Investigation Launched into Allegations of Abuse
The following statement was released by Resonate Global Mission on May 8, 2019:
In October of 2018, Resonate Global Mission received a copy of a letter that had originally been sent to our partner the Christian Academy in Japan (CAJ). In January 2019, we received an additional letter outlining various allegations of abuse that took place at CAJ between 1963-1987. Four people were named as perpetrators of this physical, emotional and sexual abuse, one of the four was a missionary with Resonate Global Mission (then Christian Reformed World Missions) between 1974-1982.
Words cannot express the sadness, pain, regret and grief that we feel upon hearing the stories of survivors. It is particularly troubling to learn that one of the named perpetrators was an employee of our agency. Resonate takes all these allegations of misconduct, sexual or otherwise, very seriously.
Such incidents have no place in this organization or in God’s teaching. We are deeply sorry that our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ have endured pain, harassment, physical and emotional abuse, and trauma. Children need trustworthy adults to protect them. We acknowledge that our mission shared the responsibility for supervision and management of CAJ as well as this named perpetrator as a staff member at CAJ during the years when these abuses occurred. We are committed to shedding light on our role in CAJ’s leadership during this period and assuming our responsibility.
We vow to do a better job listening, believing, and protecting. To the survivors of this abuse, we promise to listen to your hearts and walk beside you in your pain.
Resonate is committed to and is currently working with survivors and other witnesses of the abuse to understand the full extent of what happened and ensure that no similar situation can ever occur under our watch.
In partnership with the other founding agencies of CAJ, we are working with Theresa Sidebotham of Telios law to coordinate an independent investigation into these abuse allegations. Theresa was raised as a missionary kid and specializes in religious and ministry law. She has significant cross-cultural experience and has conducted multiple investigations into misconduct allegations. We trust that she will be able to coordinate an unbiased investigation that can listen to survivors and help us all understand what happened and how similar things can be prevented in the future.
When this investigation is complete, Resonate will move forward with recommendations of appropriate further actions. In addition, the CRCNA has also conducted an audit of Resonate Global Mission’s current policies and procedures that address sexual and physical abuse to ensure our organization is using global best practices that prevent such incidents from occurring.
While we continue to work to ensure that our current practices are set up to prevent such situations of abuse, we lament that we didn't have such protections for missionary children at CAJ decades ago. We are prayerfully following the lead of the Holy Spirit as we discern how to proceed forward in the future. We ask for your prayers for survivors and for Resonate as we walk alongside them to determine next steps.
For those that may have information that may be relevant to this investigation, a contact form is available at CAJhistoricalinvestigation.info
