Communications History

This Letter to GFA and Board was the first communication from our group to GFA.

It is the single most important document for staff to read. It fully outlines our concerns, and explains why we and our advisory pastors believe they are valid.

This letter was sent as hard-copy via express mail on June 17, 2014, to every US and Canada senior leader, corporate officer and board member, as well as to the known leaders of every GFA international office, except field leaders or offices as we did not wish to involve the field. In the following weeks it was also emailed to a few board members who did not receive the hard copy.

We received advisory input from four pastors on the letter, and each one said that if the things the letter says are true, then they are indeed very serious and need to be dealt with. They also said that the way in which we were approaching this was biblical. Each pastor agreed to keep the matter confidential by our request.

“we are deeply concerned about five key issues at GFA”

Letter to GFA and Board

GFA’s Initial Response Letter was emailed from a  GFA Leader to JD, signed “The Leadership Team of Gospel for Asia.” It was scanned from a printout on GFA letterhead.

“…all of these accusations or details were either fabricated … or there has been a serious misunderstanding.”

GFA’s Initial Response Letter

GFA sent an email to JD that details their belief that we handled this matter unbiblically, that we refused to respond to leadership’s attempts to contact individuals who signed the letter and that we sent the letter to supporting pastors and churches to get them to drop support. GFA accuses JD of refusing to meet with leadership and a local pastor. They attached testimonies of GFA staff to the email, but we have not included them because we do not have permission from each staff member to publish the document. They tell of the board’s counsel that GFA not respond to our letter any further. Nevertheless, David says he will give his response to each of the five points raised in the initial letter.

“We explained [to the board] that after receiving your letter… we were led to contact each one of you… for the sake of reconciliation. But, we shared that you refused to do that. We shared how we successfully contacted JD and asked him to come and to even bring a pastor with him to meet with Brother K. P. and the leadership, but that he chose not to do that.”

Note that although each of our issue points is addressed and denied, we believe the evidence shared on this website overwhelmingly contradicts many of the answers given by GFA below. We invite you to judge for yourself.

JD sends Diaspora’s Appeal to arms-length board members in US and Canada to please consider our concerns.

“Since the leadership at GFA has dismissed our claims that a number of serious issues exist within GFA, we now appeal directly to you…”

Appeal to GFA Board

[note – this is the corrected version that was sent in the Sept. 3, 2014 email. The original will not be posted for the same reasons given in that email.]

JD <xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

K.P. says that 75 signers can not all be wrong, that the Lord is using us, and offers to give us the group meeting that we were looking for.

He promises to tell the staff the next morning that we are not trying to take down the ministry and that God is using us. We request that he do this because we value our friends on staff.

K.P. does not admit any specific wrongs or concede that we are correct in our accusations.

Phone conversation transcript

Note: As far as we know he did not tell the staff, or at least adequately, because many staff still believe and have even told us that we are being used by the Enemy to try and take down the ministry, and that “there are two sides to every story” and even though we served there, somehow we don’t understand the “other side.”

JD offers Gayle more information, including additional testimonies, to help in the investigation. [Note: Our group was not asked any questions by the board investigation before or after this email.]

“A big thank you for taking on this investigation. Please know that we are praying for you, and we are available to answer any questions.”

The Final Report from Gayle’s investigation is emailed to the Diaspora via KP.

Read our response to this report in our April 2, 2015 post.

“That individual contact has not been afforded to us by you, which, to us, neutralizes your accusations. …We send this as our final report and communication and now consider the matter closed.”

March 26, 2015

To: J. D. xxxxx:

In response to your letter of September 3, 2014, after many hours of investigation, intense prayer and examination of heart, we are broken-hearted and repentant that we damaged by our actions and attitudes any believer for whom we had responsibility by relationship. We have proposed, and still do, to go wherever we need to and do all within our power to apologize and seek forgiveness and healing with anyone and everyone on your list who may have suffered damage of spirit or heart from us. That individual contact has not been afforded to us by you, which, to us, neutralizes your accusations. But, we have done all we can do about the past until freedom is granted to us.

We have, from the beginning, made our new headquarters fully open to the community and have purposely served the community. We do not have church services in our chapel. We do encourage workers to go to local churches, be a part of them and receive any and all counseling from the local pastors and churches, except in very rare cases. Our gates are left open and visitors are welcomed and shown whatever they wish to see and questions are answered. We are, indeed, a community and fellowship, but no one would be able to find evidence of being a cult.

Your final combined declaration about the structure and presentation of the personnel and headquarters in India, coupled only with a photo was misapplied about an ordination service whose presentation is required by the state for proof of ordination, otherwise one could be imprisoned for doing religious activities limited to the ordained. Other parts of that accusation could not be verified in the manner in which you made them, and have been dropped as worth considering.

Consequently, we feel that your other accusations are without foundation in terms of the fulfilling of our call to enlarge the Kingdom of God. We also feel that your demand that we gather the boards of the USA and Canada to meet with you in order to escape your threats is excessive, impractical and counter to the commitment of our time to getting the Gospel to those who have not heard. We do not intend to call for or participate in such a board meeting.

Therefore, we send this as our final report and communication and now consider the matter closed.

Gayle

In behalf of the Board of Gospel for Asia

From: K.P. Yohannan
Sent: March-26-15 12:24 PM
To: [GFA Offices, GFA Board]
Subject: FW: Final Report

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I just received the final report that Gayle did on behalf of the USA Board of Directors that addresses JD’s appeal to the Board. I am forwarding it for you to see. The text from the attachment is below in case you have trouble opening it.

Let us continue to pray for all of our brothers and sisters who are a part of this situation, that we could sincerely be reconciled as one (John 17:21).

Thank you for serving our Lord and bringing the Gospel to the unreached in our generation.

In His grace,

K.P. Yohannan

Bruce, a concerned pastor who is involved with GFA, writes his concerns to the GFA Canada Board.

“The number and consistent nature of the allegations arising from testimonies in the group known as the Diaspora is overwhelming. … It is quite apparent that the stories do not stem from collusion. They have every appearance of being collaborating accounts of some very serious and long standing relational sins.”

March 27, 2015

Dear Members of the GFA Canadian Board:

Sincere greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord!

I am the lead pastor at [a church] in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, and have served this church for 26 years. I am writing you today out of concern arising from information I received from the group known as the Diaspora.

I was first introduced to GFA by Wendell … in the mid-nineties. He called me, introduced himself, and asked to meet. We arranged a time and during our first conversation I learned he had slept in his car in our church parking lot on the night before. This was my first look at the kinds of sacrifices GFA personnel are willing to make in pursuit of their calling. Thereafter, we made sure he stayed in our home when visiting. Our church also began regular financial support for GFA that has continued to this day, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

On one occasion Wendell was a guest minister in our church and visited in our home. At the same time, our daughter, Sharlene, had just returned home from a 4-month discipleship training course. After Sunday dinner she and Wendell sat in our living room discussing her future. This led to her and another young woman from our congregation, Donna _____ (DJ), moving to Dallas to work at the GFA head office. After several months of orientation and volunteering, they moved to India to begin studies at the GFA seminary in Kerala, later graduating with Bachelor of Theology degrees.

In 1999 my wife, Marlene, and I visited them in India. GFA staff treated us very well. I spoke to the seminary student body and travelled to two Bible training centres, one in Tamil Nadu, the other in Sri Lanka, ministering several times to the students. We also visited and ministered at two rural churches. GFA staff members who escorted us were very accommodating and friendly. Our trip ended with a few day visit at the GFA office in Delhi, where Daniel ______ was living at the time. He and other staff graciously hosted us and served as tour guides.

On the first Sunday morning after returning to our church in Canada, I spoke to our congregation about GFA’s work in India and mentioned some specific needs that we were made aware of during our visit. In that Sunday evening’s service a missions offering amounting to over $14,000 was received to help meet these needs.

After their graduation, Sharlene and DJ returned to Canada and worked at the GFA office, first in Hamilton, and later in the new facility in Stoney Creek, Ontario. It was required of them that they not take out membership in a local church and they could not contribute financially to a church. Tithes and offerings were to be given to GFA. They were permitted to attend a Sunday morning service at a local church, but not Bible Studies or young adults groups.

During a missions-fest event at which they had set up a booth for GFA, they met a man, working in another booth, Mike _____, who eventually became DJ’s husband. Later, Mike introduced Sharlene to his close friend, Colin _____, who later became Sharlene’s husband. During the time they were dating, Colin attended several prayer meetings with GFA staff. He became friends with staff members and fellowshipped in their homes. Once their engagement was announced appeals were made to Colin to join GFA. Colin respected GFA and its ministry but did not feel it was God’s will that he serve with them. A few months passed and then one day Sharlene was given an ultimatum requiring that she break off her engagement with Colin or be dismissed.

That day Sharlene left GFA with a very heavy heart. There was no exit interview, no chance to say good-bye, no-one reached out to her. No one said, “thank-you”….She was simply – gone! This was June, 2001.

In spite of this, and out of my respect for the work GFA was doing, I did not stop my support of GFA. Like many others, I didn’t see our daughter’s experience as being symptomatic of a deeply rooted systemic problem. This changed upon receiving testimonies from the Diaspora and from learning of some changes in GFA’s ministry practices about which I was previously unaware.

For example, I am concerned about the implications associated with KP Yohannan being addressed as, “His Eminence the Most Reverend Dr. KP Yohannan”. The word “eminence” suggests something more than honour due to ministers of the gospel, touting instead an air of superiority. It is also titular, such as seen in the Roman Catholic church’s use of the term in reference to its Cardinals. Use of the adjective “most”, attached to “Reverend”, also indicates pre-eminence, setting one person above others. The elaborate robes seen in pictures of KP, and testimony where individuals are seen kissing the ring on his finger, are practices not seen in biblical portrayals of New Testament ministry.

Paul, never referred to himself as, “The Apostle, Paul”, it was always, “Paul, an apostle”. The former is titular, the latter refers to role. In the Bible the idea of leadership is most often associated with servant-hood, not hierarchical position or title. The only man upon whom the Bible confers pre-eminence, is Jesus. (Colossians 1:18).

