Gospel for Asia

Gospel for Asia (GFA) is a Christian missionary NGO founded by K. P. Yohannan in 1978, which focuses on evangelizing in India and Asian countries through the use of national missionaries. The organization, once based in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex suburb of Carrollton, Texas is now located in Wills Point, TX. Its primary aim is to support indigenous missions to "serve the 'least of these' in Asia".^[1]

GFA is present in numerous countries, including India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Laos and Thailand.^[2]

Scholar Michael Bergunder considers it to have been "One of the most influential new foundations in the second half of the twentieth century".^[3]

History

In 1981, current president K. P. Yohannan formed a branch of GFA in his native Kerala, with an Indian headquarters being set up in Tiruvalla in 1983. GFA directly administers bible colleges, whose graduates receive financial support to found new congregations. Increasing donations made GFA "one of the most financially powerful mission undertakings in India in the 1980s."^[4] GFA directly supports more than 50 Bible colleges in various countries.^[4][5]

In 1993, GFA began founding its own network of churches in Asia,^[6] which is the Believers Church which uses a Episcopal Polity form of governance.^[7]

Mission statement, vision and programs

The mission statement for GFA is to be devout followers of Christ and to fulfill the Great Commission among the unreached in Asia through training, sending out and assisting qualified laborers in partnership with the Body of Christ.^[8] The goal of GFA focuses on the formation of missionaries native to the nation the missionary is serving, with special emphasis on Asia. It embraces the claim that God himself builds his church in Asia. The organization has defined its primary mission field as being those people that live in the 10/40 Window, a rectangular region extending from west Africa to east Asia and between 10 and 40 degrees north longitude. By concentrating on this region GFA ministers to a dense population of largely poor communities that have had limited or no exposure to the Christian faith.^[9]

Although GFA accepts trainers for Bible translation, the ministry discourages direct missions of Western countries. Yohannan considers that the sending of Western missionaries to areas that are inaccessible to foreign missionaries can result in a waste of resources. He also believes that the imposition of western culture and neo-colonialism should be avoided. In order to increase efficiency and achieve its goals, GFA has become a repository for donations and financial support of Asian missionaries by non-Asian cultures. GFA administers these resources to the various programs listed below within its organization.^[10][11][12]

National missionaries

GFA's main focus is to train and equip national missionaries. Yohannan has stated that he does not limit "national missionaries" to formal nation-states, instead focusing on differences in culture and language to define nationalities. This approach might result in several specialized missionary groups within a single nation-state, from large cities and regions down to small tribes and villages. GFA says that they have over 16,000 missionaries and church planters in over 10 Asian nations^[13][14][15]

Church buildings, bibles and gospel literature

GFA raises funds for the building of simple Christian worship centers in small villages to educate new disciples as well as provide a visible meeting place for Christians. However, they have built several large cathedral type buildings in major cities. Examples are St. Thomas Believers Church Cathedral in Thiruvalla^[16] and another in upscale neighborhood Hauz Khas^[17]. They claim approximately 16 churches or mission stations are created every day . Similarly, GFA states they distribute native-language bibles and evangelical Christian literature to the region in order to strengthen churches and promote proclamation of the Christian faith.^[15]

Radio and television broadcasts

GFA has been producing and airing radio programs since 1986 for those in South Asia who live in some of the most unreached places on the globe. It airs programs in more than 113 languages throughout South Asia. Its Athmeeya Yathra (Spiritual Journey) radio programs "reach more than a billion people and are translated into 11" languages. Athmeeya Yathra was recently expanded to include a television station and print media.^[18] Its Road to Reality radio program is aired on more than 900 radio stations across North America, Europe and Australia.^[19]

Bible colleges

GFA has over 56 bible colleges serving a whole range of cultures and dialects with the purpose of training native missionaries within their own dialects and cultures so that they will be effective ministers. ^[20] The program includes three years of instruction, including field instruction and experience. They claim that over 9000 native missionaries have been trained through these institutions. .

Bridge of Hope

Bridge of Hope is a child sponsorship program for poor families in underserved communities, especially lower-caste families and Dalits. Child sponsorship provides education, three daily meals, and access to medical care. The program also presents the Christian faith to the child as well as to the child’s family. Religious conversion is not required for participation; rather, the service increases exposure to the family and community.^[21][22]

Jesus Wells

GFA digs wells in communities where water is scarce during parts or most of the year. These wells are built for long-term use near churches, bible colleges or Bridge of Hope centers, and each well is maintained by a local pastor. These wells provide free, clean water to individuals regardless of caste, class, social designation or religion. ^[23][24]

