Tag: Phoenix Preacher

What Really Happened with Saeed Abedini?

FreesaeedPhoenix Preacher is beginning a multi-part series about the case of Saeed Abedini, the Iranian born Christian preacher who was imprisoned in Iran and became an internationally famous symbol of religious repression in Muslim nations. PP was a champion of Abedini’s cause while he was in prison but has now come to doubt key aspects of the narrative. The post today opens an exploration of those key claims. His introduction sets the tone:

When Saeed Abedini was imprisoned in Iran in the summer of 2012, the church here and abroad set about to free him with one of the biggest campaigns in recent memory.
Abedini was presented to us as an innocent missionary, a man of God imprisoned for his faith in Jesus Christ.
He was held in horrible conditions we were told, tortured and beaten, often at the edge of death.
The church mobilized as rarely before as organizations like the American Center For Law and Justice, men like Franklin Graham, and hundreds of churches and individuals took up the cause.
Millions of dollars were raised, millions of words written and messages sent to free Abedini before it was too late.
The more we learn, the more we call into question the truth of the narrative we were fed.

Despite the stories of regular beatings and illness while in prison, PP presents photos of Abedini in an Iranian prison looking quite healthy. PP raises the possibility that Abedini’s condition was embellished in order to generate more donations and keep the story alive.
Many people were shocked to hear his wife’s allegations of domestic abuse. Clearly, those stories were not front and center during his captivity. At least some of what was presented to the public wasn’t accurate, that much we already know. The question is what else, if anything, was also untrue?
The American Center for Law and Justice raised funds on the situation and should be accountable for what they knew.
At this point, PP has offered the photos which do raise questions. I plan to follow the series to see what else he brings to the table.
 

Phoenix Preacher Raises Red Flags Over Gospel for Asia

Last week, the Phoenix Preacher blog ran a post titled Red Flags over Gospel for Asia. The post describes a GFA donor’s attempt to get answers to questions which have come up in recent weeks. It is good to see donors asking questions but not so good to see the responses. The blog author raised some of the issues I have covered with this assessment.

GFA has felt that Throckmorton has been unfair to them and takes them out of context and so they have chosen to stop communicating with him in any efforts to clarify the concerns he raises. In my phone conversation with the GFA rep, he did give me explanations to some of the concerns raised by Throckmorton. However, some of the explanations seemed to me more like trying to put a positive spin on things rather than giving good solid evidence and rationale. Meanwhile, Throckmorton continues to raise more concerns as he uncovers more and more suspicious looking information. Here is a link to all his GFA articles: /category/gospel-for-asia/

I plead not guilty to this charge. Up to and including the last email from David Carroll, I included the information Carroll sent on behalf of GFA. Here is what he said in his final email:

No, Gospel for Asia has not violated the law.

When you first contacted us, I mentioned that we would not be able to respond to every question you put before us. Now, with the increased volume and frequency of your questions, it has become clear that this back and forth has become a distraction from our mission work. For this reason, this will be my final response. We understand that you will continue to explore issues around Gospel for Asia and continue to be fed accusations from former employees, and we accept that.

We continue to remain accountable to all applicable laws and regulations, to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and to independent auditors.

In his email, Carroll doesn’t accuse me of being unfair or taking him out of context. He said I asked too many questions and for that reason, he was not going to reply. This reason should be of grave concern to donors.

As we now know, GFA did violate the law when they sent groups of students to India each with $4500 in cash in envelopes without declaring the cash to U.S. customs.

The Phoenix Preacher post shows that the questions have only multiplied.