More survivors of MCC abuse speak out about NDAs, sexual harassment, financial fraud, bullying, and dangerous neglect of health needs
MAST keeps hearing from more survivors. Our current tally as of May 22, 2025 is 61. In the last couple of months:
we have heard about two more cases of NDAs being forced onto fired employees, in one case with threats in a hotel room;
we have heard from someone who felt unable to even write about the events in their private diary and who moved to a different town and church to avoid running into MCC leaders or supporters;
we've heard from someone who was fired after an accusation of theft (later admitted to be false but they were not reinstated and no one apologized);
and from someone who almost died due to supervisors' control of their health information and refusal to allow them access to necessary medical care;
we heard about a case where reps valiantly attempted to report on financial fraud and were written off by all levels of MCC;
we also heard of a case of sexual harassment within a young adult exchange program with no investigation of the accused person, and HR intervening in a way that prevented all accountability and put future exchange participants at risk.
We listen to these stories and work with survivors to write up narratives, but not nearly all survivors are ready to share their story and we don't pressure them. The fear of being identified and harmed again is a very real reason for many to stay anonymous. That means we are sitting on many stories of abuse for which we can't share details, and hoping that somewhere, some arm of the church will listen and insist that a credible investigation needs to happen. It is increasingly difficult to retain our faith in the church at all.
Here are a few quotations from some of these survivors; those who remain anonymous have consented for these non-identifying details to be shared:
“It felt like one of those movies, where all of a sudden the whole system is trying to crush you.” –MCC representative couple whose reports of fraud in an externally-funded MCC partner organization were systematically suppressed or ignored by their supervisors, HR, financial services, international program, and planning/learning/disaster response
“Before I entered that job, I was proud to be who I am, an independent, strong-headed woman. But by the time I left I was crawling out of there, with barely any of my essence left intact.” –Survivor of years of gaslighting and sexual harassment within MCC
“Their response just made it seem like I should stop being a nuisance… If they had believed me, then things should have been handled very differently.” – Katie Moyer, service worker in Mozambique, describing the response of MCC US senior HR staff to her report of sexual assault by an MCC colleague in a 2019 incident report. Read more of Katie’s story here.
“It definitely makes me question the Mennonite faith and practices completely. I have little to no trust in the Mennonite ways at this point, even though I went in with an open heart and willingness to serve.” – Melissa Wilson. She and her husband at the time were MCC representatives in Mozambique who reported on financial misconduct, sexual harassment and abuse of staff within a Canada Foodgrains Bank-funded partner organization, CCM Tete. After initially receiving support from their Area Directors, international program leadership and CFGB to end the partnership if changes were not made, their Area Directors suddenly changed their minds and insisted that they continue working with the partner. Melissa says, “Our ADs showed up in Mozambique for a meeting, called us in and terminated us that day. They stated that it was for insubordination even though they had led us to believe that the project would be ended and even though they had offered us another option to work with the partner through a liaison and we had accepted that option. They still fired us.” Read more of Melissa’s story here.
“I hid because I was ashamed. I sold my house, left the area. I couldn’t go to church in case [MCC leader] showed up. No one ever reached out to see if I was okay.” –MCC salaried staff who was fired and pressured into signing an NDA as a condition for receiving a severance package. This person shared with MAST that they had not written about the events in their journal, even years later.
Rachael Denhollander, a prominent Christian advocate of institutional accountability in cases of abuse, writes, “Bullies and predators … count on victims being unable to protect themselves. More important, they count on everyone else being too afraid to confront them. I hate injustice, but I hate silence and apathy in the face of injustice even more. Far too often, bullies’ belief that no one will challenge them is both well-founded and devastating for the people they target.”[1]
Will you be one of the people who speaks out?
Check out our new resources to support your efforts: an FAQ to promote discussion about some of the tricky questions; a list of suggestions for congregational engagement; a letter from MC USA pastor Joanna Harader to pastors wrestling with how to address this topic in their congregations.
Consider joining our teal ribbon campaign. Send us a photo of you wearing a ribbon!
Review our list of possible actions at https://www.mccabusesurvivors.org/get-involved.
Let us hear from you! stopmccabuse@proton.me.
————————————————————————————
[1] Rachael Denhollander, What Is a Girl Worth? One Woman’s Courageous Battle to Protect the Innocent and Stop a Predator - No Matter the Cost (New York: Tyndale, 2019), 19.