It is in the Gospel of Matthew that we first see the word “church”. It is first used in the 16th chapter in context of a question Jesus asked: “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (vs.13). In response to Peter’s affirmation that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus stated that this confession was the foundation upon which He would build His church.

The second time the word “church” is seen is two chapters later in Matthew 18 where again, its use is predicated on a question. This time the question came from the disciples of Jesus. They asked: “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? (vs.1) In response Jesus taught foundational and timeless principles about Christian leadership and ministry. When observed they produce much good fruit. When they are not followed, churches and ministries can fail with many being harmed as a result.

There is a high and holy calling on Christian leaders to ensure that spiritual ministry is established solely on biblical precepts. We also need to recognize that human nature, being what it is, disinclines us to do so.

The question the disciples asked was the wrong question. It should never have been asked. Being the “greatest”, seeking “ascendency”, is the very opposite to everything ministry is about. The whole Matthew 18 discourse demonstrates this.

First, Jesus responded to the question by putting a child in the centre of the group. This child would be seem as the least ascendant one. The child had no aspirations to the elevated positions the disciples vied for. Jesus then said that unless they were converted, humbled themselves, and became like this child they would not see the kingdom of heaven. Conversion in this context, is not about salvation. It’s about wrong thinking when it comes to position in relation to fellow believers. Ascendency is opposite to humility. Humility is about emulating the nature of Jesus who, as Paul said, :…made himself of no reputation…..He humbled himself” (Philippians 2:7-8).

Jesus said that the person who, “Humbles himself as this little child Is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (vs.4). Thus, the answer to the question about greatness is found in the lives of those who do not seek it. As James said, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Second, Jesus warned about the damage a lack of humility could cause (vs.6-7). He said it would be better to perish by drowning with a millstone around one’s neck rather than cause another person to be offended by behaviour that results from prideful position seeking or any other action that compromises the well being of others.

Third, Jesus elaborated on humility by teaching the importance of self-discipline (v.8-9). In these verses he spoke of cutting off various body parts. In other words, sinful practices must end. This is a strong warning, one that is too easily lost in the church today. Leaders are responsible for the affects their wrongful behaviours have on others.

Fifth, Jesus made this amazing statement.

See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” (v.10)

Since Jesus had just spoken about the need for His followers to become like little children, His reference to “little ones” includes fellow believers. Jesus refers to angels on assignment – angels charged with the care and oversight of the fellow believers the disciples were trying to step over in their pursuit of greatness. If the angels see the face of the Father, His very image stamped upon other fellow believers, what possible grounds could any one have to seek ascendency over them?

Fourth, Jesus gave the parable of the lost sheep, (vs. 12-.) To understand the meaning of this parable the context is important. Unlike the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 where Jesus was addressing Pharisees steeped in pride, believing they had no need of repentance, in Matthew the context is in relation to the warning Jesus gave about pride in the church. Here, the lost sheep refers to a person who is lost to the kingdom of God due to wrongful actions by Christian leaders. The parable emphasises the onus that is placed on the church to find and restore persons lost for these reasons.

Fifth, is the teaching that Jesus gives on the three-fold process to be followed when a brother or sister sins, (vs.15-17). It is here that the word “church” appears. Often when this passage is discussed the greater context is missed. Although a brother or sister who sins can refer to any kind of sin, the context is prideful sin on the part of spiritual leaders who see themselves positioned above others.

Sixth, Peter, after listening to all that Jesus said, finally asked the right question: “How often should I forgive my brother?” (vs.21). His focus was now where it ought to be, not on his own ascendency in the church, but on his responsibility towards others.

Throughout the New Testament, deference to any kind of human supremacy is avoided. In Lystra, where Paul and Barnabas were preaching, a lame man was healed at the command of Paul, (Acts 14). The people believed the gods had come among them and proceeded to worship them. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes and declared that they were mere men, no different than any of them. They claimed no special status as ministers in their proclamation of the Gospel to the lost. This was not self-abasement but neither was it self-promotion. This is a very important principle of evangelism. The purpose is to deflect all attention off man and onto Christ, for He alone is Saviour and Lord.

It was said of the Corinthian church that they, “came behind in no gift” (1 Corinthians 1:7). Considering Paul’s description of spiritual gifts later in chapter 12, this must have been an amazing church in a most positive sense. At the same time however, it was also said of them that their church meetings did more harm than good, (1 Cor. 11:17). Here we see extreme opposite realities present in one church. That this could happen is the very thing Jesus spoke about in Matthew 18.

The reason had to do with sin, many sins, but foundational to them all was their pursuit of ascendency. In 1 Corinthians 1:11-13, we read:

My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

3 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

The Corinthian believers were caught up in the Matthew 18 question, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of God”. This was the root of all the other sins seen in this church. Whenever anyone other than Jesus is seen as being eminent in the church, humility – so essential to Christian ministry, is compromised. The fruit is never good.

During most of the first three centuries of the church, persecution was severe and constant. Many Christians were martyred. Early in the fourth century after Constantine became the emperor of Rome, he decreed that Christianity was to become the official religion of the empire. To accommodate the new law, polytheistic religious leaders simply added Jesus to the list of gods they recognized. As a result the church was infiltrated with many contrary interests which led to a significant loss of its counter-culture distinctiveness. As time passed it became increasingly difficult to recognize the true church.

Among the many contrary influences to infiltrate the church was deference paid to priests that went way beyond the kind of honour the Bible promotes for leaders. As various branches of the church emerged, some celebrated leadership with things like elaborate attire, expensive jewellery, special seats in the congregation, and titles. Assimilation of these practices led to hierarchical leadership systems quite removed from biblical precepts.

I question the legitimacy of KP’s practice of wearing elaborate apparel and his use of titles. I say this from the standpoint that I do not see where the associated veneration garnered is scriptural or Christ honouring.

I also question how the gospel is advanced by this. Our world is filled with idolatry, including relational idolatry. The caste system, which holds many in the nation of India in spiritual bondage, has, as its most ascendant cast, the Brahmin priests. At the other end of the human spectrum, the dalit, or untouchable caste, is comprised of people considered so inferior and repulsive that to even touch one is seen as contamination. In a culture that enables spiritual darkness and bondage due, in part, by a transcendent priestly class, one would think that the greatest care should be taken by the church to avoid any appearance of priestly privilege on the part of its ministers through things like attire, jewellery and titles.

Jesus lived in a culture where religion was Pharisee led. Among the things these religions leaders considered to be important, three top priorities, were attire, seats of prominence in the synagogues and titles. Jesus did not observe these traditions as an attempt to be culturally relevant. He thereby demonstrated that in advancing the kingdom of God, culture must always be made to bow to the scriptures, not the scriptures to the culture.

At the heart of the gospel is equality, where no one person is esteemed to be better than another. In Christ, race, gender, socio-economic status do not matter. The scriptures teach us to not hold the faith of our Lord with respect of persons, (James 2:1). Great care must be taken by the church to demonstrate humility in all things. No practice of ministry, either among believers in the church or in witness to a lost world, should include any relic, symbol, attire, promotion, or any other thing unless humility, not elevated status, is advanced thereby.

Consubstantiation is a belief concerning the Lord’s table that most evangelicals do not embrace. It appears from literature that I have recently read that Believers Churches may have adapted this doctrine. I do believe that the special presence of Christ is manifest when we break bread and drink wine together in remembrance of Him. However, it is unclear to me how far GFA churches have taken this. Is there a leaning toward salvation by sacrament? In matters such as this, an onus on the part of GFA to proactively inform supporters of changes in practices and beliefs should be taken at the time they occur.

I was also unaware, until recently, that GFA has adapted an Episcopal form of church government. This is not of great concern to me due to the many divergent opinions surrounding ecclesiological doctrines that exist in the Body of Christ.

The word, “Episcopal”, simply means pertaining to bishops or governed by bishops. Oversight by bishops and an archbishop is rooted in Anglican tradition.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. He is seen as first among equals, the leader of other bishops. He is appointed by the Queen of England serving under her authority and the authority of the other bishops. Checks and balances are present in Anglicanism. An archbishop cannot function autocratically.

The term “Metropolitan”, meaning “Metropolitan Bishop”, or “Archbishop”, is being used to describe KP Yohanan’s oversight of the Believer’s Churches. However, GFA’s practice of Episcopalian governance does not necessarily mean that the same accountability arrangements practiced in other Episcopal groups, such as the Anglican church, is present. Authority, responsibility and accountability by GFA, depends upon both its definition and by its practice of the Episcopal governance system it has created. It is not clear to me what this is.

Several questions arise. Does the Boards of Directors in the US have active input with respect to doctrine and practice in GFA churches and its Episcopal structure? Do sister boards such as your own Canadian board contribute any input? How are roles, authority, responsibility and accountability arrangements, as well as overall purpose and function articulated in GFA’s Canadian governing documents (Constitution and By-Laws), filed with the Charities Division of the Canada Revenue Agency? If they are not found in Canadian governing documents are there international joint ministry or agency agreements in which they are included?

The foregoing are some questions that occur to me regarding GFA’s governance.

On the Diaspora website reference was made to an ordination service for Pat _____, the current director of GFA Canada. It contains 3 questions that KP asked him:

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?”

. 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?”

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?”

More questions arise from my reading of this.

First, there appears to be an order of bishops in GFA churches. Who are the people that make up this order, and how are they appointed?

Second, reference is made to the successor of the Metropolitan. How is successor-ship determined by GFA?

Third, reference is made to, “absolute submission in accordance with the constitution of the church”. Is this constitution published and available to supporters? Is this constitution a part of GFA governing documents or has a parallel entity been established under a different name? What are the terms of “absolute submission” found in the church constitution?

Fourth, reference is made to life-long submission to GFA. If there is a biblical basis for requiring this of someone it is unclear to me as to what it is. Will you furnish an explanation?

