictures of a foreign field asking churches to support a missionary with that song in the background and continue to hide an abuser and continue to inflict pain and grief on the abused. How that must hurt our Loving Lord and Saviour.
Could you do it now, board members, administrators, staff members at ABWE, missionaries from this agency, could you stand up now and sing that song, in a church, before God, knowing the secrets that were hid that we all now know, GOD FORBID!
Maybe I don’t understand, but didn’t ABWE apologize last March? http://www.abwe.org/news/article/abwe-board-and-administration-confession
I can’t imagine a more sincere and direct apology and confession than that. I think that goes well beyond your plea to ABWE asking that they admit “We were in over our heads with the Donn Ketcham tragedy . . . “
Sincere apologies require a change in behavior (repentance). While we are happy to see many steps in the right direction with ABWE, especially since there has been a change of leadership at the top, we believe there are many more steps in this process yet to come. We wait and watch with hopeful anticipation. When action follows words, we accept and rejoice in this apology. And by the way – there is a whole lot more to the story than you read here. When the final G.R.A.C.E. report is released you will have a better understanding of why that initial apology was insufficient without actions of change. Again, we are hopeful that this is the dawn of a new day for ABWE.
Diana Durrill
I would say there are many that “just don’t understand.”
Lip service is a sin! Grown adults line their words up with their actions!