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Historical Reviews

Letter to NTM/Ethnos360 MKs

Historical Reviews

Jesus had many things to say about His love and care of children. 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 was a process, commissioned by Ethnos360 in 2010, that used independent investigators to thoroughly review the historical allegations of abuse that had arisen. As this process moved forward, it became clear that the task was both complicated and time-consuming. Nevertheless, Ethnos360 remained committed to facilitating the investigation of these historical allegations. The final investigation was concluded in 2023.

The original goals for this process never changed. These were: 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 was the IHART coordinator for the majority of the investigations. 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 worked to make sure that IHART provided thorough investigations, good avenues of communication, used current best practice standards and ensured the privacy of those who entrusted their stories to IHART.

Return to the Child Safety page.

Contacts

Theresa Lynn Sidebotham was the coordinator of the IHART process and remains the contact for investigation questions.

Ms. Sidebotham created the website, www.ihart.care, which provided ongoing updates on investigative reviews, information regarding the process, and a private login page for those directly involved in a particular investigation. Anyone involved with an investigation or who needs assistance with investigation results is encouraged to email contact@ihart.care. Anyone who has information regarding allegations of abuse that were not disclosed during the IHART process, please contact Ethnos360 at dcp@ntm.org. Although the historical investigations have concluded, Ethnos360 remains committed to responding to all allegations of abuse.

Counseling assistance funds are available for MKs who were impacted by abuse. Contact dcp@ntm.org for more information. Ethnos360 offers additional recovery assistance to victim/survivor MKs identified through the IHART process by offering a trauma evaluation with a specialized traumatologist for those who are interested. Read our letter to MKs for more information on this option.

Child Safety - Past and Present

Ethnos360 and Child Safety Document Thumbnail
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

Did you run out of money or stop paying for counseling?

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 for assistance outside of the original purpose of the fund. While we have been able to help with other needs at times, the funding has had limits when outside of the scope of counseling for abuse.

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

Was Theresa Sidebotham, who ran IHART, your former general counsel?
Theresa Sidebotham has never been the General Counsel, or in house counsel, for New Tribes Mission or Ethnos360. In 2014, after she provided some limited assistance with the IHART process, we asked her to take over the IHART Coordinator role because of her expertise in this area. She had the necessary background to make needed improvements to the IHART process and see the project through. Ms. Sidebotham has her own law firm, Telios Law, in Colorado Springs, Colorado and works with numerous ministries, with a strong focus on both child abuse and employment investigations.
What is IHART?

IHART was a process, commissioned by New Tribes Mission (Ethnos360) in 2010, that used independent investigators to thoroughly review the historical allegations of abuse that had come to light. As this process moved forward, it became clear that the task was both complicated and time-consuming. Nevertheless, Ethnos360 remained committed to facilitating the investigation of these historical allegations. The final investigation concluded in 2023.

The original goals for this process never changed. These were: 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.

Why does NTM own the IHART Trademark?

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.

What does IHART stand for and why did the acronym/meaning change?
IHART stands for Independent Historical Allegations Review Team. When first created, the IHART acronym stood for Independent Historical Abuse Response Team. However, Ethnos360 was not just concerned about abuse but any mistreatment of children. As a result, the “A” was changed to allegations, broadening the scope of IHART. It was also determined that the “R” was more accurate as Review rather than Response. IHART reviewed all allegations. The acronym shift was meant to more properly reflect IHART’s comprehensive work.
Who ran IHART?

Theresa Lynn Sidebotham, a principal in Telios Law in Colorado Springs, Colorado was the coordinator for the majority of IHART.

Ms. Sidebotham worked to make sure that IHART provided thorough investigations, good avenues of communication, used current best practice standards and ensured the privacy of those who 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.

When did IHART finish and why did the inquiries take so long?
IHART released the report on the final inquiry into allegations of historical abuse in NTM the end of 2023. This last report, entitled "World," encompassed the final countries that had schools or abuse allegations that had not yet been independently reviewed and addressed. We acknowledge that this process took longer than anyone wanted. IHART explains on their FAQ at https://www.ihart.care/faq.html some of the complexities of historical abuse allegations that slowed the process. The pandemic was also an unfortunate obstacle to the timely completion of the last two inquiries.


Donor Funds & Investigations

Do you use money you receive from donors to fund abuse investigations or any other 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.

Where do the funds for investigations come from?
Ethnos360 has other income sources, such as investment income, which are used to cover our operating expenses and other areas that do not typically receive many designated funds. Ethnos360 used these funds to cover the expenses associated with any inquiries.

Name Change

Why did you change your name from New Tribes Mission to Ethnos360?
Ethnos360 changed its name in 2017 to pursue our founders’ vision for all the world’s unreached people groups. New Tribes Mission had come to focus on isolated, remote unreached people groups. Yet new opportunities were opening that encouraged us to broaden our vision and once more embrace the vision of our founders. It was time for a new name that represented that renewed vision.
Why did you select Ethnos360 for your name?

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).