The exercise of spiritual authority and submission as a response to authority, are often misunderstood concepts. As head of the church, Jesus has absolute authority over the church. Devils, diseases, death and all things are subject to His word. Nature itself bows to Him.

Ephesians 5 describes the Lordship of Jesus over His church as taking the form of sacrifice. Jesus loves the church, His bride, and gave His life for us. Through the example of Jesus we learn that sacrifice is the outflow of true authority. Authority is always for the benefit of those being loved and served.

Obedience is deference to the will of another at the expense of one’s own will. Obedience to Christ comes not from fear of judgment, but from the joy of being loved by Him. Thus, mutual love, mutual honour and mutual sacrifice form an never ending cycle of deep intimacy and mutual benefit in the authority/submission relationship between Christ and His church.

Biblically, in terms of human relationships, the most beautiful expression of authority and submission is found in the relationship between a husband and wife. A husband’s headship is not dictatorship. It is sacrifice, the giving of his life sacrificially for his wife, as Jesus gave His for the church. This principle applies to the practice of authority in all areas of life, including church leadership.

The assertion of authority by anyone who himself is not under authority, is not a godly arrangement. The exercise of authority by anyone that is disproportionate to the practitioners own submission to authority, is corruption.

Consider Jesus. One would not think that anyone bearing the title, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”, would need to be in submission to anyone. However, Jesus practiced submission more than any man. He only did the things He saw His Father do and nothing else. In prayer, before His death, His words were, “Not my will but Yours be done”. He demonstrated perfectly the relationship between authority and submission.

There is a danger for any leader to traffic in worship by revelling in the praise and honour of others, to take honour that belongs to God alone, and siphon some for himself. This was the iniquity found in Lucifer that led to his fall. It is relational idolatry, which has led to the downfall of many men and women in ministry. I hesitate to raise this lest it be thought I am accusing KP of such evils. I am not doing that. I am bringing a strong cautionary concern to you due to current practices I see in GFA, and appeal for sober second thought to be given to them.

GFA supporters are giving support for both missions endeavours and for GFA churches.

This is quite natural and acceptable since church planting should result from evangelistic endeavours. GFA does a good job of describing the evangelistic and social help projects it undertakes. Supporters are made aware of the purposes for which their help is sought.

It seems to me that the same cannot be said for GFA taking similar pro-active measures to inform supporters of the nature of the churches they have set up. It appears that invitations are given to supporters to do research on their own regarding this with some information that is posted on their website and in literature they have produced. This, however, is not the same as up-front transparency. I think it likely that supporters are just now beginning to learn of the nature of GFA churches, especially with respect to clerical adornments, titles, doctrinal stances, and governance. Changes to more zealous measures of information sharing is needed. Trust on the part of supporters may lost if present practices continue.

The number and consistent nature of the allegations arising from testimonies in the group known as the Diaspora is overwhelming. Reading them brought great pain to my heart and I imagine that others who have read them are similarly affected. It is quite apparent that the stories do not stem from collusion. They have every appearance of being collaborating accounts of some very serious and long standing relational sins.

Canadian law that governs not-for-profit corporations such as GFA, treats board members as fiduciaries. I think it likely that the same is true in the USA. This requires that the board exercise proper and adequate oversight of an organization.

The testimonies of Canadian members of the Diaspora, could, if presented to the Ontario Labour Board, give cause for strong censure. Labour laws do not condone the kind of treatment reported.

By asking for and receiving corporate and registered charity status, GFA has made promises to abide by the law. Status is not granted without this. Integrity is measured by the degree to which these promises are faithfully kept.

It cannot be said that GFA has discharged itself faithfully in carrying out fiduciary responsibilities, by acting with all due diligence and performing all duties of care, if it has failed to abide by any pertinent law, such as the Ontario Labour Laws.

The pursuit of integrity in matters of natural jurisprudence not only carry legal ramifications, but moral and spiritually ones as well. Righteousness in its truest biblical, sense is compromised in the presence of broken promises. As Christians this should always be of great concern.

Pretence abounds when promises are broken. We cannot say we will abide by the law and then not do so, while at the same time present ourselves to others as though we do.

Apparent success and the applaud of others are not the truest measure of honour. Honesty is. Pretence is no friend of honour.

In all matters of natural law, such as labour laws, laws that govern finances, trustee law, and all other applicable laws, Christian organizations must be above reproach.

KP Yohannan has accomplished much for the kingdom of God. He has demonstrated an amazing ability to be both a great visionary leader and one well able implement his God given vision. He has influenced many to follow his example of “glad sacrifice”, summoning believers all over the world to pursue the greater callings and work of the kingdom of God. Children in my church have at times given themselves to raising money for bicycles for GFA missionaries. Personally, KP has been an example to me of a man I have always considered to have set a pattern in ministry to emulate.

My purpose in writing this letter is not to castigate or condemn. I do believe that intervention is needed to arrest and change detrimental practices. Nowhere is this more necessary than when it comes to taking responsibility for wrongs committed against members of the Diaspora and any other former GFA workers who may have had similar experiences. I strongly appeal that this take place.

One important consideration regarding this is process. Whenever behaviour by one party creates trauma for another party, care to not exacerbate the damage must be taken. Therefore, I strongly advise against meeting with members of the Diaspora individually until there is a much greater degree of trust than presently exists. For this reason I believe the Diaspora group as a whole should be addressed first. I also suggest that a third party arrangement made up of spiritual leaders, not employed by GFA, be asked to facilitate this process.

My wife, Marlene, and I have ministered in areas of abuse and trauma counselling over the years. I was asked by the New York/New Jersey Port Authority Police Department to help in the aftermath of 9/11. I did two tours of duty at ground zero as a chaplain to police and firefighters during recovery operations. Extreme trauma, such as generated by something as terrible as 9/11 can have devastating and permanent affects. It is hard to describe the degree of trauma experienced at ground zero. In the debriefings I received, I was made aware of affects in my own life that I would not have recognized had I not received them.

Reference to 9/11 is for comparing the affects of trauma only. An event of the magnitude of 9/11 does not have to take place in order for severe trauma to happen. Any breakdown in human relations or other difficult life experiences can be the cause.

As I read the testimonies of the Diaspora I observe affects that often occur when there is a power differential between conflicting parties. One of the affects is fear on the part of the abused. As a first step towards reconciliation, practices and behaviour that created the breakdown in trust, and thereby the resulting fear and other affects, should be addressed first.

I have offered to meet with the Canadian members of the Diaspora as a group for the purpose of debriefing and identifying areas of concern where individuals in the group may need ongoing help. I consider this to be of utmost importance. I hope to do this soon.

I am asking that you consider my request, made herewith, for a meeting with the GFA Canadian Board of Directors. There are a number of things I would like to discuss with you, including the kind of help you could offer the Diaspora at this time. If a meeting with the whole board is not possible, I will gladly meet with a contingency or individual members.

Thank-you for your consideration.

Yours in His glad service,

___________________________

Bruce _____

cc. The Diaspora, GFA Board of Directors, USA

The Diaspora’s response to the Final Report from Gayle’s investigation.

“we will not make any further appeal to you—but we cannot agree that the matter is closed or resolved”

April 2, 2015

To: [GFA US and Canada Board]

Dear GFA Board Members,

Thank you for formally responding to our concerns. However, your final report leaves us confused and disappointed.

You begin by expressing broken-heartedness and repentance but fail to describe any specific change in thought and action. There is no acknowledgement of specific wrongs committed. Instead, what follows appears to be a defense rather than repentance. How can someone confess broken-heartedness and repentance and then state that the accusations are neutralized?

Are you speaking for the board or on behalf of GFA leaders when you state that individual contact has not been afforded? Aside from one e-mail requesting a testimony (which was provided), and contacting a former staff member who is not part of the Diaspora, how many of us did you attempt to contact?

Prior to writing our first letter, attempts had been made by some former staff to address concerns on an individual basis but without success. Was it not biblical to next bring some witnesses to voice concerns and hear as a group GFA’s response? If our biblical process was unclear, did you ask any of us why there is now hesitancy to meet one-on-one with GFA leadership?

If GFA is willing to do anything within their power to apologize and seek forgiveness, why did you not meet with some of us along with a neutral party to help facilitate? If GFA truly seeks healing for those who have suffered damage of spirit, we expected a willingness to handle the situation in the reasonable manner proposed by those who were wronged. This would have been a good step to restore broken trust.

We hoped a full investigation would include a summary of the reason for the investigation, testimonies of people you interviewed, and careful confirmation or refutation of each accusation and our supporting evidence. These components appear to be almost completely absent. While mostly overlooking our original concerns, you respond to some matters we don’t recall bringing up.

We heard that GFA leadership was interviewed, but we wonder why no interviews were conducted with any of those who are part of the Diaspora? We had no opportunity to hear and respond to GFA leadership’s testimony provided to you.

You believe that our concerns are without foundation in terms of fulfilling GFA’s call to enlarge the Kingdom of God. However, God is concerned not just with numerical growth but spiritual health (Mat 7:22–23). Jesus’ own letters to the seven churches in Revelation also make that clear. Considering the seriousness of our concerns, is it excessive for you to make time for a meeting? After all, it is your responsibility to oversee the ministry and make sure it is being conducted in a manner worthy of the gospel.

While we respect your freedom to respond as you did, we are disappointed because your report is incomplete and inconsistent. Since this is your final report and communication, we will not make any further appeal to you—but we cannot agree that the matter is closed or resolved. May God bring correction by some other avenue as He sees fit, so that GFA might walk in His ways, bear much fruit and, in KP’s own words, “finish well”.

Respectfully,

The Diaspora

Multiple GFA leaders sent emails to many Diaspora individuals today, asking forgiveness. Some members received confession of specific personal wrongs referenced from their personal testimony. Others received a more generic, form-like apology, indicating that the leader was not aware of any specific actions. The majority of these emails were sent at the same time.

