Kevin Hagan Says Good-Bye to Feed the Children; Travis Arnold is Interim CEO

In a May 27 tweet, Kevin Hagan posted a link to an article announcing his departure from Feed the Children. According to Hagan, who takes over at the American Diabetes Association tomorrow, he has helped restore some of the positive reputation lost by the massive charity over the past several years.


According to a tweet from Hagan, Travis Arnold, current COO of FTC will take over as Interim CEO. Arnold is also the president of FTC’s wholly owned subsidiary FTC Transportation, a for profit company.
FTC has been embroiled in controversy for much of the last six years. After multiple scandals involving FTC founder Larry Jones, he was relieved of his post in 2009. Even after he was fired, scandal over use of funds continued (e.g., here and here).
In his May 29 article, Hagan takes credit for restoring FTC to a more respected place, along with numerous other accomplishments.
The organizations donations, although still substantial, have been on a decline according to the organization’s 2013 990 form. Revenues are down from a high of just over $615 million in FY 2011 to over $396 million in FY 2013.
Especially given the organization’s recent history, it seems questionable to have the same person running both the non-profit FTC and the for profit trucking subsidiary. FTC’s conflict of interest policy is not available to the public according to the federal 990 form for fiscal year ending 2014.

Believers' Church/Gospel for Asia May Lose Possession of Indian Rubber Plantation

cheruvally estateAlthough not your usual ministry tool, in 2005 Believers’ Church (which is synonymous with Gospel for Asia in India) acquired a working rubber plantation called Cheruvally Estate. The 2263 acre estate was purported to be a money making venture to help make Believers’ Church self-sufficient and according to reports in the Indian press cost just over $14.3 million.
Today, the Indian government is poised to take control of three properties once belonging to Harrison Malayalam, India’s largest producer of rubber. One of those properties is the Cheruvally Estate. It is not clear what if any compensation Gospel for Asia will receive. The government claims that Harriason Malayalam never had the right to sell the land in the first place.
The property has been in dispute since it was first acquired.
 
 
 
 

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert Charged with Structuring Payments

CashAlthough not normally of interest to me, I took a look at the hush money charges against former Speaker Dennis Hastert because of the additional wrinkle that he structured his bank withdrawals to avoid federal requirements to report those actions.
Such structuring is illegal whether one is an misguided creation science proponent, as in the case of Kent Hovind, or a mission organization moving over $10,000 out of the country without declaring it at customs, as former and current students and staff at Gospel for Asia have alleged.
I have learned a new term for using multiple people to move money to evade declaration – “smurfing.” Papa smurf arranges for all the little smurfs to carry the load, in the case of GFA envelopes of cash in their backpacks or suitcases, until they arrive at their destination.
Watch for more on this…

Mars Hill Church Dissolving "Soon"

Mars Hill Fellowship’s (the corporate name of the enterprise that was Mars Hill Church) president Kerry Dodd is looking for work. According to his Linked In page, Mars Hill Fellowship as an entity will dissolve “soon.” The end is near enough that he says he is “starting the search for his next endeavor where he can excel and make a difference.”  He describes his old difference making endeavor as:

A $30M, community-focused organization with 15 locations in five states, focused on enriching lives in the U.S., and around the world through digital media of biblical-based motivational talks. The organization recently launched 11 independent entities and is now dissolving.

“Biblical-based motivational talks?”
The current COO is Caleb Walters.
There is much unfinished business at the Entity, but it appears that the community-focused organization will soon leave its community in the dark.
Correction: Earlier I said that Frank Park was still Mark Driscoll’s assistant. Not so, according to good sources. He has moved on. I regret that I did not check that out before I printed it.