A Safe Place For All

Many years ago when I was a graduate student teaching in the Child Development Lab, a mother came to me. She was physically shaking, devastated, and enraged. Between sobs, she told me she’d just found out her four-year-old daughter had been molested by a babysitter’s husband. She wanted input for any unusual behaviors the girl might have exhibited in my class. In my mid-twenties then, I was saddened this type of abuse could happen to an innocent child.  Years later, I still wonder what became of this case and whether the child recovered from those horrendous experiences.

Child abuse and neglect is regrettably far more common than we might think. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in five women globally and one in thirteen men report having been sexually abused as a minor. These numbers are likely an underestimate since many cases are never reported. The lifetime economic burden associated with child abuse and neglect rivals the cost of other high-profile public health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. Childhood abuse isn’t something you “get over.”  It is an evil we must acknowledge and confront if we are to care for the precious gifts from God that are children.

Since 1.4 million children globally participate in BCM-related programs each year, BCM leadership pays close attention to this issue. In March 2024, BCM president Dr. Rick Rhoads with six other BCM missionaries representing Asia, Africa, and North America attended a global conference sponsored by Child Safety and Protection Network.  The conference and pre-training were held in a beautiful centuries-old seminary campus in Malaga, Spain.  About sixty mission organizations and international Christian schools with approximately 175 total global leaders were in attendance. The purpose was to train global leaders in the significance of safeguarding children by creating organizational vision, cultivating a safe culture, and conducting wholistic ministry to honor God.

For BCM, “we can keep kids safer” is not just a slogan but a reality that can be obtained.  Since our mission is reaching children with the gospel, it is also our responsibility to safeguard them from harm. It was encouraging to network with other like-minded organizations during this conference. BCM leadership shared what we’ve learned as an organization in almost ninety years of children’s ministry, and we in turn encountered new resources to make our own safety program stronger.

Since the conference, the seven BCM team members have been meeting to prioritize the tasks placed before us. This includes forming a global child safety team headed by BCM’s personnel department. Among top priorities are revising the current BCM Child Safety and Vulnerable People Handbook, developing a three-to-five-year child safety plan, and working on child-safety training and curriculum at different levels within BCM.