DENVER (CO)
SNAP - Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [Chicago IL]
December 1, 2024
Investigation into boarding school abuse is set
Church agencies reach funding deal with survivors
Both liberal and evangelical Protestant groups are involved
Survivors set precedent, command seat at the table
For almost four years, dozens of adults have lobbied over 15 church agencies to investigate the sexual, physical, racial, psychological and spiritual abuse they say they suffered as kids at a Christian boarding school in Africa.
Now, finally, their efforts seem to be paying off. Eight religious groups that sent missionaries to Hillcrest have agreed to fund and cooperate with an independent probe into the alleged abuse at the school from its founding in 1942 until the present.
“This hard-won commitment means that decades of crimes and cover ups by church staff, volunteers and supervisors will be fully and finally examined and exposed – not by biased church insiders but by credible outside investigators,” said Letta Cartlidge of Colorado, who was abused at the facility in the ’80s and early ’90s. “It’s been a very long, tough road but now, we have real hope that the horrors so many of us endured will be brought to the surface.”
While there are no official estimates of the number of youngsters who were violated over the past eight decades at Hillcrest, the Hillcrest Survivors Steering Committee (HSSC) surmises there could be many hundreds of victims. Although the school was founded to teach children of missionaries, over the decades more than 6,000 children have attended Hillcrest from over 40 different countries around the world. The HSSC has taken dozens of reports from people who say they were hurt at the school, some of whom are as old as 80. And the committee has identified about 50 credibly accused perpetrators of abuse there.
“Those of us who were victimized and are still suffering should never have had to fight so long and hard for this simple, long-overdue step forward,” said Nathan Mueller of South Dakota, who attended the facility in the late ’70s. “But I’m confident that this investigation will shed sorely-needed light on long-buried abuse and deter other church officials from ignoring or concealing crimes against kids in the future.”
“Survivors of Hillcrest need and deserve comfort, closure, healing and validation,” said Dale Gilliland of California, who was abused at the boarding school in the ’60s. “Nothing these mission bodies can do now can give us back our innocence and our childhoods. But they can – and should – investigate, publicize this widespread wrongdoing and compensate those of us who have been so egregiously hurt.”
HSSC members have been at the center of writing the proposal for the investigation, selecting the independent investigator and negotiating the final contracts between the missions and the school with Victor Vieth of the Minnesota-based non-profit Zero Abuse Project.
The HSSC has also chosen as their advocate Grace Stewart with Accord, LLC, a firm based in West Virginia. Stewart will be available throughout the investigation to help victim-survivors navigate their pain, supplying resources and support.The missions will pay for her services.
“We’re very disappointed these groups refused to join in supporting the investigation. At Hillcrest we were told we were a family. In fact, off campus, we called our teachers and administrators ‘Uncle’ and ‘Auntie.’ Today we hear a different story from the missions, ‘None of OUR kids were hurt so no need for us to be involved.’ To that I say, we are ALL your children,” says Cartlidge. “We hope that good Christians across the US, Canada, and Europe, especially those who donate to these organizations, speak to their leaders and press them to embrace the survivors of Hillcrest who were violated at the hands of their very own missionaries. We say to you, do as the Good Samaritan, be compelled by compassion and bind up our trauma so that through truth and justice we may find healing.”
The HSCC expects the actual investigation to begin December 2, 2024.
Hillcrest Survivors Steering Committee
*Letta Cartlidge, President
LettaCartlidge@gmail.com
303.505.9141
Denver, CO
Nathan Mueller, Vice
605.237.2108
Marvin, SD
Hillcrest School
Dele Alabi, Superintendent
superintendent@hillcrestschool.net
WhatsApp number: +234 803 472 0174
Jos, Nigeria
John Brown, Chairman of the Hillcrest Board of Governors
Jos, Nigeria
Jbrown@africastudybible.com
MISSIONS WHO SIGNED
North American Baptists Conference NAB
Harry Kelm, Executive Director
Roseville, CA
Hkelm@nabconf.org
916.783.1524
Pioneers UK
Stephen Carling, Director
+44 (0) 1302 710 750 Mobile, +44 (0) 7533 062 584
stephen@pioneers-uk.org
Graeme Simpson, Deputy Director
graeme@pioneers-uk.org
Doncaster, UK
01302 710 750
Global Resonate Mission (Christian Reform Church CRC)
Kevin deRaaf, Director
kderaaf@crcna.org
(905) 336-2920
Burlington, ON. Canada
Evangelical Lutheran Church of America ELCA
Khader El-Yateem, Executive Director of ELCA Service & Justice
Chicago, IL
Church of the Brethren Mission
David Steele, General Secretary
GeneralSecretary@brethren.org
Elgin, IL
Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada EMCC
John Cressman, President
Kitchener, ON Canada
SIM Nigeria
Tom Jessurun, Director
jos.director@sim.org
General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church UMC
Roland Fernandes, General Secretary
Atlanta, GA
MISSIONS WHO DID NOT SIGN
*Southern Baptist Convention SBC
Paul Chitwood, President of the International Mission Board IMB
804.353.0151
Richmond, VA
Somer Novak
Director of Abuse Prevention and Response Administration of the IMB,
SNowak@msnpath.com
m.804.219.1261 | c.804.814.0790
*Lutheran Church of the Missouri Synod LCMS
Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison, President
mch@lcms.org
Staff switchboard: 800-248-1930
St. Louis, MO
*SIM USA
Randy Fairman, Director
us.director@sim.org
704.588.4300
Charlotte, NC
*SIM International
Phil Bauman, Director
803.802.7300
Fort Mill, SC
*SIM Australia
Malcolm Watts, National Director
Tel: +61 2 9580 1422
1300 746 580 / 02 9580 1422
Penhurst NSW 2222, Australia
Wycliffe Bible Translators
John Chiu, Executive Advisor
407.852.3600 : main office
Orlando, Florida
Summer Institute of Linguistics SIL
John Chiu, Director of Human Resources Responses
john_chiu@sil.org
972.708.7400 : main office Dallas, TX
Mission Afrika (Danish Lutheran)
Daniel Toft Jakobsen, Secretary General
dtj@missionafrika.dk
+45 8672 5050
Viaduktvej 5a, 8260 Viby J, Denmark
Assemblies of God AG World Missions
Kevin Donaldson, COO of AG World Missions
kdonaldson@ag.org
417-862-2781
417-862-3420
Springfield, MO
Investigative agency: https://ZeroAbuseProject.org/
Advocacy agency: https://www.accord.llc/