K.P. Yohannan – Page 16 – Warren Throckmorton

Gospel for Asia Tops India's List of Foreign Donation Recipients for FY 2016

A March 20 article in the Times of India puts focus on just how much money pours into India via the mega mission organization Gospel for Asia. A companion piece on Believers’ Church features K.P. Yohannan again saying he has no legal standing in any of his organizations. His own church Constitution seems to contradict this statement.
According to the ToI article, Ayana Charitable Trust (Gospel for Asia’s new name in India) took in $126,376,000 (Rs 8.26 billion). Much of that came from Ayana’s Hong Kong bank accounts. Because of this infusion of cash from their Hong Kong bank, it is hard to know the impact of GFA’s fall from respectability over the past year.
Believers’ Church recorded $128,824,000 in donations although $76.5 million came from “foreign funding from local sources.” While it is hard to know what this means in the case of Believers’ Church, presumably some of these funds are interest payments on the massive bank accounts owned by Believers’ Church. Since the Times article didn’t track all of the NGOs controlled by GFA, it is also possible that shell NGOs like Love India Ministries gave money to Believers’ Church which originally came from GFA in the U.S. or Canada.
Combining the two mega charities, Gospel for Asia’s Indian partners declared $255,200,000 in revenues for FY 2016 alone. According to the articles, all of the entities affiliated with GFA and Believers’ Church have $366,735,000 just sitting in bank accounts. GFA founder K.P. Yohannan boasts of the outreach conducted by his group. However, with the funds available to them, GFA could do significantly more than they do now.
Yohannan told the ToI that he does not head up any organizations.

When questioned whether he is personally heading these organizations, Yohannan said: “I don’t hold legal positions in any of them. We have in our church, councils and committees of 22 bishops that run these trusts.”

However, as I have reported before, Yohannan is the supreme authority over spiritual and temporal matters for Believers’ Church according to the church Constitution. He also heads the boards of at least some of the schools and the Bridge of Hope and is considered the benefactor of Believers’ Church Medical Center.
In October of 2015, GFA’s membership in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability was revoked due to multiple infractions of ECFA’s financial standards.

Gospel for Asia Founder K.P. Yohannan Gives the Gift of Worship on His Birthday; Hand Kissing Too

Happy Founders Day!
Forgive the late wish for a happy Founder’s Day. In the Believers’ Church, K.P. Yohannan’s birthday is considered a special day and singled out for celebration.

Founder’s Day

[March 8]

This is the Birthday of our Metropolitan. On this day, the Church shall organize compassion ministries such as providing food for the poor and beggars, social work, gift distribution to the poor and downtrodden, etc. These activities fulfill the dream of our Metropolitan to love others as Jesus loved us.

In addition to the social work, the birthday celebration video slips in a little self-worship to the festivities. Watch the Believers’ Church television tribute to the founder of Gospel for Asia, His Eminence the Most Reverend Metropolitan Dr. K.P. Yohannan. From the Athmeeyayathra Television Facebook page:

Ring Kissing or No?
Remember the controversy over ring kissing in the Believers’ Church? One of the original complaints of former GFA staffers related to the undue reverence given to Yohannan as illustrated by the custom of kissing Yohannan’s ring. Yohannan not only denied that it was a part of his experience in India, he said he never saw it happen. Then video surfaced of newly initiated pastors kissing Yohannan’s ring.
Now in this video, we can see that at least some of his admirers continue to practice ring kissing (or at least hand kissing).

Admirer kissing the hand of K.P. Yohannan. From his 2017 birthday video.

For GFA supporters who claim Believers’ Church is evangelical like Calvary Chapels here in the United States, videos like this must be hard to integrate into their GFA narrative. In any case, donors need to understand that when they give to GFA, they are supporting this field partner in India.

New RICO Suit Brought Against Gospel for Asia

I reported earlier this week that Garland and Phyllis Murphy, former Gospel for Asia donors filed a motion to join the RICO lawsuit initiated by Matthew and Jennifer Dickson. A separate suit was filed yesterday by the Murphys.

Read the Murphys’ complaint here.
The complaint is similar to the one filed by the Dicksons but has a separate case number from Dickson’s case and follows a motion to withdraw the earlier request to join the Dickson’s case.