These emails were clearly intended as a way for the leaders to formally apologize for individual, personal offenses, hurts, and errors in judgement. While their personal apologies—as limited as they are—have been accepted by many, there was neither acknowledgement by any of the leaders of the systemic abuse arising from unbiblical doctrines and practices of the ministry as a whole, nor indication of genuine repentance.

If the Holy Spirit is the One prompting true repentance for personal offenses, it seems He would have prompted that leader to ask forgiveness sooner and in a more personal, individual manner. Although our names and testimonies have been available to GFA leaders for many months, we find it odd that it took so long to recognize the hurts of former staff—and leadership’s offenses that caused them. In fact, leadership has spent previous communications denying our claims.

While it seems that the email apologies are a coordinated PR campaign, we hope that these limited apologies are genuinely sincere. Some of us have emailed back with forgiveness and love for these confessions.

We hope this brings closure to individual sins, and allow the leadership to focus on the root of these sins—the false beliefs and unbiblical practices outlined in our initial letter.

The Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability is an organization that many Christian groups are affiliated with to prove their financial trustworthiness. According to their site, the “ECFA enhances trust in Christ-centered churches and ministries by establishing and applying Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship™ to accredited organizations.” On October 2^nd, the ECFA removed Gospel for Asia from its list of members. This removal was not voluntary on GFA’s part. The ECFA lists the reasons for GFA’s removal as the following (taken directly from the ECFA’s list of former members):

“Terminated for failure to comply with Standard 2 Governance, Standard 3 Financial Oversight, Standard 4 Use of Resources, Standard 6 Compensation-Setting and Related-Party Transactions, Standard 7.1 Truthfulness in Communications, and Standard 7.2 Giver Expectations and Intent”

GFA had been a member in good standing with the ECFA for over 32 years and posted the ECFA’s seal of approval prominently on the financial integrity page of their website (the link is a record of what GFA’s page looked like on September 15th, 2015). A closer look at the ECFA’s reasons for terminating GFA are quite revealing.

Standard 2 – Governance
“Every organization shall be governed by a responsible board of not less than five individuals, a majority of whom shall be independent, who shall meet at least semiannually to establish policy and review its accomplishments.”

Standard 3 – Financial Oversight
“Every organization shall prepare complete and accurate financial statements. The board or a committee consisting of a majority of independent members shall approve the engagement of an independent certified public accountant, review the annual financial statements, and maintain appropriate communication with the independent certified public accountant. The board shall be apprised of any material weaknesses in internal control or other significant risks”

Standard 4 – Use of Resources
“Every organization shall exercise the appropriate management and controls necessary to provide reasonable assurance that all of the organization’s operations are carried out and resources are used in a responsible manner and in conformity with applicable laws and regulations, such conformity taking into account biblical mandates.”

Standard 6 – Compensation-Setting and Related-Party Transactions
“Every organization shall set compensation of its top leader and address related-party transactions in a manner that demonstrates integrity and propriety in conformity with ECFA’s Policy for Excellence in Compensation-Setting and Related-Party Transactions.”

Standard 7 – Stewardship of Charitable Gifts

7.1 Truthfulness in Communications
“In securing charitable gifts, all representations of fact, descriptions of the financial condition of the organization, or narratives about events must be current, complete, and accurate. References to past activities or events must be appropriately dated. There must be no material omissions or exaggerations of fact, use of misleading photographs, or any other communication which would tend to create a false impression or misunderstanding.”

7.2 Giver Expectations and Intent
“Statements made about the use of gifts by an organization in its charitable gift appeals must be honored. A giver’s intent relates both to what was communicated in the appeal and to any instructions accompanying the gift, if accepted by the organization. Appeals for charitable gifts must not create unrealistic expectations of what a gift will actually accomplish.”

In two years, only two other organization have been terminated by the ECFA for reasons other than failing to renew their membership, resigning membership voluntarily, or merging with another entity. Donors should be made aware of the seriousness of this action that the ECFA has taken.

Former GFA board member Gayle reveals the ECFA report and his original investigation report that was rejected and altered.

“I am sending you a very complete set of files that will give you understanding.”

From: Gayle Erwin <gayle@XXXXX.org>
Date: Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 8:04 PM
Subject: Re: mailing list
To: JD Smith <XXXXX@gmail.com>

Gayle’s apology to Diaspora.

Gayle’s original report to the board.

Gayle’s official “Final Report” of the board’s investigation sent to Diaspora in March 2015.

Gayle’s letters of concern to KP, giving reasons why he disagreed with the final report.

ECFA’s final report.

GFA’s response to ECFA’s report.

Gayle’s resignation letter.

Diaspora’s full communication history with GFA and its boards.

Former GFA board member Gayle reveals the ECFA report and his original investigation report that was rejected and altered.

“I am sending you a very complete set of files that will give you understanding.”

From: Gayle Erwin <gayle@XXXXX.org>
Date: Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 8:04 PM
Subject: Re: mailing list
To: JD Smith <XXXXX@gmail.com>

Gayle’s apology to Diaspora.

Gayle’s original report to the board.

Gayle’s official “Final Report” of the board’s investigation sent to Diaspora in March 2015.

Gayle’s letters of concern to KP, giving reasons why he disagreed with the final report.

ECFA’s final report.

GFA’s response to ECFA’s report.

Gayle’s resignation letter.

Diaspora’s full communication history with GFA and its boards.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: JD Smith <XXXXX@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 30, 2015 at 12:42 PM
Subject: Re: mailing list
To: Gayle Erwin <gayle@XXXXX.org>

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Gayle Erwin <gayle@XXXXX.org>
Date: Fri, Nov 27, 2015 at 5:31 AM
Subject: Re: mailing list
To: JD Smith <XXXXX@gmail.com>

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: JD Smith <XXXXX@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Nov 25, 2015 at 5:28 PM
Subject: Re: of interest to you
To: Gayle Erwin <gayle@XXXXX.org>

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: JD Smith <XXXX@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Nov 24, 2015 at 4:14 PM
Subject: Re: of interest to you
To: Gayle Erwin <gayle@XXXXX.org>

Gayle,

———- Forwarded message ———-

From: Gayle Erwin <gayle@XXXXX.org>
Date: Tue, Nov 24, 2015 at 3:45 PM
Subject: of interest to you
To: Smith JD <XXXXX@gmail.com>

Hello J. D.,

I received your email asking for my help in putting the GFA controversy to rest in a godly manner. You are, of course, aware of my resignation, along with Damian Kyle and Skip Heitzig, from the board of GFA. This ended 30 years of board service for me.

I have waited and watched to see how the news of ECFA expulsion would play out and what degree of candor and openness would follow. I can wait no longer.

The document attached to this letter is the report I made originally to KP and, afterward, the Board of GFA, of my investigation of the charges made in behalf of yourself and the Diaspora of GFA. This is the first time the initial report has been made public and I hope it will be of some comfort to you and your group.

When I first presented the conclusions of my investigation to KP  (with David Carroll present) KP glanced at it, declared that he was a speed reader, and began what I will simply call an ugly scene filled with expressions I don’t wish to repeat. I presented this same report to the Board of GFA. The ugly scene began again. My recommendation was that we confess, make restitution and change, and that I be granted permission to meet with you. The board rejected my findings and I was instructed to write the public report which was sent to you. Although the board was very pleased with the report, the agony of having written it has not left me. I apologize to you for the report that was sent to you. Some of the report I wrote with the hope that it would become true and that I was making progress in some intense mental and spiritual combat with KP. The financial part that I dismissed, I later learned was true. Please forgive me.

Hopefully we can have that face-to-face meeting in the future and simply speak of kingdom things.

Blessings,

Gayle Erwin
gayle@XXXXX.org
From the highways and hedges handing out invitations

To view Gayle’s original report, click HERE.

The Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability is an organization that many Christian groups are affiliated with to prove their financial trustworthiness. According to their site, the “ECFA enhances trust in Christ-centered churches and ministries by establishing and applying Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship™ to accredited organizations.” On October 2^nd, the ECFA removed Gospel for Asia from its list of members. This removal was not voluntary on GFA’s part. The ECFA lists the reasons for GFA’s removal as the following (taken directly from the ECFA’s list of former members):

“Terminated for failure to comply with Standard 2 Governance, Standard 3 Financial Oversight, Standard 4 Use of Resources, Standard 6 Compensation-Setting and Related-Party Transactions, Standard 7.1 Truthfulness in Communications, and Standard 7.2 Giver Expectations and Intent”

GFA had been a member in good standing with the ECFA for over 32 years and posted the ECFA’s seal of approval prominently on the financial integrity page of their website (the link is a record of what GFA’s page looked like on September 15th, 2015). A closer look at the ECFA’s reasons for terminating GFA are quite revealing.

Standard 2 – Governance
“Every organization shall be governed by a responsible board of not less than five individuals, a majority of whom shall be independent, who shall meet at least semiannually to establish policy and review its accomplishments.”

Standard 3 – Financial Oversight
“Every organization shall prepare complete and accurate financial statements. The board or a committee consisting of a majority of independent members shall approve the engagement of an independent certified public accountant, review the annual financial statements, and maintain appropriate communication with the independent certified public accountant. The board shall be apprised of any material weaknesses in internal control or other significant risks”

Standard 4 – Use of Resources
“Every organization shall exercise the appropriate management and controls necessary to provide reasonable assurance that all of the organization’s operations are carried out and resources are used in a responsible manner and in conformity with applicable laws and regulations, such conformity taking into account biblical mandates.”

Standard 6 – Compensation-Setting and Related-Party Transactions
“Every organization shall set compensation of its top leader and address related-party transactions in a manner that demonstrates integrity and propriety in conformity with ECFA’s Policy for Excellence in Compensation-Setting and Related-Party Transactions.”

Standard 7 – Stewardship of Charitable Gifts

7.1 Truthfulness in Communications
“In securing charitable gifts, all representations of fact, descriptions of the financial condition of the organization, or narratives about events must be current, complete, and accurate. References to past activities or events must be appropriately dated. There must be no material omissions or exaggerations of fact, use of misleading photographs, or any other communication which would tend to create a false impression or misunderstanding.”

7.2 Giver Expectations and Intent
“Statements made about the use of gifts by an organization in its charitable gift appeals must be honored. A giver’s intent relates both to what was communicated in the appeal and to any instructions accompanying the gift, if accepted by the organization. Appeals for charitable gifts must not create unrealistic expectations of what a gift will actually accomplish.”

In two years, only two other organization have been terminated by the ECFA for reasons other than failing to renew their membership, resigning membership voluntarily, or merging with another entity. Donors should be made aware of the seriousness of this action that the ECFA has taken.

After nearly a year of attempting to privately address our concerns as a group with GFA leaders and staff, Diaspora removed the password from this website.

We believe the public—current and potential supporters—have a right to discern for themselves whether or not our concerns are valid as they make decisions regarding how to invest the Lord’s money.

Since several independent articles have been written about our concerns on the Internet, we felt the public should now have access to the primary information on which we base our concerns.

On April 5, 2015, the board members of the GFA Germany office notified the Diaspora that they would soon be shutting down their office. The official announcement was emailed to us on May 13.

“Because of my age and since no suitable, competent successor could be found, we will stop the work and shut down the German branch of Gospel for Asia.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We had our last annual board meeting on May 9th and officially decided to shut down the German branch of Gospel for Asia after 24 years of service. Below you will find our official letter which has been sent out to sponsors and friends.

We want to ask the different GFA departments in the US and in India to stop sending us any further material, because we don’t need it anymore – the office is closed! Also please stop forwarding us any free book requests and delete our contact details from the German website.

It was a joy to serve the Lord together with all of you – we will not forget you. May the Lord continue to bless you all.

Your friends from Germany,

Pastor W., R. and U.

Dear mission partner,

24 years ago we founded the German branch of the international mission movement Gospel for Asia with the primary objective to encourage Christians in the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) to actively take part in the Great Commission through supporting native GFA missionaries in South Asia by our sponsorship programme. Many Christians from different denominations made use of our offer and innumerable people were allowed to get to know Jesus on our mission fields before it is too late.

I was the leader of the German branch of Gospel for Asia for the last 24 years. I am almost 84 years old by now. Because of my age and since no suitable, competent successor could be found, we will stop the work and shut down the German branch of Gospel for Asia.

Many blessed but also intense years lay behind us which we as a team will never forget. The generosity of our sponsors and friends is big to this day and so we are a little sad to announce that the time has come to ask you to stop sending any further donations to our German GFA office.

Would you please inform your bank to cancel existing standing orders. Furthermore please don’t transfer any more donations to our bank accounts:

Germany:   xxxxx     Switzerland:   xxxxx     Austria:   xxxxx

You are welcome to continue to support Gospel for Asia in the future. We invite you to get to know our GFA office in Great Britain and we encourage you to visit its internet page:

www.gfauk.org

!! The sponsorship programme for our missionaries stops at once !! For logistical reasons our complete missionary database has been already divided up directly by our GFA head office in South India to all other international GFA offices. Through this the monthly support of all GFA missionaries who were supported by our German office is secured! Please do not return the documents of the missionaries to us.

For all donations in 2015 the tax deductible receipts will be sent out without demand of the donator (for the tax office in Germany) at the beginning of the New Year 2016.

As a team we would like to say goodbye to you and on behalf of Gospel for Asia we want to thank you that you have so faithfully stayed with us, so that innumerable people could be saved in South Asia for ever.

May the Lord continue to bless you.

In Christ,

Pastor W. M.

_______________________________________________

GOSPEL FOR ASIA – Deutschland

Tel.: xxxxx * Fax:xxxxx

Email: infogermany@gfa.org

Internet: http://www.gfa.org/germany

P.S.: GFA, USA would like to receive our addresses. If you DON’T want us to forward your address, please inform our office latest until 31.05.2015. Thank you!

Note: GFA never informed us of, or invited us to, a May 2015 meeting. Nor has GFA introduced us to Greg. We have not received any communication from GFA (except for some individual apologies) or the Board since their final report on March 26, 2015.

Though Greg’s emailed invitation to meet was sent to many individuals in the Diaspora (excluding JD), we responded to him as a unified group.

As of April 22, 2015, we have not heard any response from Greg to our group, nor have we ever received any communication directly from GFA leadership regarding this meeting.

“We have had no communication at all from GFA leadership stating your official role as their representative, so once again we ask that if GFA leadership really does want to meet with representatives of the Diaspora to discuss the five areas of sin that we outlined in our initial letter to them, then GFA leadership needs to contact us at info@gfadiaspora.com.”

From: GFA Diaspora <info@gfadiaspora.com>
Date: Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 11:28 PM
Subject: Re: re: GFA Diaspora and Reconciliation
To: Greg
Cc: [GFA leaders]

Greg,

Thank you for your heart to bring healing and reconciliation between members of the Diaspora and Gospel for Asia. Unfortunately, both you and GFA leadership seem to still be missing the main point that we have attempted to drive home over and over again. That point being that the goal of the Diaspora is not about obtaining healing and reconciliation regarding the numerous individual hurts that have occurred over the years. Those hurts are but symptoms of much deeper, systemic sin that has permeated the very core of how GFA operates. The personal testimonies that were provided were but examples of the hurt caused by that sin, and are evidence of a much deeper and more serious issue.

In our initial letter to the leadership and boards of GFA, we very clearly outlined five specific areas of sin that we believe must be addressed through brokenness and true repentance (not just apologies) on the part of GFA leadership. It is those five areas of sin that we had wanted to meet with GFA’s leadership and board of directors to discuss, not individual hurts and grievances.

Most of us in the Diaspora who were hurt have already forgiven GFA leadership. For some of us who were hurt very deeply it is still a struggle, but there are others in the Diaspora who were not hurt at all. We are all part of the Diaspora simply because we want to see the systemic sin at GFA addressed and the ministry brought back into the light where the Lord can use it for His glory and the furtherance of His kingdom.

Please understand this clearly: As the Diaspora, we are not looking for the kind of meeting where we can have a “safe environment” to share our “heart and … hurts and receive needed closure”. What we had desired was a meeting with GFA senior leadership, which would have also included members of the board of directors (specifically those who are not related to KP), a neutral third-party mediator, and a small representative group of the Diaspora.

In your conversations with JD and M. you were very defensive and supportive of many of GFA’s actions, and in your email to us you also misrepresented the facts regarding your discussions with JD and GFA relative to scheduling such a meeting. Your actions have shown that you have a strong bias toward GFA which disqualifies you from serving as an impartial mediator.

If you will recall, JD made it very clear that any requests for a meeting should come directly from a member of GFA’s senior leadership or the board, not a third party. We have had no communication at all from GFA leadership stating your official role as their representative, so once again we ask that if GFA leadership really does want to meet with representatives of the Diaspora to discuss the five areas of sin that we outlined in our initial letter to them, then GFA leadership needs to contact us at info@gfadiaspora.com.

Just to be clear, we have been more than willing to meet with GFA leadership and the board in the past, and at no time have we ever said no to meeting with them to discuss our concerns as outlined in our letter to them. The US board of directors have already done an “investigation” and have communicated to us that they consider the matter closed, so we are confused as to why a big push for a meeting is occurring now. Because the board considers the matter closed, we are willing to consider a meeting even at this late stage, but do not consider ourselves under any obligation to do so. If GFA leadership and the board truly want to meet (and this is not just a PR stunt) then these requirements are all that we are requesting:

1. The request for a meeting would come directly from GFA leadership only. (Preferably the board of directors since they’ve previously communicated that they consider this matter closed. It would be ideal if they were the ones to open the dialogue again since they are ultimately responsible for the oversight of GFA.)

2. The meeting would consist of:
-GFA senior leadership (including KP, Daniel P[xxxx], Pat E[xxxx], John B[xxxx] and David C[xxxx]) as well as members of the US and Canada boards.
-A representative sample of the Diaspora
-A truly neutral third-party mediator (e.g. local pastor, someone from a Christian mediation service, etc.)

3. It would be held at a neutral location (not the GFA campus) and mediated by a neutral third-party as stated above.

4. A clearly defined purpose and agenda would be pre-determined. The primary purpose would be to address the five areas of sin we outlined in our original letter to GFA. While we welcome the opportunity to discuss past hurts and seek reconciliation for those wronged, that should not and cannot be the primary focus of the meeting.

Again, we appreciate your heart in this matter, but it is clear that the kind of meeting you are desiring to bring together does not address the true issues at hand, and that you are not the right person to be acting as mediator. That being said, we are asking that you please no longer contact members of the Diaspora directly, and that you remove from your contacts our email addresses that were given to you by GFA.

In Christ,
The Diaspora

BCC: [US and Canada Board Members]

From: [Greg]
Date: April 16, 2015 at 11:14:21 PM CDT
To: [individually, to most Diaspora members, excluding JD]
Subject: re: GFA Diaspora and Reconciliation

[read entire post here]

Note: GFA never informed us of, or invited us to, a May 2015 meeting. Nor has GFA introduced us to Greg. We have not received any communication from GFA (except for some individual apologies) or the Board since their final report on March 26, 2015.

Greg, a third party friend of GFA, attempts to negotiate a meeting between Diaspora members and GFA by emailing members of Diaspora, excluding JD.

“…this meeting will be a safe environment for you to share your heart and your hurts and receive needed closure on this chapter of your life.”

Note: Greg had contacted JD multiple times over the previous weeks via emails and phone calls, attempting to reconcile the Diaspora and GFA. It is clear from Greg’s email here that JD’s numerous efforts to help Greg comprehend the true problem at hand—that the issue is not personal relationship restoration but addressing systemic unbiblical ministry practices—were misunderstood or ignored.

The Diaspora’s last communication from the GFA Board stated our concerns are nullified and the matter is closed. Additionally, since then, no GFA leader has attempted communication with Diaspora stating anything otherwise. Until the Diaspora is contacted directly by GFA’s board stating they reverse their decision, we have no alternative except to assume that GFA leadership is now operating outside of their Board’s explicit direction.

