On this page you’ll find all of our investigative reporting on Kanakuk Kamps.
Missouri judge denied camp’s motion to dismiss
A Kanakuk Kamps sexual abuse survivor can continue his lawsuit, according to a Missouri judge.
The lawsuit was brought in 2022 by a former camper who was abused by Pete Newman.
The lawsuit brought by former camper Logan Yandell against Kanakuk Kamps in Branson, Missouri, has been dismissed.
Motions filed by defendants Kanakuk and ACE American Insurance Co. to dismiss a recent amendment to Logan Yandell’s lawsuit against Kanakuk Kamps for civil conspiracy have been denied.
As the September 25 parole hearing for serial child sexual abuser Peter Newman quickly approaches, survivors and advocates continue to call for support in urging the Missouri Department of Corrections Board and Parole to deny his possible release.
Matthew Harmon was arrested last week for an incident in 2007.
A former Kanakuk Kamps staffer was arrested for child sexual assault and released on bond in Dallas, Texas, late last week.
Kanakuk survivors and their families spoke in favor of the bill.
A proposed Missouri bill would extend the statute of limitations for child victims of sexual abuse to file a civil action for an additional 10 years to age 41.
In its answer, the insurer argues that Kanakuk failed to state a claim for relief against it.
ACE American Insurance Company denies it must provide coverage to Kanakuk Kamps for claims filed against the camp by sexual abuse survivor Logan Yandell.
Sexual abuse survivor Logan Yandell has sued the camp for fraud
Logan Yandel can continue pursuing the lawsuit he filed in Missouri against Kanakuk Ministries and Joe White, president of Kanakuk, after the judge denied a motion by the defendants to have it dismissed.
MinistryWatch President Warren Smith comments on two stories in the week’s news, Kanakuk Kamps and the Allen Stanford settlement.
Kanakuk abuse survivors testified at a hearing last month on new legislation that would modify the legal process for reporting child sexual abuse.
Logan Yandell is a Kanakuk camp sexual abuse victim who filed a lawsuit for fraud against the camp today.
A documentary made by VICE News about the alleged sexual abuse cases at Kanakuk camps in southwest Missouri won a 2022 Emmy award for “Outstanding Hard News Feature Story: Long Form.”
A series of stories published by the Springfield News-Leader today tells the stories of previously silent sex abuse victims and others who say Missouri-based Kanakuk Kamps did not do enough to protect them when they were campers there.
Two Branson, Missouri, men have shared their stories of abuse at the hands of a former counselor at Kanakuk Kamps with the Springfield News-Leader, saying Pete Newman groomed them for abuse starting when they were 13.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) has named Kanakuk Kamps to its annual “Dirty Dozen List.”
Kanakuk Kamps, a large Christian ministry near Branson, Missouri, that has been plagued by uncertainty since a counselor was convicted of sexually abusing campers a decade ago, responded to a recent open letter from victims by posting a new statement on its website expressing remorse for its past actions and suggesting ways to move forward.
Kanakuk Ministries was the subject of a recent investigative report by VICE Media that, for the first time, publicly named one of the survivors of the sexual abuse that took place at the popular Christian summer camp.
A group of sexual abuse victims and family members went public with their concerns about former Kanakuk counsellor Peter Newman in an interview that aired on the CBS affiliate in Dallas. The story aired last Thursday, and is now on the station’s website.
Petition asks that victims be released from non-disclosure agreements
A petition drive whose organizers hope to force Kanakuk Ministries to release sexual abuse victims from non-disclosure agreements they signed as part of financial agreements has now reached 15,000 signatures.
Kanakuk Ministries has demanded that the owners of a website called FactsAboutKanakuk.com “cease & desist” from activities that Kanakuk’s attorney says “violates the law in several areas.”
According to court documents and reports in the Springfield News-Leader, “The plaintiff says he suffered sex abuse while he attended a Christian youth camp based near Branson.”
After doing a thorough review of these articles internally, we have determined that certain aspects of those stories do require correction or clarification. However, we also believe that most of the concerns expressed by Kanakuk’s attorneys are not concerns with errors in the articles, but with facts or opinions they do not like. While we decline to “retract” the articles, we set forth below specific corrections and clarifications that we believe are appropriate.
Kanakuk Ministries and related organizations received a total of $3.295-million in PPP funds on April 3, 2020. Most of the funds went to Kanakuk Ministries, with $166,700 going to Kanakuk Institute and $698,500 going to Kids Across America. These loans came from the Central Bank of Branson. K Life ministries also received an additional $459,400 on May 1, 2020 from Regions Bank.
Court Documents Suggest Nearly 60 Kanakuk Sex Abuse Victims
Court Documents Suggest Nearly 60 Kanakuk Sex Abuse Victims
Joe and Debbie-Jo White Paid At Least $2-Million by Kanakuk from 2014-2017
Editor’s Note: This article has been revised based on concerns raised by Kanakuk Ministries. See editor’s note below. To read our full response to the concerns raised by Kanakuk, please click here. An analysis of the financial statements by MinistryWatch, with the assistance of the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, reveals what the Trinity Foundation calls a “suspicious” pattern of self-dealing between Kanakuk and founder “Coach” Joe White and his family. Kanakuk Ministries is one of the…
FactsAboutKanakuk.com has timeline and petition calling for complete transparency
Kanakuk Kamps is one of the largest Christian camps in the nation. Each summer, more than 20,000 kids from age 7-17 pay thousands of dollars each to stay at the camp. Some of the most prominent leaders in the evangelical world have worked with the camp and its leaders, Joe and Debbie-Jo White. But a new website, called FactsAboutKanakuk.com claims that “Kanakuk’s reputation and reach conceals a dark secret. For decades, Joe White and other…
Summit Ministries, Young Life among those who've announced 2021 plans
After the bummer summer of 2020—when COVID caused many Christian camps to limit or cancel sessions, and three Christian camps spawned major outbreaks—most are looking forward to 2021 as a chance to return to normal, or something like it.
Kanakuk Hosted Thousands This Summer
A COVID-19 outbreak at a popular Christian youth camp raises questions about its choice to open for the summer.