Plaintiffs’ Motion to Withdraw Proposed Intervention Motion
Plaintiffs respectfully move the Court to withdraw the motion to intervene [Doc. 48] filed on February 6, 2017. The proposed intervenors, Garland D. Murphy, III, M.D. and Phyllis A. Murphy, filed an independent but related action on February 16, 2017 which was assigned Case No. 5:17-cv-05035-TLB. Defendants do not oppose this motion to withdraw.

So now GFA is defending itself against two RICO lawsuits with the potential for others to join the existing classes or for additional suits to be filed.

Gospel for Asia Appeals the Denial of a Stay in the RICO Lawsuit

K.P. Yohannan, source: Youtube — K.P. Yohannan, Founder of GFA (source: YouTube)

Gospel for Asia really doesn’t want to enter discovery in their defense against allegations of corrupt financial practices and fraud.
Last week, after the Western Arkansas District Court rejected GFA’s request for a stay (pause in the case) while GFA’s appeal is being heard, GFA promptly appealed that denial yesterday.
Read GFA’s appeal here.
In the appeal, GFA “respectfully request[s] a stay under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 8 pending the outcome of this appeal.” GFA wants the case stalled while the mission organization appeals the District Courts refusal to compel the plaintiffs, Matthew and Jennifer Dickson, to enter arbitration instead of continue with the RICO suit. The Dickson were members of GFA and signed an arbitration agreement while they were involved with GFA. However, as donors and now as non-employees, the Dicksons want their claims heard in court. Furthermore, the Dicksons represent a class of donors who allegedly have been defrauded by GFA’s deceptive financial practices. Thus far, the federal court has sided with the Dicksons.
In the space of several months, GFA went from being a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and a full participant in the federal government’s Combined Federal Campaign fund drive to being evicted from ECFA and kicked out of the federal program. According to those who have been questioned by federal investigators, GFA is also under investigation for possible illegal practices as well.

Former Donors Request to Join Gospel for Asia RICO Suit

On February 6, 2017, Garland D. Murphy, III, M.D. and his wife Phyllis A. Murphy filed a motion to join the RICO lawsuit agains Gospel for Asia. In the motion, the Murphy’s allege that they were defrauded by Gospel for Asia and would not have donated had they known how GFA planned to use their donations.
Specifically, the Murphys took the GFA promise to send 100% to mission work at face value and donated on that basis.
From Exhibit A attached to the Motion:

Plaintiffs-Intervenors Garland D. Murphy, III, M.D. and Phyllis A. Murphy made several donations to GFA over the course of several years. They made each such donation only after learning of GFA’s guarantee that it would apply 100% of every donation exactly as the Murphys designated.
For example, on December 29, 2012, the Murphys decided to donate $225 to GFA’s “Widows and Abandoned Children” fund. The Murphys viewed a webpage on GFA’s website discussing the “Widows and Abandoned Children” fund. The webpage for the “Widows and Abandoned Children” fund at GFA.org (as it appeared 1n December, 2012).
On December 29, 2012, with the understanding that GFA would apply 100% of their $225 donation to the “Widows and Abandoned Children” fund in the Field, the Murphys made the donation through GFA’s website. GFA provided the Murphys with a receipt (Exhibit 8 hereto) reciting the GFA 100% guarantee and noting that $605 in donations, presumably including the December 29 donation, was designated to the “Widows and Abandoned Children” fund. The Murphys’ 2012 Annual Receipt documenting their gifts to GFA’s “Widows and Abandoned Children” fund.
The 2012 Annual Receipt the Murphys received from GFA, bearing the GFA 100% Guarantee, a statement that GFA is “committed to apply your gifts according to your preferences,” and the ECFA and ICA seals of approval and assurances thereby (valid at the time this receipt was issued). Exhibit 8 hereto.
Every single donation the Murphys made to GFA was made only with the understanding, based entirely on Defendants’ representations, that 100% of the donation would be applied exactly as designated by the Murphys.

GFA hoped the district court would require former employees Matthew and Jennifer Dickson to comply with an arbitration agreement and avoid a public trial. However, the district court denied that request. GFA then appealed. Even if the Appeals Court requires the Dicksons to go through arbitration instead of a RICO suit, the Murphys would not have to do so since they never worked for GFA. Their case would presumable require a different remedy, one they hope will be in court.
For the many articles on the GFA story, click here.