From: [Greg]

Date: April 16, 2015 at 11:14:21 PM CDT
To: [individually, to most Diaspora members, excluding JD]
Subject: re: GFA Diaspora and Reconciliation

Greetings in the Name of Jesus our Lord,

My name is Greg [xxxx], and I am the founder of [xxxx]. For 12 years I have run this web based ministry by the grace of God. If you have run across the website and know of it yourself, then you know that the resources offered on [xxxx] represent a very wide spectrum of Christian leadership in the body of Christ, many churches and ministries.

The reason for my writing is that, being a supporter of GFA for many years, I was recently given the GFA Diaspora website. I then contacted the website and have spoken with J.D. Smith extensively through emails and on the phone over the past few weeks. I took the time to contact GFA staff personally with many questions and ended up also discussing things with K.P. Yohannan directly. Here are some of my general observations and what transpired:

From an outside perspective it seems clear to me some of the problems listed on the Diaspora website have been a result of inference and that both sides are being misunderstood to a certain extent. Having said that, this still does not nullify the valid concerns or problems listed.
I am confident, and have been assured, that even now changes have been and are being made on the GFA level to prevent similar hurts from happening to people in the future.
In talking with the GFA staff personally I have advised that the Biblical way forward in this situation would be a meeting in person so that apologies and even reconciliation can be made face-to-face, “in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.” (2 Corinthians 2:11).
I offered myself as a mediator between GFA and Diaspora for a meeting like this to take place in person. J.D. stated he would be willing, as a meeting like this was requested before. The GFA staff also were willing, but in the final preparation for the meeting it was denied by J.D.

I then contacted GFA and asked if there was a way for them to get this letter to you, the other Diaspora members, to make sure you are aware fully of what is transpiring and given a chance to pray about this yourself and consider it before the Lord, and in light of eternity.

The proposed date of this meeting is May 9th, 2015 at the GFA Campus: Wills Point, TX. I will be present also as a mediator (where needed). I will ensure this meeting will be a safe environment for you to share your heart and your hurts and receive needed closure on this chapter of your life. I know many of the staff are heavy hearted and desire to express in person their apology and reconciliation.

After speaking with K.P. Yohannan they are willing to fly-in anyone who need this, also boarding and food would be taken care of as well as transportation (if needed).

We are all human and doing the best we can and “we all stumble in many ways,” even as it is written. But between brothers and sisters in Christ, may the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself be present whenever there is repentance over a grievance, for we are all members of one another and of His very Body, even as it also is written. “Forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32).

God’s grace and peace be with you today,
Greg [xxxx]

I can be emailed directly at: [xxxx] and my direct USA number is: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Please feel free to contact myself or [David] with questions, or to share that you are planning to come to the meeting.
—
Greg

Multiple GFA leaders sent emails to many Diaspora individuals today, asking forgiveness. Some members received confession of specific personal wrongs referenced from their personal testimony. Others received a more generic, form-like apology, indicating that the leader was not aware of any specific actions. The majority of these emails were sent at the same time.

These emails were clearly intended as a way for the leaders to formally apologize for individual, personal offenses, hurts, and errors in judgement. While their personal apologies—as limited as they are—have been accepted by many, there was neither acknowledgement by any of the leaders of the systemic abuse arising from unbiblical doctrines and practices of the ministry as a whole, nor indication of genuine repentance.

If the Holy Spirit is the One prompting true repentance for personal offenses, it seems He would have prompted that leader to ask forgiveness sooner and in a more personal, individual manner. Although our names and testimonies have been available to GFA leaders for many months, we find it odd that it took so long to recognize the hurts of former staff—and leadership’s offenses that caused them. In fact, leadership has spent previous communications denying our claims.

While it seems that the email apologies are a coordinated PR campaign, we hope that these limited apologies are genuinely sincere. Some of us have emailed back with forgiveness and love for these confessions.

We hope this brings closure to individual sins, and allow the leadership to focus on the root of these sins—the false beliefs and unbiblical practices outlined in our initial letter.

“One desire we have is to not spread this matter further than it needs to go.”

From: info@gfadiaspora.com

Date: April 14, 2015 at 11:42 PM CDT
To: [Warren Throckmorton]
Subject: Re: 2014 letter

“I am planning to leak the 2014 letter to the public”

From: [Warren Throckmorton]

Date: April 11, 2015 at 6:02 PM CDT
To: info@gfadiaspora.com
Subject: Your concerns with GFA

I would like to interview someone about the concerns you have regarding Gospel for Asia.

The Diaspora’s response to the Final Report from Gayle’s investigation.

“we will not make any further appeal to you—but we cannot agree that the matter is closed or resolved”

April 2, 2015

To: [GFA US and Canada Board]

Dear GFA Board Members,

Thank you for formally responding to our concerns. However, your final report leaves us confused and disappointed.

You begin by expressing broken-heartedness and repentance but fail to describe any specific change in thought and action. There is no acknowledgement of specific wrongs committed. Instead, what follows appears to be a defense rather than repentance. How can someone confess broken-heartedness and repentance and then state that the accusations are neutralized?

Are you speaking for the board or on behalf of GFA leaders when you state that individual contact has not been afforded? Aside from one e-mail requesting a testimony (which was provided), and contacting a former staff member who is not part of the Diaspora, how many of us did you attempt to contact?

Prior to writing our first letter, attempts had been made by some former staff to address concerns on an individual basis but without success. Was it not biblical to next bring some witnesses to voice concerns and hear as a group GFA’s response? If our biblical process was unclear, did you ask any of us why there is now hesitancy to meet one-on-one with GFA leadership?

If GFA is willing to do anything within their power to apologize and seek forgiveness, why did you not meet with some of us along with a neutral party to help facilitate? If GFA truly seeks healing for those who have suffered damage of spirit, we expected a willingness to handle the situation in the reasonable manner proposed by those who were wronged. This would have been a good step to restore broken trust.

We hoped a full investigation would include a summary of the reason for the investigation, testimonies of people you interviewed, and careful confirmation or refutation of each accusation and our supporting evidence. These components appear to be almost completely absent. While mostly overlooking our original concerns, you respond to some matters we don’t recall bringing up.

We heard that GFA leadership was interviewed, but we wonder why no interviews were conducted with any of those who are part of the Diaspora? We had no opportunity to hear and respond to GFA leadership’s testimony provided to you.

You believe that our concerns are without foundation in terms of fulfilling GFA’s call to enlarge the Kingdom of God. However, God is concerned not just with numerical growth but spiritual health (Mat 7:22–23). Jesus’ own letters to the seven churches in Revelation also make that clear. Considering the seriousness of our concerns, is it excessive for you to make time for a meeting? After all, it is your responsibility to oversee the ministry and make sure it is being conducted in a manner worthy of the gospel.

While we respect your freedom to respond as you did, we are disappointed because your report is incomplete and inconsistent. Since this is your final report and communication, we will not make any further appeal to you—but we cannot agree that the matter is closed or resolved. May God bring correction by some other avenue as He sees fit, so that GFA might walk in His ways, bear much fruit and, in KP’s own words, “finish well”.

Respectfully,

The Diaspora

Bruce, a concerned pastor who is involved with GFA, writes his concerns to the GFA Canada Board.

“The number and consistent nature of the allegations arising from testimonies in the group known as the Diaspora is overwhelming. … It is quite apparent that the stories do not stem from collusion. They have every appearance of being collaborating accounts of some very serious and long standing relational sins.”

March 27, 2015

Dear Members of the GFA Canadian Board:

Sincere greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord!

I am the lead pastor at [a church] in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, and have served this church for 26 years. I am writing you today out of concern arising from information I received from the group known as the Diaspora.

I was first introduced to GFA by Wendell … in the mid-nineties. He called me, introduced himself, and asked to meet. We arranged a time and during our first conversation I learned he had slept in his car in our church parking lot on the night before. This was my first look at the kinds of sacrifices GFA personnel are willing to make in pursuit of their calling. Thereafter, we made sure he stayed in our home when visiting. Our church also began regular financial support for GFA that has continued to this day, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

On one occasion Wendell was a guest minister in our church and visited in our home. At the same time, our daughter, Sharlene, had just returned home from a 4-month discipleship training course. After Sunday dinner she and Wendell sat in our living room discussing her future. This led to her and another young woman from our congregation, Donna _____ (DJ), moving to Dallas to work at the GFA head office. After several months of orientation and volunteering, they moved to India to begin studies at the GFA seminary in Kerala, later graduating with Bachelor of Theology degrees.

In 1999 my wife, Marlene, and I visited them in India. GFA staff treated us very well. I spoke to the seminary student body and travelled to two Bible training centres, one in Tamil Nadu, the other in Sri Lanka, ministering several times to the students. We also visited and ministered at two rural churches. GFA staff members who escorted us were very accommodating and friendly. Our trip ended with a few day visit at the GFA office in Delhi, where Daniel ______ was living at the time. He and other staff graciously hosted us and served as tour guides.

On the first Sunday morning after returning to our church in Canada, I spoke to our congregation about GFA’s work in India and mentioned some specific needs that we were made aware of during our visit. In that Sunday evening’s service a missions offering amounting to over $14,000 was received to help meet these needs.

After their graduation, Sharlene and DJ returned to Canada and worked at the GFA office, first in Hamilton, and later in the new facility in Stoney Creek, Ontario. It was required of them that they not take out membership in a local church and they could not contribute financially to a church. Tithes and offerings were to be given to GFA. They were permitted to attend a Sunday morning service at a local church, but not Bible Studies or young adults groups.

During a missions-fest event at which they had set up a booth for GFA, they met a man, working in another booth, Mike _____, who eventually became DJ’s husband. Later, Mike introduced Sharlene to his close friend, Colin _____, who later became Sharlene’s husband. During the time they were dating, Colin attended several prayer meetings with GFA staff. He became friends with staff members and fellowshipped in their homes. Once their engagement was announced appeals were made to Colin to join GFA. Colin respected GFA and its ministry but did not feel it was God’s will that he serve with them. A few months passed and then one day Sharlene was given an ultimatum requiring that she break off her engagement with Colin or be dismissed.

