Beginning in mid-June, some donors and former donors to Gospel for Asia began receiving a letter from GFA CEO K.P. Yohannan. That letter is below. Yohannan doesn’t actually address any of the matters of smurfing money to India, surpluses in India, funds unaccounted for and the role of Yohannan in the Believers’ Church.
I am going to provide the letter along with my comments.
From: [email protected]
Date:
Subject: Gospel for Asia
To:
Dear Friend in Christ,
Greetings in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Thank you for your commitment to the Great Commission and to Gospel for Asia’s role in seeking its fulfillment. While there is much to share with you about how God is working through Gospel for Asia and how we are seeking to reach the millions of souls still waiting to hear the Good News of the Gospel, that is, unfortunately, not the purpose of this letter. What I have to share with you today relates to criticism that you have recently heard about Gospel for Asia by several former staff members.
In June of 2014, we received a letter from 37 former employees outlining some concerns they had about the organization. After receiving their letter, our first reaction was to consider each of the charges made against us, asking God to show us where we may have been in error. With a desire to seek reconciliation with each person, we reached out one by one to all who signed the letter. Unfortunately, we were only given the opportunity to reconcile with one of the signatories. But we praise God for bringing about reconciliation with that one!
After unsuccessfully trying to seek biblical reconciliation with the entire group, our board designated one member to conduct a formal inquiry into the outlined complaints. To ensure a fair and unbiased process, I along with my wife, son and members of the board, recused ourselves from participating in the investigation. At the same time, our leadership team examined our human resources policies and procedures, making improvements wherever possible, and affirmed the freedoms afforded to those called to the work of Gospel for Asia. The board investigation concluded the following:
“We are broken-hearted and repentant that we damaged by our actions and attitudes any believer for whom we had responsibility by relationship.”
“[We] feel that your [the authors of the letter of complaint] other accusations are without foundation in terms of the fulfilling of our call to enlarge the Kingdom of God.“
I want to acknowledge there have been times when I have not communicated with enough grace nor with enough clarity when speaking to members of our staff. It has always been my goal to keep short accounts and ask the Lord each day to show me where I have offended someone, so that I might seek the forgiveness of God and the one I have offended. I am not perfect and thank God that he is gentle with me as I seek to serve him. I will not apologize for the zeal I have for God’s work, but I do sincerely apologize for the times I have been insensitive to those working along side me.
It grieves my heart that this matter has gained outside attention and is now causing distraction from our mission of reaching the people of Asia with the Gospel, and I wanted you to hear directly from me how saddened I am. I am grieved not only for those who have felt it necessary to take such actions against the ministry, but also for the people of Asia who do not currently know our Lord and Savior.
Because I believe that disputes among brothers and sisters in Christ should be handled in a manner that accords with the Scripture, I have not issued a blanket response and have chosen to not respond any further to incoming media requests for comments. We have no desire to carry out a dispute between brothers and sisters in Christ in front of a lost and dying world.
As our financial partner, I want you to know that we take the responsibility of stewarding your resources well with the utmost seriousness. While we cannot publicly disclose all of our financial information to protect the safety of workers on the field, we submit to an independent audit and the review of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
As I conclude this letter, I want you to know that Gospel for Asia’s motivation has always been to reach as many people as possible in Asia with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and grow in our ability to reflect the character of Christ in our own organization. We want to fulfill our role in carrying out the Great Commission. And we want to reflect God’s love, wisdom and uprightness as we serve in his name.
Regarding those former employees with unresolved concerns, it is my desire to reconcile when possible and disagree in love when necessary, so that we might stand together in our commitment to spreading the Gospel throughout Asia. I hope you will pray for a speedy and godly resolution to this situation. But most of all, I hope you will continue to intercede for the millions in Asia waiting to hear of God’s love for them. May they come to know the One who died for them—and for me.
Please know you are extremely important to the mission of our organization, and I want to invite you to contact me with any further questions or concerns. Be assured that you will be heard.
For those who need the love of Jesus,
K.P. Yohannan
[email protected]
Some comments. On the 37 former staff letter, please recall that it is now over 80 former staff that have raised the concerns. Yohannan said:
Unfortunately, we were only given the opportunity to reconcile with one of the signatories. But we praise God for bringing about reconciliation with that one!
GFA has had the opportunity to meet but hasn’t. Please see the former staff website for a history of this dispute between GFA and the former staff.
From the letter:
Because I believe that disputes among brothers and sisters in Christ should be handled in a manner that accords with the Scripture, I have not issued a blanket response and have chosen to not respond any further to incoming media requests for comments. We have no desire to carry out a dispute between brothers and sisters in Christ in front of a lost and dying world.
As our financial partner, I want you to know that we take the responsibility of stewarding your resources well with the utmost seriousness. While we cannot publicly disclose all of our financial information to protect the safety of workers on the field, we submit to an independent audit and the review of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
I and others have gone to GFA prior to publication on various matters and they have not replied. Furthermore, the financial matters are not Matthew 18 issues but rather part of accountability as a non-profit organization and public charity. The rest of this is a non-answer and another great illustration of how the ECFA isn’t working for donors.
Basically the message is GFA is too busy winning millions to Jesus and we can’t be bothered with petty questions. This is the same K.P. Yohannan that posted the following on the GFA website:
And if you hear something about Gospel for Asia that doesn’t sound right, would you please contact us—via email or phone—and let us know? Whenever there are accusations, we seek to immediately respond. We don’t walk away or cover it up. Most often, these are simply rumors or misunderstandings. And if we are wrong, we are happy for the opportunity to repent and make things right. We desire to walk in the light with the Lord and with our brothers and sisters.
The fact is GFA is not answering questions or responding, immediately or otherwise. With this new letter, K.P. Yohannan continues the spin.