I have confirmation from someone in a position to know that Skip Heitzig, Gayle Erwin, and Damian Kyle have resigned from the Gospel for Asia board. None of the men responded to my requests for information but multiple sources within GFA have confirmed that an announcement was made during a staff meeting time on Friday.
Very little explanation was given and the announcement was delivered by Danny Yohannan Punnoose (K.P. Yohannan’s son). While GFA will not confirm, it appears that K.P. Yohannan’s son and wife, Francis Chan, Chuck Zink and perhaps one other person are now on the GFA board.
It is astonishing that the second largest mission organization in the nation keeps so many secrets regarding governance and finances.
Category: Gospel for Asia
Gospel for Asia's Christmas Catalog Displays ECFA Seal and 100% Pledge
I am aware that the Christmas catalogs were probably printed before the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability voted to terminate Gospel for Asia’s membership. I know it would been costly to reprint the catalogs. I also know that because GFA leaders decided to mail the catalogs with the ECFA seal, they have misrepresented the situation. Take a look:
and the 100% pledge lives on…
Guaranteed. I wonder if that is a money back guarantee.
We now know that administrative expenses are taken out in India. And we know that $19.8 million came back from “the field” to fund nearly half of the costs of construction of the new Wills Point, TX campus.
Based on my investigations last year, I am highly skeptical that GFA uses one person’s donation for a goat or chicken to buy an individual goat or chicken. It doesn’t work that way for World Vision, and I doubt it works that way for GFA (see my series on holiday animal buys – link, link).
What should GFA do now?
Clearly, the ECFA seal of membership gives the wrong impression and hides the fact that ECFA believes GFA has not honored donor intent in giving. A tax court in India has ruled in the same manner. If GFA doesn’t let catalog recipients know, chances are good that most won’t find out. GFA could send a letter to all on the mailing list alerting them to ECFA’s action to terminate membership. GFA leaders could defend the organization but at least donors would be informed. Will they do it?
How GFA leaders handle this problem will tell us something about GFA going forward.
Pastors Endorsement Page Missing at Gospel for Asia's Website; K.P. Yohannan Seems to be Missing Too
On October 7, there were numerous endorsements from pastors on the Gospel for Asia website (see Google cache). For instance:
Now, the address for that page (http://www.gfa.org/mygfastory/pastors/) leads to another page which does not have endorsements. Instead it redirects to this page http://www.gfa.org/mygfastory/:
Skip Heitzig’s missing endorsement could be significant. Heitzig has been of GFA’s board for many years. If he is backing away from Gospel for Asia, that would be a dramatic about face.
About Yohannan, he is not missing from the webpage but his loud silence continues. It is hard to understand why Yohannan remains quiet in the face of declining confidence in GFA and ECFA’s termination of GFA membership.
Another Calvary Chapel Pastor Expresses Concerns About Gospel for Asia; Any More Out There? Take the Survey
UPDATE: I have created a survey for Calvary Chapel pastors, staff and members regarding Gospel for Asia and church support. Please click through via this link to take the survey.
Phoenix Preacher is reporting that Joe Focht, pastor at Calvary Chapel – Philadelphia announced to his congregation on Sunday that it would not be “unreasonable” to suspend support for Gospel for Asia. According to PP, Focht added that donors might reconsider if ECFA membership is restored.
Last week, Calvary Chapel – Oxnard (CA) advised members to stop support. In late September, Calvary Chapel pastor Bill Gallatin rebuked K.P. Yohannan’s Believers’ Church rituals.
Historically, Calvary Chapels have helped sustain GFA. A Google search finds numerous (well over 100) CC’s which support GFA or GFA staff.
Some CC pastors/staff have made blog comments about GFA. I invite others to do so as well. If you are reading and pastor at a CC, consider leaving a comment about GFA with your name and church. If you support GFA, chime in and say why. If you have changed your view, then leave a comment to that effect. Given what has been revealed about GFA’s dealings, I think it would be hard for a church to do nothing. A review of the issues is in order no matter where you eventually land.
More Evidence K.P. Yohannan Was Wrong When He Told Staff He Isn't On Trusts in India
In the context of explaining why Believers’ Church in India gave $19.8 million to Gospel for Asia for construction of headquarters at Wills Point, TX, GFA CEO K.P. Yohannan said this:
And by the way, just so you know, I am not legally on any boards, any trusts, anything in any of these countries. I have no powers to make decisions or sign money, or release money, or make decisions, I am completely legally…why? Because anybody who work in the United States or overseas countries have a board membership or have legal membership should not be part of their legal entities in India. It’s a conflict of interest and therefore we send the funds and it is immediately under the government watch care and the government of India is responsible and investigative agencies and tax divisions to make sure that is carried out within the time frame or whatever they do, that is a public thing.
Yohannan said these things at a staff meeting held at GFA’s office complex on May 14, 2015. The audio is embedded at the end of the post.
When I posted the audio in August, I also posted images of court cases involving Believers’ Church which refer to Yohannan as the managing trustee of Believers’ Church. Even though Yohannan said it was a conflict of interest to be on the board in India and the CEO in America, court documents dated in 2015 refer to Yohannan as the managing trustee of the entity (Believers Church) that “decided” in 2013 to send $19.8 million to another entity (Gospel for Asia) run by Yohannan in order to build a new campus.
Recently, I have been given two documents which establish beyond doubt that Yohannan’s statement to staff was misleading. The first document is a 2005 letter from BC Bishop Samuel Mathew to all Believers’ Church Bishops regarding the proper way to file land deeds. The church Constitution requires all land to be in K.P. Yohannan’s name since he is the highest legal authority in the church.
Read the entire letter here.
At this time, by Consitution, all land was to be registered to “the Most Rev. Dr. K.P. Yohannan.” Why? As Metropolitan Bishop is the legal authority on everything that belongs to the Church. Presumably, at one time, $19.8 million belonged to the church but after the “anonymous gift to GFA,” that money belonged to the other entity controlled by Yohannan, GFA.
Regarding the claim that Yohannan doesn’t sit on any boards of trusts in India, I offer this 2010 deed of trust for the Bridge of Hope (entire document), a program run by Believers’ Church. Yohannan is not only on the trust but he signed on behalf of Believers’ Church as “Executant.”
BOH – Trust Deed 
Also, note that four of the six board members are Yohannan and his family (Siny Punnoose – niece; Sarah Johnson – daughter; Daniel Johnson – son-in-law).
These documents along with the court papers filed by Believers’ Church paint a completely different picture than drawn out by Yohannan in the May 14 staff meeting.
I invite GFA and/or Believers’ Church to submit evidence to the contrary. If BC’s Constitution has been changed or trust deeds have been amended, I will gladly publish those if they are supplied.
Of late, Yohannan has been unavailable for comment. Perhaps, David Carroll or John Beers can provide explanation or proper documentation.
K.P. Yohannan at the May 14 staff meeting: