"Is Gospel for Asia’s Indian Corpus Fund One Reason Why ECFA Terminated GFA’s Membership?"

Is Gospel for Asia’s Indian Corpus Fund One Reason Why ECFA Terminated GFA’s Membership?

November 25, 2015 by Warren Throckmorton

One of the first things I noticed when I first started investigating Gospel for Asia’s finances in India was the corpus fund set up for the Indian organizations (i.e., GFA-India, Believers’ Church, Love India Ministries, & Last Hour Ministries). When I examined Indian records (FC-6 reports), I saw millions in U.S. dollars used to fund these accounts. A corpus fund is a "permanent fund generated and kept for basic expenditures needed for administration and survival of the organisation.” (also see this link)

There is nothing wrong with setting up a corpus fund. In India, organizations can set up a fund and use the interest earned for charitable purposes. However, the donations to the fund are not supposed to be used unless the organization’s existence is threatened.

Another important condition is that donations to the corpus fund must be designated for that purpose by the donor, usually in writing. Without designation, donations are not supposed to go to the corpus fund, but rather to the charitable purpose intended by the donor. The evidence I produce here today suggests to me that GFA donor funds have been systematically diverted to the GFA corpus fund apparently without donor designation for that purpose.

First, I have access to reports showing all donations to GFA ”“ United States for years 2004-2008, 2010-2014 (2009 was unavailable from my source). None of those reports show any donations to a corpus fund.

To illustrate, click through this link to see the 2012 report (it is too long to include in the post). All donations are credited to a specific line item and all line items used by GFA are included in this chart of donations (I have redacted the names of staff and the amount received in their support accounts). I cannot find any line item which refers to a corpus fund. None of the reports going back to 2004 have a line item for the designation of donations to a corpus fund.

Now take a look at this chart of GFA contributions prepared by Jason Watkins, a former auditor with a Big 4 accounting firm. This table shows the donor funds sent by GFA to Indian affiliates to establish and maintain corpus funds. I have independently checked the figures in this table.

20092013CorpusFundsGFA

This table also shows the percentage of total giving from GFA -United States to the Indian affiliates. Total corpus fund donations from GFA represents about 35% of all giving from GFA to Indian affiliates since fiscal year 2010.

Where did GFA get the money to give to their Indian affiliates?

Due to GFA’s claim that 100% of donations designated for the field go to the field, I feel sure many donors think that 100% of what they give goes to a missionary or children or disaster relief or some such good cause. However, the Indian records show that GFA leaders have established a financial cushion for Believers’ Church and related organizations in India with over $67 million from GFA in Texas. Diverting donor money to a corpus fund would violate ECFA guidelines and might have figured in ECFA’s vote to terminate GFA’s membership.

In summary, donations toward the corpus fund do not show up on GFA’s comprehensive giving reports. However, in the FC-6 reports in India, millions of dollars in contributions to the corpus funds are listed as coming from GFA in the United States. I ask again where did GFA get that money? Nothing in available reports shows donations earmarked for the corpus fund.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2015/11/25/is-gospel-for-asias-indian-corpus-fund-one-reason-why-ecfa-terminated-gfas-membership/

On March 11, 2011, GFA held an ordination service for Pat Emerick, the current director of GFA Canada, at the GFA headquarters in Texas. Here is a link to an audio file of Pat taking the oath (contains 3 minutes of the 50 minute service): GFA Ordination Vow Audio

Below are transcript excerpts of three key parts of the oath, in which KP is heard asking Pat to promise absolute submission, for life.

0:55
KP: "Are you resolved to build up the church as the body of Christ and to remain united to it within the order of bishops, Metropolitan, and under the authority of the successor of the Metropolitan?”
Pat: "I am.”

2:09
KP: "Are you resolved to accept and obey the given orders, responsibilities, and disciplines of the church and the ministry and discharge them in absolute submission in accordance with the constitution of the church?”
Pat: "I am.”

2:25
*************KP: "Will you promise to submit to my leadership, my successors, and authorities of the church and the ministry set over you all the days of your life and ministry?
Pat: "I firmly make this pledge and promise in the name of God and before this congregation that I will submit and always remain loyal and faithful to your leadership and to your successors and in all matters.”***********

I have been receiving mail-outs from GFA and have given to them, trusting that monies was going to whatever I designated to. I do appreciate the warnings here and will check things out for myself.

It always grieves my heart when ministries become corrupted.

May God bring K.P to repentance if indeed these reports are true.

In Jesus Name I pray

Dear Charities Directorate
I am writing about a registered charity: Gospel For Asia, (GFA) registration #
107441834RR0001
I, Garry Cluley, became a board member in 2013.
Due to allegations of wrong-doing against our organization, in a board meeting held on July 17, 2015, I requested a copy of our joint-ministry agreement along with financial statements and audits related to it. I was assured that these would be given to me. (I had only recently become aware of their existence. I was not informed of them when I became a board member and they were never mentioned at board meetings.)
Over three months went by without these documents being sent to me. On November 25th, December 2nd, and December 8th, I requested them again from the person in charge of the Canadian office, Pat Emerick. On December 8th I phoned Pat and spoke again of the importance of me having the aforesaid documents. He agreed to send them. To be sure, I followed the call with an email in which I said, in part:
I understand that you will be sending the joint ministry agreement and the audits and that you will be sending them by registered mail. Again, thank you for your time, and for your work for God.
The next day, December 9th, I received a letter via email from KP Yohannan, the chairman of our board and president, informing me that I had been dismissed from the board. A copy of the letter is attached.
KP Yohannan stated:
The board needs to welcome the fresh perspective and ideas that new members can offer
I have only been on the board for two years therefore the claim of a need for a "fresh perspective” seems disingenuous. I believe that the true reason for his action is that he does not want me to see the joint-ministry agreement or their associated financial statements and audits.
The following summarizes my concerns.
ï‚· I was not informed beforehand that my position on the board was in question
Garry Cluley
2015-12-16
Charities Directorate
Canada Revenue Agency
Ottawa ON K1A 0L5
ï‚· There is no indication, that I am aware of, that this was a board action by the full board or that board members were informed of it beforehand
ï‚· KP Yohannan stated that he removed me based on By-Law 4.02. To my knowledge we do not have a By-Law by that number. We do have a By-Law 4(b) that says a board member can be dismissed if he is a lunatic or of unsound mind
ï‚· The new Industry Canada Not-For Profit Act, Section 126 does not use the word "lunatic”. It states that "incompetency” is a reason for removal but this must be determined by a court
ï‚· The NFP Act also states, in Section 130, that removal of a board member must be made by a board at a duly called meeting
I am informing you of my concerns believing that the action against me was not in compliance with the Not-For-Profit Act, our own GFA By-Laws, and therefore does not comply with CRA requirements for such an action.
It is my belief that a full investigation into financial and other practices by GFA is needed. Yours very truly,
________________________
Garry Cluley,
Member of GFA-Canada Board of Directors
PS. Additional contact information Email:
Phone:

Is this saying that a concerned member of the board of GFA
Canada asked for the financials, that he was stonewalled, and then abruptly removed from the Canadian board of GFA for no discernible reason?

And where is the post that you started on SI with over 5000 views with much documented proof of GFA'S treacherous dealings with donors money over the last 15 years?

post removed......because I love you all here in my love, my spirit, in Jesus Love, and in the Holy Spirit.....please forgive me, if I spoke ill.

it got sent to Gitmo.....it got disappeared so to speak.

Saints, my wife showed me evidence of some posts that are going missing, it is not just related to this thread. please do pray we can fix the problem!

please forgive my seemingly intemperate words....I love you my dear brother, neil

No offence taken dear brother. Can any saint here confirm the blank OP thread of GFA and if it is fixed now?

Faith Mennonite Church Canada:

As a leadership team, we have been watching the situation with GFA (Gospel for Asia) as significant concerns unfold about their financial management over the past number of months. Given the most recent updates that we have seen, along with a lack of response to our query to GFA Canada for clarity on the situation, we have decided that it is appropriate to remove GFA from our offering schedule for the two years remaining in this offering cycle. While this situation is unfortunate, we feel that this is the path of most diligence at this time, given the information that we have been provided.

