UPDATE 2 (10/8/15) – This morning I noticed that now two-thirds of endorsements on the GFA website are now missing. Prior to the GFA’s loss of ECFA membership, there were 18 endorsers on the GFA endorsements page. Now there are six: Patrick Johnstone, George Verwer, Luis Bush, Dan Wooding, Suellen Roberts and Frank Wright.
Now missing are Francis Chan, Ray Comfort, Emeal Zwayne, William Blount, Katey Hearth, Karol Ladd, Sharon Geiger, Jeff Lutes, Ashley Elliot, Barbara Dowling, Terry Powell, and Megan Basham.
Only Ray Comfort and Emeal Zwayne have issued any kind of statement.
UPDATE: I just received this from Daniel at Living Waters: “Yes, at this time Living Waters has temporarily pulled its endorsement of GFA, while awaiting further information.”
I also see that another name has been pulled from the list: William Blount
Francis Chan’s video endorsement is now missing.
It remains up here.
………………..
More big names are missing from the Gospel for Asia endorsements page. Just recently, Ray Comfort and Emeal Zwayne, both affiliated with Living Waters, were featured endorsers of Gospel for Asia. Now their names and endorsements are gone.
If you check out the endorsement page now, those names aren’t listed. I wrote Living Waters for confirmation and will add any communication I receive.
I am not sure why someone would pull an endorsement but stay silent about it. Apparently, Francis Chan is taking this approach. Some of his endorsements are missing from the GFA website but he has declined to reply to multiple requests for comment on his position.
UPDATE: David Cooke, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church of Riverhead, NY has been pulled from the list of pastor endorsers (see Google cache).
Category: Charity
Has Francis Chan Dropped His Endorsement of Gospel for Asia?
Francis Chan once was here but now is not.
Yesterday, he was there:
Today, he isn’t:
He is also missing from this page as of this morning.
Chan’s recommendation is elsewhere on the GFA website, hence the question (Francis Chan’s video endorsement is now missing. It remains up here.). I have reached out to Chan on many occasions, including yesterday and today with no answer. It is possible that the overworked website staff at GFA haven’t been able to keep up and the other locations on GFA’s website will soon disappear.
Francis Chan’s video endorsement is now missing. His endorsement remains up here and here.
Actually, this was a result of sneaking the endorsement off the page.
Gospel for Asia Responds to ECFA but Fails to Address Troubling Questions
Earlier this evening, Gospel for Asia leadership posted a response to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability after the ECFA voted on October 2nd to terminate GFA’s membership.
The statement:
Our Response — ECFA
October 5, 2015
For more than 30 years, Gospel for Asia Inc. has been a member of Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Gospel for Asia values and respects both the high standards of ECFA and the good advice they have given us.
This past year GFA had four extensive meetings with ECFA representatives about fiduciary matters. Although there were no findings of money missing, ECFA felt that some of our procedures and practices did not line up with their Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship. GFA was grateful for ECFA’s input and put into practice every suggestion that was mentioned in these meetings. We were not always in agreement with ECFA’s conclusions, but were glad to continue in our relationship and make the adjustments that they advised.
Nevertheless, on October 2, 2015 the ECFA Board of Directors terminated our long-time membership. Although this is disappointing, Gospel for Asia accepts the decision with regret and sadness.
Our greatest concern is for our friends and donors who deserve an explanation as to why this cancellation happened. This will be given in due time through our regular communication channels. In the meantime, we thank our supporters for not jumping to conclusions until those explanations have been made and for continuing to cover us with their prayers.
The expansion of any organization is always filled with growth pains, and we look at these issues questioned by ECFA as a time to learn and grow, increasing our understanding in areas where we have been unintentionally negligent. While we will be working to improve our reporting of financial matters to donors, we will always be cautious about disclosing anything that may jeopardize the safety of ministry partners working in areas hostile to the Gospel. We continually look to the Lord for His wisdom and guidance in often complicated international financial and political environments. We believe that much of the conversation we have had with ECFA has indeed been part of the Lord showing us the way and how to walk in it. We are truly grateful for this part of our journey in learning how to better serve our Lord Jesus, our donors and sponsors, and our field partners as we go forward.
Gospel for Asia Leadership
Yes, GFA, your friends and donors deserve an explanation. Instead, GFA has again delayed and deflected donors with promises but no substance.
Essentially, GFA is claiming they did everything ECFA asked but ECFA dropped them anyway. Given that ECFA has no recent history of dropping organizations where leaders seek compliance after a period of non-compliance (e.g., Mars Hill Church), this is not a credible response and does nothing to inspire confidence in their stewardship.
Ministry Watch Alert: Donors Should Immediately Cease Donations to Gospel for Asia
Rusty Leonard at Ministry Watch today issued the following statement on his website (see also ECFA’s statement which is included below):
Gospel For Asia Expelled from ECFA – Donors Should Cease Donations
The self-regulatory body for Christian ministries, the Evangelical Counsel for Financial Accountability (ECFA) late Friday announced Gospel for Asia (GFA) had been expelled from the group for violating most of its Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship all members commit to uphold. Clearly, there has been extensive problems uncovered at the ministry as a result of an audit/review of GFA’s operations starting in June 2015 and concluding on October 2, 2015. GFA had been a founding member of the ECFA and thus a member for the past 36 years. DONORS TO GOSPEL FOR ASIA SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CEASE MAKING DONATIONS TO THE MINISTRY. While the ECFA did not disclose the exact nature of the violations, it is clear they are very serious. We encourage the ECFA to change its policy of not revealing the specifics of its findings in cases like this as donors who gave their hard earned money to the ministry deserve to know what happened.
Blogger Warren Throckmorton has been writing extensively about suspect actions at GFA for some time and deserves full credit for causing the ECFA to investigate GFA more closely. How the wide range of problems at GFA had escaped the ECFA’s notice over the years remains an open question. While the ECFA announcement failed to address any specific problems at GFA, in line with their usual practice, Throckmorton’s blog had raised concerns about finances and governance among other potential problems. Interested donors should visit Throckmorton’s blog to read his many posts regarding GFA at /2015/10/04/what-termination-from-ecfa-means-for-gospel-for-asia/.
Here is the text of the ECFA’s brief announcement:
Statement from ECFA on Gospel for Asia
On June 10, 2015, ECFA began formally reviewing member organization Gospel for Asia for compliance issues. The review concluded on Oct. 2, 2015 when ECFA’s board voted to terminate the organization’s membership for violation of the following standards: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7.1 and 7.2. This ends Gospel for Asia’s 36-yearlong status as an ECFA member.
ECFA enhances public trust in Christian churches and ministries by establishing and applying Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship™ to review and accredit organizations. These standards are biblical and are fundamental to operating with integrity. ECFA uses a pass or fail concept in applying the standards rather than a rating system.
Rusty Leonard, CFA
Founder & CEO
Warrant Issued for Teen Mania Founder Ron Luce
According to World magazine, a Colorado court has issued a warrant for the the arrest of Ron Luce, founder of Teen Mania.
Read the article for the details but it appears that Teen Mania owes a lot of people a lot of money and doesn’t have any.
Teen Mania has many very high profile endorsers. See this page for the list.