World magazine reported on October 17 that half of Teen Mania’s independent board members resigned. I am linking to World’s coverage of TM as an alert to readers that the former high flying ministry is in free fall. TM continues to break commitments and is going deeper into debt to various groups, some of whom are suing.
Top Ten Charities in trouble; note that TM is #5.
I am not sure why anyone would want to be involved with TM after seeing this in 2011:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/OAKGVF3EooA?list=PLDPcYCH6dNUHK5htHOMV5OTqES8u5kUVM[/youtube]
Part two and part three are available on You Tube.
This is required reading as well.
I don’t care how much good TM claims to do (e.g., Acquire the Fire is for the most a big pep rally for God), the mistreatment of teens that is glorified by TM in the msnbc documentary is enough to shut the whole thing down.
Despite light coming to the situation, some groups continue to stand by TM. One such group is Gateway Church and The Kings University.
TKU actually gives academic credit for TM’s Honor Academy. This should be an embarrassment for TKU.
Robert Morris endorses TM, as does K.P. Yohannan.
Category: K.P. Yohannan
Believers’ Church Constitution Contradicts K.P. Yohannan’s Claim that He Has No Legal Authority in Indian Church
In a May 14, 2015 staff meeting, K.P. Yohannan and David Carroll disclosed to the Gospel for Asia staff that in 2013 Believers’ Church in India gave $19.8 million toward the construction costs of the new Wills Point. TX headquarters. When the gift came in back in 2013, GFA leaders told staff that the money was given by an “anonymous donor.”
For those new to this story, Believers’ Church is the church started by Gospel for Asia founder K.P. Yohannan. Yohannan is CEO and International Director at Gospel for Asia and he is the supreme Metropolitan Bishop in India for the Believers’ Church. Although undisclosed in their 2013 audit, GFA sent just over $20 million to Believers’ Church in 2013. Believers’ Church in India received far more than Gospel for Asia India which was not disclosed in the audited financial statements.
Within the last year, questions arose among staff about the accuracy of the “anonymous donor” story and Carroll and Yohannan addressed those questions during the May 14 staff meeting. In that meeting, Yohannan asserted that he had nothing to do with the Believers’ Church’s decision to send nearly $20 million back to Texas. A major part of his defense was his claim that he does not sit on boards or trusts in India and has no legal authority in Believers’ Church. Yohannan claims he didn’t have authority to direct the donation and didn’t have anything to do with it.
Here is what Yohannan said about his membership on boards and trusts in India and his legal authority.
Transcript:
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.
In previous posts, I have shown government and church documents which contradict his claim. Today, I provide portions of the Believers’ Church Constitution which describe the massive authority and power of the Metropolitan Bishop, His Grace the Most Reverend K.P. Yohannan. It is clear that Yohannan misled his staff. If Believers’ Church follows the church Constitution, there is no way Yohannan did not approve the gift to help complete headquarters construction.
Click the link for the first two chapters of the Constitution, and this link for chapter three. Images describing the power of the Metropolitan are below. See the boxes for especially relevant sections:
Yohannan is President of all church trusts, he has discretionary power over governance of the church, he is the final authority of spiritual and administrative matters and he is the managing trustee of the church. It is inconceivable that Believers’ Church could spend $19.8 million dollars without his approval. Sections from chapter three make this even clearer. Buying and selling movable and immovable property and any management matter can be overruled by Yohannan. Committees can suggest actions but they must be cleared with Yohannan first.
Yesterday, Gayle Erwin said this about the transfer of $19.8 million from India to GFA-US:
If you read the ECFA report, you discover what we (board members–USA) had begun to know–we were kept in the dark and limited to pedantic decisions. As I saw this, I began intense confrontations with KP which I thought were gaining traction. The surprise revelation of foreign deposits and monies returned from the field (and previously described as from an “anonymous donor) pushed some of us over the edge and made our board membership untenable.
David Carroll and K.P. Yohannan told staff that the transfer of funds was completely legal and there was no conflict of interest since Yohannan had no control over the decision. He also said the $19.8 million was not a related party transaction.
DC [David Carroll] – It’s completely legal, thank you. There’s a board member, board documents as I understand it, I don’t live in Asia, but there’s board documents on the other side. The whole thing was done in complete legality.