That day Sharlene left GFA with a very heavy heart. There was no exit interview, no chance to say good-bye, no-one reached out to her. No one said, “thank-you”….She was simply – gone! This was June, 2001.

In spite of this, and out of my respect for the work GFA was doing, I did not stop my support of GFA. Like many others, I didn’t see our daughter’s experience as being symptomatic of a deeply rooted systemic problem. This changed upon receiving testimonies from the Diaspora and from learning of some changes in GFA’s ministry practices about which I was previously unaware.

For example, I am concerned about the implications associated with KP Yohannan being addressed as, “His Eminence the Most Reverend Dr. KP Yohannan”. The word “eminence” suggests something more than honour due to ministers of the gospel, touting instead an air of superiority. It is also titular, such as seen in the Roman Catholic church’s use of the term in reference to its Cardinals. Use of the adjective “most”, attached to “Reverend”, also indicates pre-eminence, setting one person above others. The elaborate robes seen in pictures of KP, and testimony where individuals are seen kissing the ring on his finger, are practices not seen in biblical portrayals of New Testament ministry.

Paul, never referred to himself as, “The Apostle, Paul”, it was always, “Paul, an apostle”. The former is titular, the latter refers to role. In the Bible the idea of leadership is most often associated with servant-hood, not hierarchical position or title. The only man upon whom the Bible confers pre-eminence, is Jesus. (Colossians 1:18).

It is in the Gospel of Matthew that we first see the word “church”. It is first used in the 16th chapter in context of a question Jesus asked: “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (vs.13). In response to Peter’s affirmation that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus stated that this confession was the foundation upon which He would build His church.

The second time the word “church” is seen is two chapters later in Matthew 18 where again, its use is predicated on a question. This time the question came from the disciples of Jesus. They asked: “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? (vs.1) In response Jesus taught foundational and timeless principles about Christian leadership and ministry. When observed they produce much good fruit. When they are not followed, churches and ministries can fail with many being harmed as a result.

There is a high and holy calling on Christian leaders to ensure that spiritual ministry is established solely on biblical precepts. We also need to recognize that human nature, being what it is, disinclines us to do so.

The question the disciples asked was the wrong question. It should never have been asked. Being the “greatest”, seeking “ascendency”, is the very opposite to everything ministry is about. The whole Matthew 18 discourse demonstrates this.

First, Jesus responded to the question by putting a child in the centre of the group. This child would be seem as the least ascendant one. The child had no aspirations to the elevated positions the disciples vied for. Jesus then said that unless they were converted, humbled themselves, and became like this child they would not see the kingdom of heaven. Conversion in this context, is not about salvation. It’s about wrong thinking when it comes to position in relation to fellow believers. Ascendency is opposite to humility. Humility is about emulating the nature of Jesus who, as Paul said, :…made himself of no reputation…..He humbled himself” (Philippians 2:7-8).

Jesus said that the person who, “Humbles himself as this little child Is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (vs.4). Thus, the answer to the question about greatness is found in the lives of those who do not seek it. As James said, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Second, Jesus warned about the damage a lack of humility could cause (vs.6-7). He said it would be better to perish by drowning with a millstone around one’s neck rather than cause another person to be offended by behaviour that results from prideful position seeking or any other action that compromises the well being of others.

Third, Jesus elaborated on humility by teaching the importance of self-discipline (v.8-9). In these verses he spoke of cutting off various body parts. In other words, sinful practices must end. This is a strong warning, one that is too easily lost in the church today. Leaders are responsible for the affects their wrongful behaviours have on others.

Fifth, Jesus made this amazing statement.

See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” (v.10)

Since Jesus had just spoken about the need for His followers to become like little children, His reference to “little ones” includes fellow believers. Jesus refers to angels on assignment – angels charged with the care and oversight of the fellow believers the disciples were trying to step over in their pursuit of greatness. If the angels see the face of the Father, His very image stamped upon other fellow believers, what possible grounds could any one have to seek ascendency over them?

Fourth, Jesus gave the parable of the lost sheep, (vs. 12-.) To understand the meaning of this parable the context is important. Unlike the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 where Jesus was addressing Pharisees steeped in pride, believing they had no need of repentance, in Matthew the context is in relation to the warning Jesus gave about pride in the church. Here, the lost sheep refers to a person who is lost to the kingdom of God due to wrongful actions by Christian leaders. The parable emphasises the onus that is placed on the church to find and restore persons lost for these reasons.

Fifth, is the teaching that Jesus gives on the three-fold process to be followed when a brother or sister sins, (vs.15-17). It is here that the word “church” appears. Often when this passage is discussed the greater context is missed. Although a brother or sister who sins can refer to any kind of sin, the context is prideful sin on the part of spiritual leaders who see themselves positioned above others.

Sixth, Peter, after listening to all that Jesus said, finally asked the right question: “How often should I forgive my brother?” (vs.21). His focus was now where it ought to be, not on his own ascendency in the church, but on his responsibility towards others.

Throughout the New Testament, deference to any kind of human supremacy is avoided. In Lystra, where Paul and Barnabas were preaching, a lame man was healed at the command of Paul, (Acts 14). The people believed the gods had come among them and proceeded to worship them. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes and declared that they were mere men, no different than any of them. They claimed no special status as ministers in their proclamation of the Gospel to the lost. This was not self-abasement but neither was it self-promotion. This is a very important principle of evangelism. The purpose is to deflect all attention off man and onto Christ, for He alone is Saviour and Lord.

It was said of the Corinthian church that they, “came behind in no gift” (1 Corinthians 1:7). Considering Paul’s description of spiritual gifts later in chapter 12, this must have been an amazing church in a most positive sense. At the same time however, it was also said of them that their church meetings did more harm than good, (1 Cor. 11:17). Here we see extreme opposite realities present in one church. That this could happen is the very thing Jesus spoke about in Matthew 18.

The reason had to do with sin, many sins, but foundational to them all was their pursuit of ascendency. In 1 Corinthians 1:11-13, we read:

My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

3 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

The Corinthian believers were caught up in the Matthew 18 question, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of God”. This was the root of all the other sins seen in this church. Whenever anyone other than Jesus is seen as being eminent in the church, humility – so essential to Christian ministry, is compromised. The fruit is never good.

During most of the first three centuries of the church, persecution was severe and constant. Many Christians were martyred. Early in the fourth century after Constantine became the emperor of Rome, he decreed that Christianity was to become the official religion of the empire. To accommodate the new law, polytheistic religious leaders simply added Jesus to the list of gods they recognized. As a result the church was infiltrated with many contrary interests which led to a significant loss of its counter-culture distinctiveness. As time passed it became increasingly difficult to recognize the true church.

Among the many contrary influences to infiltrate the church was deference paid to priests that went way beyond the kind of honour the Bible promotes for leaders. As various branches of the church emerged, some celebrated leadership with things like elaborate attire, expensive jewellery, special seats in the congregation, and titles. Assimilation of these practices led to hierarchical leadership systems quite removed from biblical precepts.

I question the legitimacy of KP’s practice of wearing elaborate apparel and his use of titles. I say this from the standpoint that I do not see where the associated veneration garnered is scriptural or Christ honouring.

I also question how the gospel is advanced by this. Our world is filled with idolatry, including relational idolatry. The caste system, which holds many in the nation of India in spiritual bondage, has, as its most ascendant cast, the Brahmin priests. At the other end of the human spectrum, the dalit, or untouchable caste, is comprised of people considered so inferior and repulsive that to even touch one is seen as contamination. In a culture that enables spiritual darkness and bondage due, in part, by a transcendent priestly class, one would think that the greatest care should be taken by the church to avoid any appearance of priestly privilege on the part of its ministers through things like attire, jewellery and titles.

Jesus lived in a culture where religion was Pharisee led. Among the things these religions leaders considered to be important, three top priorities, were attire, seats of prominence in the synagogues and titles. Jesus did not observe these traditions as an attempt to be culturally relevant. He thereby demonstrated that in advancing the kingdom of God, culture must always be made to bow to the scriptures, not the scriptures to the culture.

At the heart of the gospel is equality, where no one person is esteemed to be better than another. In Christ, race, gender, socio-economic status do not matter. The scriptures teach us to not hold the faith of our Lord with respect of persons, (James 2:1). Great care must be taken by the church to demonstrate humility in all things. No practice of ministry, either among believers in the church or in witness to a lost world, should include any relic, symbol, attire, promotion, or any other thing unless humility, not elevated status, is advanced thereby.

Consubstantiation is a belief concerning the Lord’s table that most evangelicals do not embrace. It appears from literature that I have recently read that Believers Churches may have adapted this doctrine. I do believe that the special presence of Christ is manifest when we break bread and drink wine together in remembrance of Him. However, it is unclear to me how far GFA churches have taken this. Is there a leaning toward salvation by sacrament? In matters such as this, an onus on the part of GFA to proactively inform supporters of changes in practices and beliefs should be taken at the time they occur.

I was also unaware, until recently, that GFA has adapted an Episcopal form of church government. This is not of great concern to me due to the many divergent opinions surrounding ecclesiological doctrines that exist in the Body of Christ.

The word, “Episcopal”, simply means pertaining to bishops or governed by bishops. Oversight by bishops and an archbishop is rooted in Anglican tradition.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. He is seen as first among equals, the leader of other bishops. He is appointed by the Queen of England serving under her authority and the authority of the other bishops. Checks and balances are present in Anglicanism. An archbishop cannot function autocratically.

The term “Metropolitan”, meaning “Metropolitan Bishop”, or “Archbishop”, is being used to describe KP Yohanan’s oversight of the Believer’s Churches. However, GFA’s practice of Episcopalian governance does not necessarily mean that the same accountability arrangements practiced in other Episcopal groups, such as the Anglican church, is present. Authority, responsibility and accountability by GFA, depends upon both its definition and by its practice of the Episcopal governance system it has created. It is not clear to me what this is.

