Phoenix Preacher has an email from an assistant of former Gospel for Asia board member Skip Heitzig. Through his assistant Heitzig says there hasn’t been an independent investigation of GFA and the charges are of a “he said/she said” nature. What?
Talk about demoting the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Is ECFA the he or the she?
Perhaps, Rev. Heitzig failed to tell his assistant that GFA was terminated from the ECFA after an independent investigation revealed most of the ECFA standards had been violated. I know that board members were told this. Another former board member Gayle Erwin told me that he was shocked to learn that ECFA terminated GFA and decided not long after to resign.
If Skip Heitzig doesn’t know any facts, why did he resign?
For what it’s worth, I believe Rev. Heitzig and Rev. Walker should try again.
Month: November 2015
Did Gospel for Asia/Believers' Church Buy Cheruvally Estate With a Bank Loan or Donor Funds?
Recently, a reader in India sent a clip of a 2012 interview of K.P. Yohannan on Surya TV and Indian station. In it, Yohannan responds to questions about why he did not respond to charges that Believers’ Church acquired Cheruvally Estate (a rubber plantation) illegally. He also claims that the funds to purchase the rubber plantation in 2005 came from donors who designated their donations to the church on the condition that the funds would be used to purchase income producing property.
The clip is mostly in Malayalam. I was able to secure translations by four Malayalam speakers and found them to be nearly the same. Notice that K.P. Yohannan uses some English in his replies. A composite translation is below the video with the time in parentheses after the English words he says.
Anil Nambiar: The Believers Church is the owner of Cheruvally estate.
K.P. Yohannan: Correct (.04)
AN: There is a claim that Cheruvally estate is taken from revenue land.
KP (interrupts): Simply saying…
AN: …this is an allegation from A.M. Varghese
KP: If there is any estate in Kerala that is not owned by the government for the people or does not have any questions about a clear title (.22), that is Cheruvally estate. I take the blame because I did not publically challenge such allegations.
AN: Why didn’t you come out and publicly challenge it?
KP: Stupidity, It was our foolishness (.33). Because there was some advice from people who I respect, “Your highness, don’t reply to these things. Do things straightforwardly, and you are doing that, why fear? Let them say whatever they want.” But like how got beaten up in darkness then woke up, and this is how it is now. I admit, this is a mistake we made (.53) that we didn’t respond. Because we have nothing to fear as we have not done anything wrong.
Estate…when I travel from Thiruvalla to Trivandrum along the way there are so many land, institutions belonging to other churches. How much more property owned by Amrita (a Hindu sect led by a lady guru called “Amma: meaning mother) has how much property? Why did they buy these?
As for Believers’ Church and Cheruvally estate, donors specifically (1:18) have instructed us to establish an income producing entity (1:23), in the future for you to continue your work. Let me ask you, we spend almost 40 crore rupees to take care of 60,000 children – where does this money come from? Can we campaign to raise money all the time? We have to produce our income (1:43), that is what this is for, for that only. Funds for this are literally given to us by the donors for such purposes only. See (1:52) people will ask, “your highness, your sadness (1:58), your sorrow (2:00), what is that?”
I have looked through the donor reports for Gospel for Asia going back as far as 2004 and I can’t find anything specifically donated to allow Believers’ Church to purchase income producing property. In fact, in the 2013 audited financial statement, GFA doesn’t even list Believers’ Church as a related party and recipient of cash from GFA. I suppose it is possible Yohannan referred to donations from within India which are not a part of the U.S. audit. There are many questions raised by this interview.
Those questions aside, Yohannan told one story to Anil Nambiar about the purchase of the Cheruvally Estate and another story on his GFA website. Read what he said there about the acquisition of the plantation:
In addition to generous giving on the part of its members, theese (sic) churches also generate revenue from literature publishing and other activities. When leaders were presented with the opportunity to purchase an operating rubber plantation for only “pennies on the dollar,” they saw a way to open a new income stream for ministry. But there were stipulations on how the purchase would have to be made.
“The leadership made the decision with the understanding that financing would not come from church or mission funds,” explained Dr. K.P. Yohannan, who is also president of Gospel for Asia, whose native missionaries serve the Asian church. “Rather, it would have to be taken care of from the profits of the estate.”
With that understanding, and the knowledge that the property was being “dumped” at a very low price (about US $19 million), the leaders voted to go forward.
“We made the purchase with a 100 percent bank loan at a very favorable rate,” Dr. Yohannan explained. “And now the loan is being repaid with the profits from the rubber plantation. When it is paid for in six or seven years, all further profits will go directly to fund missions and ministries.”
