Although 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.