By the way, one question, one part of that question was, is this a related party transaction? And the answer is no. It is not a related party transaction because the board members here, they’re not the same board members as there. In other words, the leadership here did not influence that decision there. Brother KP mentioned it but it was not his decision. He had to get permission, actually they told…
KP [K.P. Yohannan]– I think David, it is important for people to know the person I am. It’s like Paul said in one place he’s a doulos, he’s a servant, another place he’s an apostle, another place he’s a brother, and my role is being a spiritual father of right now about 2.7 million people scattered throughout all these nations and I do not have any legal say or decision about legal matters. My role is a spiritual leadership. You may not have asked that but there are hundreds of trusts and entities in all these countries. I don’t sit on any of those things. There are their own people. And my role is the spiritual leadership. And I hope to some extent that is here also.
It is hard for me to understand how David Carroll could make this statement:
It is not a related party transaction because the board members here, they’re not the same board members as there.
I publicly ask David Carroll: Have you ever read the Believers’ Church Constitution? You are ordained in that church. Is this like Mars Hill Church and the officers and clergy don’t have access to the Constitution? You told staff on May 14 that Yohannan wasn’t on a board under the Believers’ Church umbrella. Carroll told staff:
And so, what the people in Asia did, and it is a board that is under Believers’ Church umbrella, but Brother KP’s not on that board, it wasn’t his decision.
K.P. Yohannan is CEO and leads the Gospel for Asia board here and he is by Constitution the managing trustee and President of Believers’ Church and all other Believers’ Church trusts.
I can’t see how these claims by Yohannan and Carroll and the Believers’ Church Constitution can be true at the same time.* David Carroll said there are “board documents on the other side.” Well, the board documents that I have seen don’t support what they told staff in May. Might be time for GFA leaders to produce those documents. It is already too late for three board members who quit over this matter.
*I suppose it is possible that Believers’ Church approved a new Constitution prior to the 2013 gift. However, my source denies that and tells me that this Constitution was binding at that time and is binding currently. I am certainly open to hearing from GFA and BC with new information.
Former Gospel for Asia Board Member Gayle Erwin Comments on Board Resignation
Earlier today, I saw a private Facebook posting from former Gospel for Asia board member Gayle Erwin which contained some new information about GFA and the ECFA. Erwin was responding to my post about the resignations of Damian Kyle, Skip Heitzig and Erwin from GFA’s board. I wrote to Erwin with a request to cite the quote here. He agreed with the condition that I highlight his positive comments about GFA staff. About GFA and ECFA, Erwin said:
If you read the ECFA report, you discover what we (board members–USA) had begun to know–we were kept in the dark and limited to pedantic decisions. As I saw this, I began intense confrontations with KP which I thought were gaining traction. The surprise revelation of foreign deposits and monies returned from the field (and previously described as from an “anonymous donor) pushed some of us over the edge and made our board membership untenable. The staff of GFA in Texas, despite some inferences in the discussion on your page above, are some of the finest, most ethical and loving people I know. I marvel at how well commenters on your page have combined ignorance and hostility. I thought I was making progress in ways that would have solved and prevented this heartbreak and replaced it with victory, but I was wrong but not wrong in the ways your commenters infer. (emphasis from Mr. Erwin)
Erwin later added:
I was shocked when informed that GFA had failed all 7 of ECFA criteria for membership and had consequently been removed from membership.
In his first comment, Erwin referred to the transfer of $19.8 million from India’s Believers’ Church to GFA in Texas for the purpose of completing construction on their new Wills Point, TX headquarters.
This comment provides some insight into the perceptions of board members regarding the issues I have been raising for months. It seems they (at least Erwin) have of late felt they were kept in the dark. Erwin says he and the other board members were not aware of the source of the nearly $20 million.
I think it is important to consider Mr. Erwin’s wording regarding the donation from the field: “The surprise revelation of foreign deposits and monies returned from the field (and previously described as from an “anonymous donor) pushed some of us over the edge and made our board membership untenable.”
Those foreign deposits were funds given by donors for mission work which were sent to India and deposited into accounts of the K.P. Yohannan controlled Believers’ Church. Then nearly $20 million were authorized by Believers’ Church to be sent back to Texas to help finish construction of the palatial Wills Point, TX headquarters.
Like Mr. Erwin, I suspect donors will find that to be untenable.
CSN International Radio Removes Gospel for Asia CEO K.P. Yohannan's Road to Reality Show from Program Schedule
A reader noticed on Saturday that K.P. Yohannan’s show Road to Reality did not air on CSN International radio. Sure enough the program had been removed from the broadcast schedule.
Today, I spoke briefly with Mike Stocklin, General Manager of CSN International who told me that CSNI had no problem with the Road to Reality show but decided CSN would not carry the K.P. Yohannan’s show until “the controversial matters are resolved” and questions are answered about Gospel for Asia.
This move eliminates 47 stations from the Road to Reality station list.
Three Gospel for Asia Board Members Resign
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.