For close to 40 years Gospel for Asia (GFA) has raised support from western countries. Until recently there have not been disclosures of how this money was used on the mission field in Asia. When the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) reviewed how GFA was spending donations on the mission field, the ECFA removed GFA from their 36-year charter membership and standing. The purpose of DonorBeWise.com is to help individuals understand the issues surrounding GFA.
Be wise stewards of the resources the Lord has blessed you with. Read through these reports and illustrations, weigh them for yourself.
Key News Stories 2015-2020:
Organization forced to refund donors $37 million in U.S. now soliciting in N.L.
Many people in this province recently received a catalogue in the mail from Gospel for Asia (GFA). The catalogue advertises goats, cows and even churches that can be purchased through donations just in time for Christmas.
But in March, the organization was ordered to refund $37 million to its donors in the United States, NTV News has learned through Charity Intelligence Canada (CIC). It has also been stripped of its membership in the Evangelical Council for financial accountability.
Murphy v Gospel for Asia, Inc., et al.
If you donated money to Gospel for Asia between January 1, 2009 and March 22, 2019, you could receive money from a class action settlement. The proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit may affect your rights. Read the information contained on this website carefully because it explains decisions and actions you must take now. http://www.gfaclassaction.us/
Soft Media Coverage of Gospel for Asia’s $37 Million Settlement Shows Need for Hard-Hitting Blogs
Amazingly, somehow Gospel for Asia or Believers Church aka Believers Eastern Church – GFA Ayana Charitable Trust continues to somehow still get funds into India, as it would seem they are still collecting donations in the West and abroad – even after all that is reported from a news outlet in India.
See full article at OpIndia:
As reported by Organiser, the FCRA crackdown has resulted in an abrupt decline of 40% of foreign inflow of funds. Several organisations have lost their FCRA registrations including the Believers Church, Ayana Charitable Trust, Love India Ministries and Last Hour Ministry. The Believers Church, one of the biggest missions in Kerala, had an inflow of about Rs 1,348.65 crore foreign aid until 2016. Their registrations were cancelled in 2017.
Gospel for Asia Settles RICO Lawsuit; Agrees to $37-Million Settlement
Read at your own discretion:
Man held on charge of defaming Believers’ Church
Articles Addressing Gospel for Asia’s Financial and Workplace Ethics
Christianity Today: 12/2015
- Report Details Why Gospel for Asia Lost ECFA Membership
- Why Gospel for Asia Got Kicked Out of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
Included in the report, longtime GFA board member Gayle Erwin releases documents on missions agency’s troubled management.
Christianity Today: 10/2015
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA): 9/2015
In this letter dated Sept. 2, 2015, exactly one month before the ECFA cut ties with GFA, 16 key concerns about the way GFA conducts its financial affairs are highlighted.
Gospel for Asia (GFA), an international Christian ministry already under fire, hoarded as much as $259 million …
- Gospel for Asia sued for fraud
- Also, previously published on World Magazine – December 2015, now removed: Gospel for Asia’s cash reserves under scrutiny, available at Crosswalk.com
GFA promised donors their contributions would be used for specific purposes the donors themselves selected, the lawsuit notes, such as buying blankets or camels for poor families or motorbikes for missionaries, especially in regions of South Asia, where the ministry concentrates most of its work. GFA did not keep such promises, the lawsuit contends.
“K.P. Yohannan and his Gospel for Asia inner circle have been exploiting the goodwill and generosity of devout Christians around the country for years,” said the plaintiffs’ lead attorney Marc R. Stanley in a prepared statement. “Gospel for Asia should return all the money it’s taken from donors who thought they were contributing to charity.”
From Former Board Member: Gayle Erwin
- Report for Gospel for Asia Board Concerning Accusations
- Letter of Apology to J.D. Smith
Excerpt:
Hello J. D. Smith, I received your email asking for my help in putting the GFA controversy to rest in a godly manner. You are, of course, aware of my resignation, along with Damian Kyle and Skip Heitzig, from the board of GFA. This ended 30 years of board service for me, service in which I never missed a meeting …
GFA Diaspora
Articles on the Class Action Lawsuit
Why did Gospel For Asia send money to India in students’ backpacks?
From Christian Today
International Office Concerns
Gospel for Asia Australian Office:
- Charity Review: Gospel for Asia (Australia) Inc, charity review (Ted Sherwood)
This is a charity review, a review, for supporters and potential supporters, of the Australian charity Gospel for Asia (Australia) Inc (GFAA).
Gospel for Asia Canadian Office:
- Gospel for Asia charity facing allegations of fraud totalling nearly $94 million
Head of Canadian arm of charity, Pat Emerick, named in U.S. class action suit; as a Nova Scotia pastor says he has filed complaints against the charity with the CRA and RCMP.
Great Nonprofits
Volunteers and donors use Great Nonprofits to search for ratings and reviews of nonprofits in their town.
Read for yourself all the reviews on Great Nonprofits. Below is the most recent entry.
Read all reviews at Great nonprofits …
After giving over 100,000 dollars to this ministry over the course of 11 years, I must retract everything I held dear about them. Please Google Warren Throckmorton’s blog to see what they have done to us – their big donors and volunteers. They have lied to Evangelicals to get their money. I was a volunteer for 9 years, and went to India with them, and have met KP twice. I ignored what I saw in India and wish I hadn’t. I saw the best of intentions. Well now I realize the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I regret all the friends I dragged into this ministry. They may have started off with the Gospel being the focus, but now it is a way for KP to build his empire.
JUNE 2018
The American Lawyer
Harriet Miers’ Nonprofit Client Hit With Discovery Abuse Sanctions
JUNE 4, 2018
Federal Judge Sanctions Gospel for Asia in Fraud Case
On June 4, federal Judge Timothy Brooks sanctioned mission giant Gospel for Asia in the ongoing fraud case of Murphy v. Gospel for Asia for failure to produce evidence as requested multiple times by the court. The court found that GFA “needlessly squandered the resources of the parties … and put an ‘extraordinary drain on the Court’s resources,” and that GFA’s “abusive conduct in this case since August constitutes a willful violation of its discovery orders.”