CANADA
Christian Week
By CRAIG MACARTNEY Senior Correspondent | August 1, 2014
ROCKWOOD, ON—An advocacy organization that helps the children of missionaries deal with their sometimes painful pasts has opened a Canadian chapter.
Missionary Kids Safety Net (MK Safety Net) works primarily with adults whose parents were missionaries. Some “missionary kids” (MKs) suffered abuse or trauma while their parents were in the field, and MK Safety Net is helping them connect with counsellors and other abuse survivors. The organization also helps survivors walk through the process of reporting abuse and initiating investigations.
“Even as children and teens, MKs often live in a great deal of emotional isolation from one another and that isolation continues into adulthood,” says Beverly Shellrude Thompson, a former MK and president emeritus of MK Safety Net Canada. “The work we do includes creating safe environments for people who want to talk about trauma they experienced to connect with others from their schools or people from different settings.”
MK Safety Net was founded following an investigation into abuse at Mamou Alliance Academy in Guinea. After a 1999 retreat held for survivors, including Shellrude Thompson, to review the investigation, numerous other MKs began contacting them with reports of past abuse in various organizations. The group decided to incorporate and continue their support work.
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