Dear Fellow Members of the Body of Believers:

Over the past year, since the revelation that Mike Bickle, by his own confession, engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior, there has been much heartache, and a cloud of confusion remains over a significant portion of the Charismatic wing of the Body of Believers. This is due in part to the seeming inability of leaders to govern such situations properly. Because there are still several alleged victims of abuse from former IHOPKC leaders, there has been a great desire to see a third-party independent investigation. We, in Tikkun, have called for this numerous times. 

And then in early June, the Advocate Group (AG) asked if we would oversee such an investigation. We will share more on that later.

Many of you might be wondering: Who is Tikkun, and who do they think they are coordinating an investigation? Both are valid questions. Tikkun is a Messianic Jewish network of congregations and ministries based in Jerusalem. We have been close with IHOPKC and its leadership for decades. Honestly, we enter this process reluctantly. We recognize the warning of Galatians 6, to deal with sin only in an attitude of grace and humility.  At the same time, we are entering this process in the hope that when the facts are verified, much healing could come to the Body of Christ.

We had hoped that there would be other, much larger US-based groups that would have taken a role in coordinating an investigation of these allegations. It has been difficult for us even to consider being involved in such a sensitive and time-consuming task, particularly while our own country is at war. That does not mean we have not deeply grieved for the Body of Believers over this past year. So, when the AG requested our involvement, we took it to prayer.

What Are We Talking About?

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1. A professional investigative team will thoroughly examine allegations.

2. That team will produce a report which will be made public.

3. An additional team will be put together, made up of men and women with experience in church leadership, who will make disciplinary recommendations for corrective actions.

4. Because we have no actual governing authority here, these recommendations will be non-binding.

 

We want to be 100% clear: we support the many precious saints who have chosen to remain at IHOPKC to continue to seek the Lord, day and night. We also support those who have chosen for varying reasons to leave IHOPKC and, perhaps, are seeking to participate in day and night worship and prayer in a different context. We acknowledge the enormous contribution IHOPKC has made to 24/7 prayer around the world. We know this has been a harrowing and confusing season for many of you.

With many other leaders in the Body of Messiah, we have felt that only a third-party independent investigation, where the results would be made public, could bring clarity and justice. Someone once said sunlight is the best disinfectant. It seems that most independent congregations are not prepared to deal properly with allegations of sexual misconduct/abuse. They don’t have a plan and often just “wing it.” In the process, the truth rarely comes out, and many innocent believers are wounded.

In late June, several people in what has been dubbed “The Advocate Group” (AG) contacted us. The AG is not a formal group—or at least it was not at the start. The AG is a collection of former IHOPKC leaders who were made aware of allegations of sexual misconduct and sought to confront them.

Why Tikkun?

They requested that our leadership team oversee an independent investigation. They recognized that many people in the Body of Believers would not trust them because they had brought the initial allegations. There were several attempts by the AG and the IHOPKC board to do a joint investigation, but for several reasons, that we will not go into here, those never came to fruition.

Plus, we believe such attempts missed the need of a third-party team of elders to oversee the process, and an additional team of respected elders to receive the report and make recommendations. Knowing that we have had a long history of friendship with IHOPKC, the AG turned to us.

We, at Tikkun, met as a board and prayed. After several hours, we had a sense of confirmation to move forward. We don’t say that lightly. We are not policemen or judges. Like many of you, we simply want to see the cloud dissipate and for clarity to emerge, so we can all move forward. Our hope has been to do this in cooperation with the IHOPKC board.

The IHOPKC Board’s Response

We contacted the IHOPKC board and asked if they were open to endorsing this process. We explained that the AG was fully submitting to this investigation and is turning over all material they have to the investigator. The AG would encourage those who have not yet come forward to do so and speak to the selected investigator.

We met several times with IHOPKC leaders and assured them that the investigator was solid. We were clear that we had no agenda to hurt IHOPKC. They had more questions and concerns. Some of the leaders met together with us to interview the investigator.

As the process continued, we let the IHOPKC board know that we felt it was right for us to move forward with the investigation. We explained our belief that the best thing for all involved would be a thorough and transparent investigation into the allegations.

During our meetings with the IHOPKC board, it became apparent that it was too difficult for them to come to an agreement to endorse this investigation. We are hopeful that they might embrace it at a future point.

We Have Three Main Goals:

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1. Any victims of sexual misconduct/abuse need to be heard, loved, and encouraged within proper channels that they can deem safe. 

2. Conduct a basic fact-finding investigation to get accurate details so that allegations of leadership sexual misconduct or cover-ups of such are neither overblown nor understated.

3. To build a positive future for those who feel called to give their lives to 24/7 prayer and worship, as well as healing and encouragement for all involved.

We want to be very clear: we are not the investigators, and we will not be doing the investigation. We have hired the services of a professional team that has decades of experience, not only in police work but in the delicate process of evaluating complaints and allegations of sexual misconduct. They are committed to impartiality.

