Warren Throckmorton

Some time ago I emailed Francis Chan ab0ut his endorsement of Gospel for Asia. Chan says on the video below that he is skeptical and because of that he sent people to check GFA out. I was told by his assistant Chaz that he was getting my emails, but it was unlikely that I would get a personal response from Chan. And as Chaz predicted, I have not heard from Chan in response to concerns I raised in the emails and blog posts.

Watch Chan’s endorsement of GFA.

Rev. Chan, like you, I am skeptical, but unlike you, I don’t have a budget that allows me to send people to check GFA out. However, I have asked GFA multiple times for help understanding why their 2013 audited statement says they sent $58.5 million to GFA-India in 2013 but only $6.5 million shows up in GFA-India’s reports to the Indian government. I can account for another $22 million that GFA in the U.S. sent to Believers’ Church and two other NGOs controlled by K.P. Yohannan but that leaves about $30 million unaccounted for. It seems like a discrepancy like that would make a skeptical person wonder what happened to the $30 million.

If you or your auditors know anything about the unaccounted for $30 million, could you let me know? If there is a reasonable explanation for this, then it seems odd that GFA has allowed the situation to go on without public disclosure. The ECFA is no help either. All the silence makes a skeptical guy like me wonder what is happening. However, it seems like you might know something and perhaps could reassure donors and the public.

Also, there are some other matters which you could really help with:

• Why did GFA leaders prevail upon their own students to carry envelopes of undeclared U.S. cash to India in apparent violation of U.S. law. Thus far, GFA has not apologized for violating their own financial integrity guidelines or requiring students as young as 18 to engage in smurfing of large amounts of cash to India.
• GFA’s audit (conducted by Bland Garvey) failed to disclose three related NGOs which received funds from GFA’s American donors. Furthermore, between $30-50 million of money GFA said went to India in 2013 does not show up in reports submitted to the Indian government. Similar gaps show up in 2012 and other years.
• Why does GFA maintain a massive surplus of funds (around $150 million) being held in Indian banks, subject to major devaluation of the rupee.
• An ongoing concern has been the stories of around 100 former staff members who have unresolved problems with GFA. Current turnover in U.S. staff should be a red flag to any supporter. Reports are now that few students are returning to the School of Discipleship for a second year.
• GFA reps and the ECFA have never explained why GFA–India did not disclose to the Indian government the $15 million given to GFA–India by Canadian donors in 2013.
• Why did K.P. Yohannan claim he didn’t allow men being ordained in Believers’ Church to kiss his ring but a video shows the men kissing his ring during a ceremony.

Rev. Chan, many people trust you, and like you, I am skeptical and don’t believe it is wrong to ask questions. Perhaps, you know something about these matters and could persuade GFA to simply offer additional information and explanation. Or perhaps you, as an endorser, could write and clear things up. We aren’t the only ones who are skeptical, others too want to know what is happening at GFA.

I hope to hear from you.

Reading an Anxious Bench post by Thomas Kidd, it occurred to me that Patheos is a very diverse site. With that in mind, I decided to go exploring. Here I am going to post some links I found interesting. I am not recommending everything said by these authors but am posting them because I think they might be of interest to readers.
Should Evangelicals Embrace the “Benedict Option”? Well, should they/we?
We Love Close Calls… Until They Happen to Us – Nice devotional post on waiting through hard times by Kirk Franklin. Wait, what? Kirk Franklin blogs at Patheos?! Nice.
I Was Wrong – Stacy Dash apologized for her defense of Bill Cosby.
Stop Saying that Teaching Children Creationism is Child Abuse – A good one from the Atheist channel’s Neil Carter.
“Can We Go Home, Now?” My Mom, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Our Longing for Home Kyle Roberts on the Progressive channel writes a truly touching reflection on his mom’s wish to go home.
I hope to go exploring more often…

I am not betting on it.
The Calvary Chapel Senior Pastors Conference ended yesterday with no public statements from anyone within the Calvary Chapel movement about Gospel for Asia. GFA exhibited at the conference but left their table unmanned much of the time according to sources there. Several pastors, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me that their church would soon drop support for GFA due to GFA’s public silence about various financial, personnel and leadership concerns.
Several sources have told me that GFA is holding up their membership in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability as proof that no real problems exist. Furthermore, GFA insiders have told me that ECFA executives have reviewed GFA’s finances and is privately expressing confidence in GFA. ECFA leaders have ignored my requests for clarification or explanation about the missing money, money carrying to India, etc.
Mars Hill Church similarly pointed to ECFA membership as an indication that funds were being used properly. Even as the church did that, Mars Hill made changes to their procedures to come more into compliance with ECFA guidelines. What I learned about ECFA via the Mars Hill experience and then later through ECFA’s handling of Faith Christian Church is that donors cannot count on ECFA to disclose problems with members.
Now ECFA membership is being used by GFA to avoid explanations of multiple concerns raised by around 100 former employees, former donors, and bloggers. In my opinion, ECFA is now responsible for whatever problems GFA manifests. Here again is a summary of issues that GFA and ECFA have ignored.

• Why did GFA leaders prevail upon their own students to carry envelopes of undeclared U.S. cash to India in apparent violation of U.S. law. Thus far, GFA has not apologized for violating their own financial integrity guidelines or requiring students as young as 18 to engage in smurfing of large amounts of cash to India.
• GFA’s audit (conducted by Bland Garvey) failed to disclose three related NGOs which received funds from GFA’s American donors. Furthermore, between $30-50 million of money GFA said went to India in 2013 does not show up in reports submitted to the Indian government. Similar gaps show up in 2012 and other years.
• Why does GFA maintain a massive surplus of funds (around $150 million) being stored in Indian banks.
• An ongoing concern has been the stories of around 100 former staff members who have unresolved problems with GFA. Current turnover in U.S. staff should be a red flag to any supporter. Reports are now that few students are returning to the School of Discipleship for a second year.
• GFA reps and the ECFA should explain why GFA–India did not disclose to the Indian government the amount of money given to GFA–India by Canadian donors.
• Why did K.P. Yohannan claim he didn’t allow men being ordained in Believers’ Church to kiss his ring but a video shows the men kissing his ring.

Millions of dollars are unaccounted for and GFA has not given any reasons or explanations. Now GFA is claiming that ECFA has seen the books and has given the all-clear.
Since GFA won’t be accountable, I publicly call on ECFA to provide information relevant to list of concerns listed above.
 

After being the subject of multiple protests and an almost canceled Hillsong conference, Mark Driscoll is back in the saddle.  He has some gigs lined up which are posted on his website.
Looks like September will be a busy month (AK, AZ, TX). The Alaska church is an Assemblies of God church. Trinity Church in Lubbock, TX started out as an AG church. The coaching conference is put on by Men Coaching Men Discipleship Ministry.
Looks like Phoenix might not have worked out, or at least isn’t happening soon.

Even the last protest was small, it garnered wide coverage in Australia. Given the fact that most Australian reporters seemed to think Brian Houston had agreed not to feature Mark Driscoll during the recent conference in Sydney, the media may turn out for this event in a similar manner.  Here is the event description:

Please bring protest signs. We will be protesting peacefully! 

Under enormous pressure from pro women groups and others, Hillsong senior pastor Brian Houston was very deceptive about cancelling an interview with misogynist and abuser Mark Driscoll at Hillsong Conference. We demand that Brian Houston publicly fully admit his intentional deceit and publicly apologise both for his deceit as well as for giving a gigantic platform to abusive power monger Mark Driscoll.

The event will take place at Hillsong Melbourne on Sunday (in Australia, Saturday here).
In October, Brian Houston is coming to Seattle.