Petition Shine the Light--Together!

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The Petition

Shine the light on fraud. Your voice counts!
This petition is an international call for the organizations and people
affected by the NCI fraud to help--to transparently and verifiably disclose.

An important part of Nordic Capital Investment KB (NCI) has been successfully prosecuted in Sweden and declared to be a longstanding fraud. One person was prosecuted, a Swedish man, and there are thousands of pages of court documents now that shed light on the far broader aspects of this international fraud (for a summary, click here). It is time for the many organizations and people, especially in the church and mission community (CMC), to transparently and verifiably disclose how they have been affected.

Members of these organizations, donors, and the public are asked to help by respectfully and resolutely calling for the assistance of those affected by NCI. Millions of euros and dollars are still missing.

The Statement below gives an update on NCI and the previous calls for assistance. It also provides you with links to important documents and lists the organizations that are being asked again for help. At the end (below) you will find a place to sign. Adding a short comment and your organizational affiliation is encouraged although optional. (To see the current list of signatures/comments, click on the "Signatures" tab at the top.)

Please share this Petition with your friends, colleagues, and networks. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/shine-the-light-together/

Thank you for shining the light!
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PETRA Statement 2012:

An International Call for integrity and Action

In light of the Swedish court documents, we are publicly calling for the following organizations to provide assistance by reviewing and disclosing how NCI has affected them. We are also asking them to review how they have responded to the NCI matter thus far. Authorizing independent and internal reviews is strongly encouraged. It is not helpful to simply try to "move on" and leaders and members are urged now to hold their organizations accountable. There is much to learn and many ways to help. We urge organizations affected by NCI to emulate the organizations in the "United Response" to the New Era Scandal: be transparent, accountable, and cooperate to return money...

To read the entire Statement, including links to documents and an update on the organizations that are being asked again for their assistance and disclosures (e.g., Mercy Ministries International, Youth With A Mission, Mercy Ships International, Youth For Christ), click here.

Individuals and organizations committed to integrity should welcome the opportunity to help via open investigations and verifiable disclosures.

Initial signatories of the PETRA Statement 2012:

--Mr. Sean Collins:
--Mrs. Lynn Collins
--Mr. James M. Duncan, Attorney at Law
--Mr. Rand Guebert, MBA, Principle Researcher, NCI Professional Review
--Dr. Todd Johnson, Director, Center for the Study of Global Christianity,
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
--Mr. Hollis C. Lewis, Jr., Attorney at Law
--Mrs. Jane C. Lewis
--Rev. Dr. James Longhurst, Senior Pastor, Medway Village Church, Medway. MA USA
--Dr. Kelly O'Donnell, CEO, Member Care Associates, Inc.
--Dr. Michèle O'Donnell, COO, Member Care Associates, Inc.
--Rev. Joseph Paskewich, Senior Pastor, Calvary Chapel SE Connecticut
--Mr. James Peters
--Mrs. Marsh Peters
--Mr. David Pratten, YWAM Alumnus
--Ms. Donna Seymour, MSc.
--Tina L. Quick, CEO, International Family Transitions
--Hon. Rollin A. Van Broekhoven, Retired Judge
--William H. Watson, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology) and Neurology, University of Rochester Medical Center
--Mr. Ron Williams
--Mrs. Angelika Williams
--Dr. Ralph Winestock

Notes: This petition site is free. The site hosts though periodically ask signatories of petitions (in a box that appears immediately after they sign) to consider making a donation to support the site and 'free speech.' We want you to know that the Petition sponsors (Petra People Network) have sent a donation to the site hosts on behalf of all the signatories).

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Core Resources

1. Click here for the PETRA Statement 2012: An International Call for Integrity and Action (pdf version)

2. Click here for the first Statement and signatories: PETRA Statement 2011: A Call for Transparency and Accountability

3. For more information on corruption and NCI: PETRA People website

4. For updates and analysis on NCI: PETRA People blogsite

5. Fleecing the Faithful--Again: Former YWAM Leader Defrauds Many (Christianity Today, 8 June 2011)

6. Pastors and Ponzi Fraud (Christianity Today, 13 April 2012)..."restoring our witness will take more than a repentant pastor. Visible, public accountability is vital..."

More Resources

7. Need a boost of encouragement to act? Listen to this three-minute reflection on Speaking Truth to Power (28 February 2012, Word for the Day, BBC) The link for the podcast is on the PETRA People website, on the bottom of the page in the Web Links section). "Speaking truth to power...is something we all get the opportunity to do..."

8. Salt and Light: Christians' Role in Confronting Corruption (Lausanne Global Conversation, 31 October 2011). Just a few of the many helpful quotes in this article:

"...the time has come to make [the fight against corruption] a truly global effort among evangelicals....if the church becomes more vociferous in its opposition to corruption...then we must beware of the risk of hypocrisy if our own house is not put in order first....We must not turn a blind eye to or condone corruption....Christians must take care that they are not unwittingly complicit in someone else's corruption, no matter how innocent the motive or scheme may at first appear."

9. Quotes on moral courage--for transparency, integrity, and action. Two examples from this core list of quotes:

"But at any time an organization makes a seriously wrong decision, its leaders should call for an intensive postmortem. Such learning opportunities are too often overlooked. The tendency is simply to call on the public relations department to spin the mater, to make another inadequately thought-out decision, and perhaps to scapegoat, even fire, a few staff members. Because most companies cover up their mistakes instead of learning from them, systemic flaws in information flow tend to remain to do their damage another day." (pp. 22-23)

"But legislation alone [Sarbanes-Oxley Act] cannot make organizations open and healthy. Only the character and will of those who run them and participate in them can do that….If a culture of collusion exists instead of a culture of candor, participants will find ways around the rules, new or old, however stringent." (p. 8) Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor (2008). Warren Bennis, Daniel Goleman, James O'Toole, and Patricia Ward Biederman

10. Lessons from New Era (the largest ponzi scheme prior to Madoff, involving over $350 million USD and involving both religious (e.g., mission, church) and secular organizations; the United Response to New Era sets a good example of how organizations affected by this fraud cooperated to disclose and help recover money)

Shine the Light--Together!

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