“I gave my full support to the purchase,” Dr. Yohannan added, “because I know that the future of the church in India depends on its ability to take care of itself.
So which is it? Was the plantation purchased with designated donor funds or by means of “a 100 percent bank loan?”
It wouldn’t be far fetched for Believers’ Church to divert funds; an Indian court declared that the church did just that in 2014. But why tell American donors that the plantation was fully purchased with a bank loan? The two different narratives do not inspire confidence or trust.
In this interview, Yohannan discloses that GFA spends around $7 million (40 crore rupees in 2012) on 60,000 Bridge of Hope children. That is about $117/child a year or just shy of $10/month. BoH sponsors in the U.S. send $35/child. Furthermore, if the plantation and other income producing businesses are funding these programs then what is happening to the U.S. donations?
Calling Former Members of Mars Hill Church to Tell Your Stories
Ben Vandemeer has launched an effort to start a healing conversation about Mars Hill Church. With the able support of former MHC leaders Jeff Bettger and Bryan Zug, the effort is titled Mars Hill: Your Story:
Are we ready to talk about our time at Mars Hill Church?
It’s been almost a year already. The headlines have passed. The body of the church, thousands of us, have moved forward… how are you doing?
There’s a tension around the topic, often an unspoken understanding from those who were there and a polite “what happened with that?” from those who weren’t. There are untold stories and they belong to all of us.
Maybe we should start a conversation.
What follows are open-ended questions to help you share your story to whatever extent you are comfortable.
Questions relate to your involvement at Mars Hill, the closure of the church and your transition since then. When a sizable number of responses have been collected, they will be posted online in one place.
All perspectives on Mars Hill are welcome from anyone who was a member or regular attender during any period of time.
This is not an attempt to seek any particular conclusion or call anyone to action. It is intended to record everyone’s feelings and experiences as equally valid.
Our stories matter and collectively they paint a more complete picture than any one source could.
There are no right or wrong answers. You can be as identified or anonymous as you wish and nothing is saved until you hit “submit”.
Frequently Asked Questions: http://goo.gl/u6Guv5
Many former Mars Hill members and staff still read here so I thought it would be good to let readers know about this. Vandemeer, Bettger, and Zug are hopeful that stories come from Mark Driscoll supporters or sympathizers, people who stayed and transitioned to other churches which were once a part of MHC and from female attenders and participants.
Marco Rubio Again Leads World Magazine's Evangelical Insider Survey
Ted Cruz surged to second place among candidates for President in the survey.
Marco Rubio continues to enjoy strong support from evangelicals surveyed with 44.8% of the respondents choosing Rubio as their first choice. Cruz increased to around 25% with the rest of the candidates lagging behind. Ben Carson’s stock fell and Donald Trump is near the bottom with apparently one respondent picking Trump.
The World survey has made some enemies in recent weeks. Ann Coulter exploded about it because Trump isn’t doing better. World’s J.C. Derrick replied to her rant with some facts.
Although Cruz supporters may take hope in this month’s results, I doubt they will have much more to celebrate. Said plainly, I believe a Cruz nomination assures a Hillary Clinton win. Cruz is not center-right as he implies he is; rather he is far right with supporters who want U.S. law to reflect Old Testament injunctions. He cannot back away from this and maintain any integrity with his base. In the general election, all of the pandering to the right wing fringe will be remembered.
K.P. Yohannan Told Gospel for Asia Staff He Has No Powers as Metropolitan of Believers Church
In the May 14, 2015 staff meeting, Believers’ Church Metropolitan and Gospel for Asia President K.P. Yohannan told staff that he does not sit on any boards or trusts in India and that he had no legal authority. Those declarations came near the end of the meeting. Near the beginning of the meeting, Yohannan set the tone by saying he has no powers as Metropolitan of Believers’ Church. Listen (click the link):
K.P. Yohannan Told Staff He Has No Powers as Metropolitan
Near the end of this short clip (1:20), Yohannan says:
No decision must be made by one individual. For example, I am now the Metropolitan and honestly I have no powers. I am chief among equals. So any decision for the church, faith and practice, ordination is made by the council.
Throughout the meeting, it seemed to be a matter of great importance for GFA leaders to downplay Yohannan’s authority in Believers’ Church. This is puzzling in light of the Believers’ Church Constitution. Click the links the read chapters one and two, and three. See also the segments below to see that Yohannan is the final authority on all matters of faith, practice and administration in the church. He has veto power over his Bishops and their Council.