Believers' Church Hospitals and Schools

1. REDIRECT Believers_Church#Humanitarian Services

Court Rulings

The operations of GFA and Believers Church were scrutinized after Believers Church, under the guidance of Yohannan, purchased a 2,268-acre (9.18 km²) rubber estate in Kerala, India.^[25][26] Opponents said the church had diverted foreign funds to amass land for itself and for uses other than declared purposes.^[27] Further, it was alleged that the rubber estate, which Believers Church purchased from Harrison's Malayalam Ltd., was on leasehold from the government and not saleable.^[28] Hence, Believers Church was accused of illegally holding government land.^[29] At a later time, Harrison's Malayalam was accused of forging their land title, leading to continued debate about the legality of the sale.^[30]

Legal proceedings are still ongoing. “Former Ernakulam District Collector Dr M G Rajamanickam, who was appointed as the Special Officer of the government to confiscate the illegal and excess estate lands under the custody of various companies, had issued an order in May, 2015, confiscating the 2,268 acre of land from Believers’ Church." However, this ruling was appealed and now there is further complication because the local government wants to build an airport on this estate.^[31] News outlets are reporting that the local government wants to buy the property. However, it is also reported that "The government does not need permission from K P Yohannan to set up airport in the Cheruvally estate, BJP national executive member V Muraleedharan said." ^[32] The BJP is currently behind a large scale anti-corruption crackdown on Black Money inside India. ^[33]

There is also been an ongoing court case regarding the illegal filling in of wetlands in order to build the Believers Church Medical College Hospital.^[34] GFA has been paying a special tax because a "substantial" amount of its income is not used for intended purposes of the fundraising. An Indian court said, "It is not in dispute that substantial income of the assessee trust was not used by both the assessees for the purposes for which they were formed."^[35]

Yohannan says that the claims were politically motivated and that the workings of Gospel for Asia and Believers Church are transparent.^[36][37] Further, the rubber estate is an investment to help fund social work among underdeveloped communities^[26] and not a personal land grab as opponents have stated.

Controversies

The controversy first started in 2014 when a group of over 100 former GFA workers formed an organization called GFA Diaspora and wrote two letters addressed to the GFA board highlighting their concerns.^[38] Their existence became public knowledge in April of 2015.^[39] Then in October 2015, GFA lost their 36-year^[40] membership in the financial standards advocacy group Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, with the ECFA reporting that GFA had not met their standards.^[41][42] The ECFA states that their membership was "Terminated for failure to comply with Standard 2 Governance, Standard 3 Financial Oversight, Standard 4 Use of Resources, Standard 6 Compensation-Setting and Related-Party Transactions, Standard 7.1 Truthfulness in Communications, and Standard 7.2 Giver Expectations and Intent".^[43] The GFA board responded with a statement that noted "ECFA's decision was made after conducting a special review of Gospel for Asia, and we respect ECFA's evaluation. Our response was to begin a focused review and to implement the ECFA's recommended improvements".^[40] However, since that time there has been no publicized action showing any such changes inside GFA.^[44] GFA does not have to file a 990 with the IRS because it has received special status as a Religious Order. ^[45] Because of the lawsuit, no financial information has been released to the public since the ECFA revoked GFA’s membership.^[46]

Instead there are two RICO anti-fraud lawsuits pending against GFA officers seeking to permanently close the US office.^[47] The first is awaiting an appeal by GFA.^[48] The second has a scheduled court day to begin a jury trial on 4/15/2019.^[49] That court case states that in 2013, “Despite GFA’s explicit representations that it would spend in the field 100 percent of every dollar donors designated for the field, GFA spent only $14.9 million of $118.6 million on actual relief efforts, instead spending far more on salaries and overhead,” according to the complaint. "The Murphys(the plaintiffs), of Bentonville, Arkansas, say that Gospel for Asia raised more than $450 million in donations from the United States alone from 2007 to 2013, much of which Yohannan redirected to his personal empire."^[50] Warren Throckmorton had said that the GFA had significant financial reserves that were in contrast with statements made by the group when seeking funds.^[42]

There is also problems with the Canada office, with one newspaper reporting that $90 million in donations could not be accounted for.^[51] The head of that office, Pat Emerick, is also named as a defendant in the Arkansas lawsuits. They also reported that Pastor Bruce Morrison and a recently ousted GFA Canada board member, Garry Cluley, have filed complaints against the office with the Canadian government. There is also news that the United Kingdom GFA office has gotten the attention of the UK Charity Commission which is their government agency that investigates charity related fraud.^[52] Calvary Chapel Church Aukland, New Zealand also evicted the GFA New Zealand office off of their property^[53] which they were allowing them to use.^[54]

See Also

Bibliography

• Michael Brodeur, Banning Liebscher, (2013), Gospel Light Publications, Jan 17, "Revival Culture: Prepare for the Next Great Awakening", Chapter 4, "Indigenous Leaders".
• Yohannan, K.P. (2004). Revolution in World Missions. Gospel for Asia Books. Carrollton, Texas. ISBN 1- 59589-001-7

References

External Links

• Gospel For Asia
• GFA School of Discipleship blog
• Believers' Church