After we met with their lead investigator, we were unanimously impressed and in favor of using their company. They have no vendettas and no mission other than finding out what happened.

The Scope:

The two-fold scope is very clear. The team will investigate allegations of:

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1. Sexual misconduct/abuse by IHOPKC leaders.

2. The cover-up of sexual misconduct/abuse by leaders at IHOPKC.
    

[To read the full scope that the investigator will be using, click HERE.]

The investigators will not look into every aspect of IHOPKC’s management over the past 25 years. However, allegations of clergy sexual misconduct/abuse and cover-ups are serious in nature and cannot be ignored. In addition, it is reported by the Advocate Group that there are more than a few alleged victims who have not yet spoken to an investigator.

We cannot judge the reasons why victims choose to come forth or not. It is not for us to tell them how to confront their abuse or abusers, neither when, nor in what manner. The responsibility of leadership in the Body of Christ is to listen and ensure a proper hearing, while extending pastoral care.

The Body of Christ must differentiate between acts of adultery and clergy sexual misconduct/abuse. Sadly, there are consensual sinful adult sexual relationships that take place all over the world. However, when someone is a spiritual leader, such as a pastor or leader of a parachurch ministry, that leader carries a level of influence, celebrity, and power that must be handled with a greater humility and responsibility.

The Report

At the conclusion of the investigation, the investigator will produce a detailed report. The report will accurately convey all the facts without including overly graphic details. That report will be made public. The facts will speak for themselves. In this report, we will honor the request of victims who wish to remain anonymous.

Pastor Recommendation Team

Our team at Tikkun is helping to oversee and facilitate this process. We will gather a group of senior leaders in the Body of Christ, male and female, and ask them to review the results. In 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks of the church making judgments on non-criminal disputes (if the investigation uncovers potential criminal activity, it will be referred to local law enforcement). The majority of the senior Pastor Recommendation Team will be elder-level leaders from outside Tikkun, and together, recommendations will be made.

We are going into this with complete impartiality. The Pastor Recommendation Team will only use the investigation results to come to conclusions. The investigative team knows very little of the reports in the media. The team leader is a Christian but not part of the Charismatic world.

Tikkun and Conflict of Interest

It was pointed out in our first meeting with the IHOPKC board, that Tikkun may have a conflict of interest because we have been the beneficiaries of significant financial donations from IHOPKC over the years. IHOPKC has indeed been a conduit of financial support to Tikkun for many years, and we are grateful. We have many dear friends at IHOPKC, who love Israel and pray for us. We have sent quite a few of our young people to do internships there.

However, we would remind everyone that we were initially approached by the Advocate Group. They are fully aware of how we have been blessed by IHOPKC, and that was of no concern to them. When our names were listed as potential beneficiaries for the new church that was proposed in Kansas City, we immediately asked that our names be removed. The Advocate Group trusted us and believed that our relationship with IHOPKC would increase the probability that the results would be accepted. 

Lastly, IHOPKC, unfortunately, has gone through a difficult time financially and has informed all our emissaries that they will no longer be able to support us. Simply put, this is not about money but about victims of sexual misconduct, calling leaders to high character standards, and believing God for purification in the Body of Believers.

Updates

During the investigation, we will give updates every few weeks, simply so you know that we did not disappear, and that the investigation is ongoing. We will not be commenting on the investigation beyond what is written in this document unless we feel the need to clarify. This is a working document. If legitimate concerns arise regarding this statement and/or the investigation, we will address them here, or in a separate statement.

Contacting the Investigator

If you consider yourself a victim of sexual misconduct/abuse at IHOPKC, we encourage you to contact the investigator, Jim Holler, by phone (717) 752-4219 or by email at jimholler@hollertraining.com. You may also confidentially provide information through the website: https://www.fireflyisai.com/ihopkc.

If you are a leader or a former leader in IHOPKC who has committed sexual misconduct/abuse or helped to cover it up, we urge you to contact and cooperate with the investigator and speak to your own accountability team or pastor.

Media

Ron Cantor, one of our senior team members in Tikkun, will serve as media contact. You may contact Ron at investigation@tikkunglobal.org. In this role, Ron is directing communication and handling responses but is not involved in the investigation itself.

Cost of the Investigation

The fundraising for the cost of the investigation is dependent upon the generosity of believers across the Body of Christ to support this process. All donations will go through the National Christian Foundation (NCF) and be processed by them. Tikkun will use those funds to pay the investigative team. We will not receive any part of the donations. 

Tikkun also plans to donate financially to this fund through the NCF. The NCF receives only a nominal fee of 1% on donations. All donations will go to the costs of the investigation. We want to ensure transparency and will publish a complete financial report. An external financial audit will be provided. We expect the total cost to be approximately $100,000. Please consider donating towards this effort.

In Messiah,

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Asher Intrater, Team Leader

Dan Juster

Richard Cleary

Melva Phelps

Ron Cantor