Historical Reviews
Jesus had many things to say about His love and care of children and Ethnos360, founded in 1942 as New Tribes Mission, desires to give that same place of honor to the children of our members and also to those children in the ministries we undertake. Sadly, there were times in our history when individuals took advantage of situations and the vulnerability of children to commit acts of abuse. Read more here.
Since the mid-1990s the mission has worked to build and improve child safety procedures. Today, Ethnos360 trains all members in the area of child safety and is committed to ongoing vigilance and awareness.
Believing that we are responsible to our members and their children, to our ministry partners, to the laws of the countries in which we minister and ultimately to God, Ethnos360 will continue to review our policies and safety procedures to better safeguard children.
IHART
IHART is a process, commissioned by Ethnos360, using independent investigators to thoroughly review the historical allegations of abuse that have arisen. As this process has moved forward, it has become clear that the task is both complicated and time-consuming. Nevertheless, Ethnos360 remains committed to facilitating the investigation of these historical allegations.
Our original goals for this process have not changed. These are: to be certain that there is no current member of Ethnos360 who has sexually abused children; to give victims an avenue to tell their story; to offer a means for counseling for any victims who desire that; and to learn from the past to make our organization as safe as possible for all children.
Theresa Lynn Sidebotham of Telios Law PLLC is the IHART coordinator. Ms. Sidebotham has a strong background in missions. She grew up on the mission field herself, in an urban environment in the Asia-Pacific region. She has experienced home school, international school, mission boarding school, U.S. private Christian school and public school. As she and her husband spent time in the military and on the mission field, two of their four children were born overseas. She understands abuse issues and protecting children, as she both personally experienced an environment where child sexual abuse was endemic, and had to protect her own children in a similar environment.
For the bulk of her practice, Ms. Sidebotham works with numerous ministries, helping to put in place child safety policies, screening, and training, and advising on child safety issues and investigations. She also advises on organizational/HR policies and conducts other investigations into alleged misconduct, such as for sexual harassment.
Ms. Sidebotham is working to make sure that IHART provides thorough investigations, good avenues of communication, uses current best practice standards and ensures the privacy of those who have entrusted their stories to IHART.
Contacts
Theresa Lynn Sidebotham is the coordinator of the IHART process.
Ms. Sidebotham created the website, www.ihart.care, which provides updates on current investigative reviews, information regarding the process, and a private login page for those directly involved in a particular investigation. Anyone involved with a current investigation, who does not yet have access to the particular page for their situation, is encouraged to send an email to contact@ihart.care to request a login invitation.
Anyone who has information that could be helpful to the IHART investigative process please contact Ms. Sidebotham and her team at contact@ihart.care or by phone at 407.304.8476.
Child Safety - Past and Present
Click here for the PDF booklet with the facts regarding the grievous reality of child abuse that took place in the history of New Tribes Mission and answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
The following are common questions about the historical investigations which were commissioned by Ethnos360/New Tribes Mission. We wanted to share this information to help bring clarity regarding these topics: Counseling Funds, IHART, Donor Funds/Investigations, and Name Change.
Counseling Funds
No. NTM/Ethnos360 has offered counseling funds for many years, including prior to 2010, when we established a perpetual counseling fund for the former missionary kids (MKs) who had suffered abuse at one of our NTM facilities. The fund has been continually available since that time.
Over the years, we have received appeals from other MKs, and some family members, for assistance outside of the original purpose for the fund, and we have helped them accordingly. This in no way diminished or impacted the funds that were available to the abuse victims. We have always helped when asked; however, in some cases outside of the scope of counseling for abuse, the funding has, at times, had limits.
We apologize for the confusion surrounding the availability of these funds. Our heart remains committed to helping any of our MKs who need financial assistance for counseling. To request counseling, please contact dcp@ntm.org.
IHART
IHART is a process, commissioned by New Tribes Mission (Ethnos360), using independent investigators to thoroughly review the historical allegations of abuse that have come to light. As this process has moved forward, it has become clear that the task is both complicated and time-consuming. Nevertheless, Ethnos360 remains committed to facilitating the investigation of these historical allegations.
Ethnos360’s original goals for this process have not changed. These are: to be certain that there is no current member of Ethnos360 who has sexually abused children; to give victims an avenue to tell their story; to offer a means for providing counseling for victims who desire it; and to learn from the past to make our organization as safe as possible for all children. For more information about IHART, visit www.ihart.care.
Ms. Sidebotham has responded to this question on her site, www.ihart.care, and we quote:
IHART Trademark
The idea to purchase the trademark for IHART came about after I began to create the ihart.care website. I had attended a meeting between MKs and then-NTM leadership in 2014. One of the strongest concerns that the MKs expressed was that they did not know what was going on with the investigations. The ihart.care website was my idea in response to that MK concern. I coordinated getting the trademark because I wanted to make sure that we could continue to use it for the website, in other words, so that no one else could become the owner of that name, thus forcing us to shut down the website. Ethnos360 (NTM at that time), of course, paid for it. I launched the ihart.care website, and have been posting updates ever since.
Theresa Lynn Sidebotham, a principal in Telios Law in Colorado Springs, Colorado is the coordinator of IHART.
Ms. Sidebotham is working to make sure that IHART provides thorough investigations, good avenues of communication, uses current best practice standards and ensures the privacy of those who have entrusted their stories to IHART, including implementing checks and balances to ensure objectivity and impartiality.
Ms. Sidebotham works with numerous ministries, helping to put in place child safety policies, screening and training, and advising on child safety issues and investigations. She also advises on organizational/HR policies and conducts other investigations into alleged misconduct, such as sexual harassment. Ms. Sidebotham is an MK and a mother of four MKs. More information about IHART is available at www.ihart.care.
Donor Funds & Investigations
No. Our missionary salaries, projects and operating expenses are funded by generous donors, who donate money to reach those who have never had a chance to hear the gospel. While the typical structure for non-profits today is to designate a percentage of all donations to cover operating expenses and salaries of certain employees, Ethnos360 has never used this structure. Each designated gift for a missionary is used for expenses directly related to that missionary's ministry, not for general organizational operating costs.
We want to emphasize that designated funds from donors are not used to cover any part of any investigation or any costs related to lawsuits. We have received some gifts designated to the MK counseling fund. These designated counseling funds went to that account in full.
Name Change
Our new name has two components. It represents reaching out to people groups of the whole world.
- Ethnos is the “nations” that Christ referred to when He commanded His followers to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). It is the word from which we get ethnic, and it means people groups.
- 360 represents the entirety of the globe — all 360 degrees. Our goal is to go wherever it is necessary to see a thriving church for every people. 360 also represents the full-circle work of the Great Commission, which Jesus gave His followers (Matthew 28:19).