For an outline of the situation, please read this article from Christianity Today http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/december-web-only/report-details-why-gospel-for-asia-lost-ecfa-membership.html

For some background reading, please review:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/october-web-only/why-gospel-for-asia-kicked-out-of-ecfa-yohannan.html

For GFA USA’s initial response, please read here:
http://www.gfa.org/ecfa/

For a response from a Canadian pastor, please read here:
http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/files/2015/07/A-Pastors-Appeals-to-Gospel-For-Asia-final-draft.pdf

From the U.K

Charity Commission assessing new claims that £8.2m is missing from Gospel for Asia UK accounts
Governance | Emily Corfe | 21 Jan 2016\t

The Charity Commission said it is assessing new information claiming that £8.2m has gone missing from the bank account of the UK charity Gospel for Asia.

The charity’s US branch was rocked by scandal following allegations that $128m worth of donor funds were unaccounted for.

This morning, the Charity Commission said it is assessing new claims about missing charitable funds sent by the British branch to India.

Former auditor Jason Watkins, claims £9.5m was sent from the UK branch to fund projects in India over the past eight years. But just £1.3m was received in India, meaning that £8.2m is currently unaccounted for, according to Watkins' analysis of reports sent by GFA to "different governing authorities" in the US.
Watkins told Civil Society News that despite significant funds reportedly sent from the UK to India over an eight year period, GFA's reports reveal that no money was received by the charity's operations in India, prior to the financial year 2013 to 2014.

Last year, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability revoked the charity’s US membership and it was sanctioned by the US government’s Office of Personnel Management, following revelations by blogger Warren Throckmorton that large funds were unaccounted for.

In December, the charity apologised to donors for "failing to utilize procedures necessary to ensure the highest level of accountability”.

The statement in Christianity Today magazine said: "We understand this has caused great concern and raised questions about the integrity and financial accountability of Gospel for Asia. We are sorry for the pain and confusion that we have caused".

A former senior leader and co-director of development at GFA, Travis Helm, who worked for the charity for eight years, before resigning in April, told Civil Society News that many financial decisions taken by the UK branch were centrally controlled.
Helm claims a representative of the charity’s founder and international director, KP Yohannan, "made numerous trips to the UK office to check up to maintain control” and that "almost every major - and minor ”“ decision was filtered thought Yohannan".
The charity’s UK branch accounts reveal that six staff are currently employed in the Manchester-based office. In the last financial year, its income stood at £1.9m ”“ an increase of more than £260,000 from the previous year. Expenditure last year was recorded as just under £1.7m.

Both Gospel for Asia UK and KP Yohannan were approached for comment by Civil Society News but did not respond by the time of going to press.

How this man pulled the wool over so many sheeps eyes for such a long period
of time is beyond me. Hundreds of millions of dollars embezzled and non the wiser. Where was the discernment in the body of Christ all this time?
This mind boggling religious fraud is worthy of criminal procecution.
Mercy yes if he repents but the wheels of justice much be served.

Brother,

At this time these are allegations and questions, with valid concerns. I would not consider millions stolen, if there were true then that would be a very sad state of affairs. Let us keep brother KP and Gospel for Asia in prayer that God would convict and bring to light all darkness so our Saviour's Name would not be maligned.

Gift of discernment operating in people today is usually belittled as "conspiracy theorists". This is a term always used to marginalize and discredit people, usually by those who are either part of the conspiracy or trying to cover it up. In this case, it looks like the conspiracy was true.

Conspiracies are always theories, first, until proven factual. And many have been proven factual, but it is very hard to do when so many work so hard to obfuscate the truth.

Greg

These are much more than allegations as you suggest. Even the Evangelical Council for Financial Integrity gave them the boot with some pretty serious evidence of massive financial misappropriation (fraud).

My real question is what gives with your unrelenting
defence of this indefensible man who has clearly and unequivocally already done
great harm and dishonour to the Name of JESUS, the Christ and LORD.

This is not conjecture and not speculation, the numbers are out there for all to see
and not only he has fleeced the sheep for personal financial gain and glory BUT it also a serious criminal offence a that he and his followers have perpetuated
on many sincere christians who obviously drank his brand of Kool Aid.

Notdarkyet wrote:

"How this man pulled the wool over so many sheeps eyes for such a long period
of time is beyond me. Hundreds of millions of dollars embezzled and non the wiser. Where was the discernment in the body of Christ all this time?
This mind boggling religious fraud is worthy of criminal procecution.
Mercy yes if he repents but the wheels of justice much be served."

The thought confidence man comes to mind. Here are some definitions.

"The definition of a confidence man is someone who gets a victim to trust them before taking their money or property.

An example of a confidence man is a con artist who acts like they're in love to steal someone's money.

a swindler who tries to gain the confidence of the victim in order to defraud

A man who swindles his victims by using a confidence game.

Someone who conducts a confidence game: who defrauds someone after winning his trust."

Sounds just like him.

"According to GFA’s project giving reports for 2011-2013, donors have given $284,528 designated for leprosy ministry. However, only $36,600 has been reported on Indian government forms as being received in India during the same period. On the FC-6 form, a specific line item exists for reporting foreign donations given to assist with leprosy treatment and outreach. Only about 13% of gifts designated by donors to GFA in the United States was reported as received by GFA’s field partners in India.
Due to giving in prior years, GFA had amassed a balance of nearly $400,000 in an account to help leprosy treatment as of March 31, 2014."

very early Monday AM here, just past midnite, and I feel led to reach out and say this is most true and righteous forthtelling I've read from you, (and please I beg you, don't take that as a "left-handed insult")

you wrote most correctly:

"Gift of discernment operating in people today is usually belittled as "conspiracy theorists". This is a term always used to marginalize and discredit people, usually by those who are either part of the conspiracy or trying to cover it up. In this case, it looks like the conspiracy was true.

Conspiracies are always theories, first, until proven factual. And many have been proven factual, but it is very hard to do when so many work so hard to obfuscate the truth."

I feel you are not confining this only to the sordid, terrible situation with GFA, but to the worldly "religionists" as a whole. I think i'm correct in interpreting what you so correctly forthtell, if I'm "off', please tell me.

I CANNOT understand WHY some "ministries" and the MEN, who them lead them, seem so intent on worshipping the golden calf. Money, power and control seem to be their "gods"....have these "religionists" gone simply gone mad?

and i'm not even addressing the issue of the worldly "leaders", who have seemingly abdicated their honor, and humility, seeking more power and more domination, its almost as if a dark spirit of confusion is falling over this whole world like a wet blanket, reeking of mold.

...and the truly grievous part of this, is when Messiah Jesus is at the Head of the Body of Christ, and comes to live inside a soul, and said soul, is receptive to Jesus Majesty, Beauty, and Love.....how can such things happen?

That's why it seems i'm so vociferous regarding the tribe of my flesh, the Jews....I cannot understand why such a Truth as Messiah Jesus, coming to earth in his Earthly Ministry, serving as the Last Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God, crucified, hung from the cruel tree, resurrected, and now sitting at the right Hand of the Father.....is not apparent to them....yet....I say "yet", in the same spirit, as Paul's heart cry, at the opening of Romans 9, where that dear man's Godly grief is so plainly spooled out.

The Vine is a beautiful Thing, this most holy Faith is so simple...not only to the Jew, but the Gentile as well, which makes my heart leap, always has....but then darkened men with dark hearts come in, as "religionists"...and that is not confined to first century pharisees'......but the roman institution, not 2 century's after that....."religionists" to this very day, posing as ministers of Light, but really men bent on idol worship, fleshly domination, and the stumbling of the meek, who are searching their way to God, and to Messiah.

oh forgive this seemingly meandering post.....maybe i'm prayerfully humbling myself or "mending fences" as would be the colloquial term....simply put, my Godly grief at this ALL, knows no bounds, and the ONLY Thing I have, is to hang on to a simple Faith, dead to flesh, dead to self, and totally dependent on God.

on the other hand, as you so soundly forth told, there are men that have NO FEAR OF GOD.....Nor Love of Him, or Messiah Jesus, Both Father and Son, and Holy Spirit....so Beautiful, and So Lovely, slow to anger, and quick with Their Steadfast Love and Faithfulness to forgive, justify and sanctify.

I write this while you probably sleep, and my fervent prayer is that God fill your dreams with a good and clean look onto the Heavenly Jerusalem, most excellently testified to in Hebrews, that is my prayer, with love, for you Julius, in humility, neil