Several questions arise. Does the Boards of Directors in the US have active input with respect to doctrine and practice in GFA churches and its Episcopal structure? Do sister boards such as your own Canadian board contribute any input? How are roles, authority, responsibility and accountability arrangements, as well as overall purpose and function articulated in GFA’s Canadian governing documents (Constitution and By-Laws), filed with the Charities Division of the Canada Revenue Agency? If they are not found in Canadian governing documents are there international joint ministry or agency agreements in which they are included?

The foregoing are some questions that occur to me regarding GFA’s governance.

On the Diaspora website reference was made to an ordination service for Pat _____, the current director of GFA Canada. It contains 3 questions that KP asked him:

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?”

. 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?”

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?”

More questions arise from my reading of this.

First, there appears to be an order of bishops in GFA churches. Who are the people that make up this order, and how are they appointed?

Second, reference is made to the successor of the Metropolitan. How is successor-ship determined by GFA?

Third, reference is made to, “absolute submission in accordance with the constitution of the church”. Is this constitution published and available to supporters? Is this constitution a part of GFA governing documents or has a parallel entity been established under a different name? What are the terms of “absolute submission” found in the church constitution?

Fourth, reference is made to life-long submission to GFA. If there is a biblical basis for requiring this of someone it is unclear to me as to what it is. Will you furnish an explanation?

The exercise of spiritual authority and submission as a response to authority, are often misunderstood concepts. As head of the church, Jesus has absolute authority over the church. Devils, diseases, death and all things are subject to His word. Nature itself bows to Him.

Ephesians 5 describes the Lordship of Jesus over His church as taking the form of sacrifice. Jesus loves the church, His bride, and gave His life for us. Through the example of Jesus we learn that sacrifice is the outflow of true authority. Authority is always for the benefit of those being loved and served.

Obedience is deference to the will of another at the expense of one’s own will. Obedience to Christ comes not from fear of judgment, but from the joy of being loved by Him. Thus, mutual love, mutual honour and mutual sacrifice form an never ending cycle of deep intimacy and mutual benefit in the authority/submission relationship between Christ and His church.

Biblically, in terms of human relationships, the most beautiful expression of authority and submission is found in the relationship between a husband and wife. A husband’s headship is not dictatorship. It is sacrifice, the giving of his life sacrificially for his wife, as Jesus gave His for the church. This principle applies to the practice of authority in all areas of life, including church leadership.

The assertion of authority by anyone who himself is not under authority, is not a godly arrangement. The exercise of authority by anyone that is disproportionate to the practitioners own submission to authority, is corruption.

Consider Jesus. One would not think that anyone bearing the title, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”, would need to be in submission to anyone. However, Jesus practiced submission more than any man. He only did the things He saw His Father do and nothing else. In prayer, before His death, His words were, “Not my will but Yours be done”. He demonstrated perfectly the relationship between authority and submission.

There is a danger for any leader to traffic in worship by revelling in the praise and honour of others, to take honour that belongs to God alone, and siphon some for himself. This was the iniquity found in Lucifer that led to his fall. It is relational idolatry, which has led to the downfall of many men and women in ministry. I hesitate to raise this lest it be thought I am accusing KP of such evils. I am not doing that. I am bringing a strong cautionary concern to you due to current practices I see in GFA, and appeal for sober second thought to be given to them.

GFA supporters are giving support for both missions endeavours and for GFA churches.

This is quite natural and acceptable since church planting should result from evangelistic endeavours. GFA does a good job of describing the evangelistic and social help projects it undertakes. Supporters are made aware of the purposes for which their help is sought.

It seems to me that the same cannot be said for GFA taking similar pro-active measures to inform supporters of the nature of the churches they have set up. It appears that invitations are given to supporters to do research on their own regarding this with some information that is posted on their website and in literature they have produced. This, however, is not the same as up-front transparency. I think it likely that supporters are just now beginning to learn of the nature of GFA churches, especially with respect to clerical adornments, titles, doctrinal stances, and governance. Changes to more zealous measures of information sharing is needed. Trust on the part of supporters may lost if present practices continue.

The number and consistent nature of the allegations arising from testimonies in the group known as the Diaspora is overwhelming. Reading them brought great pain to my heart and I imagine that others who have read them are similarly affected. It is quite apparent that the stories do not stem from collusion. They have every appearance of being collaborating accounts of some very serious and long standing relational sins.

Canadian law that governs not-for-profit corporations such as GFA, treats board members as fiduciaries. I think it likely that the same is true in the USA. This requires that the board exercise proper and adequate oversight of an organization.

The testimonies of Canadian members of the Diaspora, could, if presented to the Ontario Labour Board, give cause for strong censure. Labour laws do not condone the kind of treatment reported.

By asking for and receiving corporate and registered charity status, GFA has made promises to abide by the law. Status is not granted without this. Integrity is measured by the degree to which these promises are faithfully kept.

It cannot be said that GFA has discharged itself faithfully in carrying out fiduciary responsibilities, by acting with all due diligence and performing all duties of care, if it has failed to abide by any pertinent law, such as the Ontario Labour Laws.

The pursuit of integrity in matters of natural jurisprudence not only carry legal ramifications, but moral and spiritually ones as well. Righteousness in its truest biblical, sense is compromised in the presence of broken promises. As Christians this should always be of great concern.

Pretence abounds when promises are broken. We cannot say we will abide by the law and then not do so, while at the same time present ourselves to others as though we do.

Apparent success and the applaud of others are not the truest measure of honour. Honesty is. Pretence is no friend of honour.

In all matters of natural law, such as labour laws, laws that govern finances, trustee law, and all other applicable laws, Christian organizations must be above reproach.

KP Yohannan has accomplished much for the kingdom of God. He has demonstrated an amazing ability to be both a great visionary leader and one well able implement his God given vision. He has influenced many to follow his example of “glad sacrifice”, summoning believers all over the world to pursue the greater callings and work of the kingdom of God. Children in my church have at times given themselves to raising money for bicycles for GFA missionaries. Personally, KP has been an example to me of a man I have always considered to have set a pattern in ministry to emulate.

My purpose in writing this letter is not to castigate or condemn. I do believe that intervention is needed to arrest and change detrimental practices. Nowhere is this more necessary than when it comes to taking responsibility for wrongs committed against members of the Diaspora and any other former GFA workers who may have had similar experiences. I strongly appeal that this take place.

One important consideration regarding this is process. Whenever behaviour by one party creates trauma for another party, care to not exacerbate the damage must be taken. Therefore, I strongly advise against meeting with members of the Diaspora individually until there is a much greater degree of trust than presently exists. For this reason I believe the Diaspora group as a whole should be addressed first. I also suggest that a third party arrangement made up of spiritual leaders, not employed by GFA, be asked to facilitate this process.

My wife, Marlene, and I have ministered in areas of abuse and trauma counselling over the years. I was asked by the New York/New Jersey Port Authority Police Department to help in the aftermath of 9/11. I did two tours of duty at ground zero as a chaplain to police and firefighters during recovery operations. Extreme trauma, such as generated by something as terrible as 9/11 can have devastating and permanent affects. It is hard to describe the degree of trauma experienced at ground zero. In the debriefings I received, I was made aware of affects in my own life that I would not have recognized had I not received them.

Reference to 9/11 is for comparing the affects of trauma only. An event of the magnitude of 9/11 does not have to take place in order for severe trauma to happen. Any breakdown in human relations or other difficult life experiences can be the cause.

As I read the testimonies of the Diaspora I observe affects that often occur when there is a power differential between conflicting parties. One of the affects is fear on the part of the abused. As a first step towards reconciliation, practices and behaviour that created the breakdown in trust, and thereby the resulting fear and other affects, should be addressed first.

I have offered to meet with the Canadian members of the Diaspora as a group for the purpose of debriefing and identifying areas of concern where individuals in the group may need ongoing help. I consider this to be of utmost importance. I hope to do this soon.

I am asking that you consider my request, made herewith, for a meeting with the GFA Canadian Board of Directors. There are a number of things I would like to discuss with you, including the kind of help you could offer the Diaspora at this time. If a meeting with the whole board is not possible, I will gladly meet with a contingency or individual members.

Thank-you for your consideration.

Yours in His glad service,

___________________________

Bruce _____

cc. The Diaspora, GFA Board of Directors, USA

The Final Report from Gayle’s investigation is emailed to the Diaspora via KP.

Read our response to this report in our April 2, 2015 post.

“That individual contact has not been afforded to us by you, which, to us, neutralizes your accusations. …We send this as our final report and communication and now consider the matter closed.”

March 26, 2015

To: J. D. xxxxx:

In response to your letter of September 3, 2014, after many hours of investigation, intense prayer and examination of heart, we are broken-hearted and repentant that we damaged by our actions and attitudes any believer for whom we had responsibility by relationship. We have proposed, and still do, to go wherever we need to and do all within our power to apologize and seek forgiveness and healing with anyone and everyone on your list who may have suffered damage of spirit or heart from us. That individual contact has not been afforded to us by you, which, to us, neutralizes your accusations. But, we have done all we can do about the past until freedom is granted to us.

We have, from the beginning, made our new headquarters fully open to the community and have purposely served the community. We do not have church services in our chapel. We do encourage workers to go to local churches, be a part of them and receive any and all counseling from the local pastors and churches, except in very rare cases. Our gates are left open and visitors are welcomed and shown whatever they wish to see and questions are answered. We are, indeed, a community and fellowship, but no one would be able to find evidence of being a cult.

Your final combined declaration about the structure and presentation of the personnel and headquarters in India, coupled only with a photo was misapplied about an ordination service whose presentation is required by the state for proof of ordination, otherwise one could be imprisoned for doing religious activities limited to the ordained. Other parts of that accusation could not be verified in the manner in which you made them, and have been dropped as worth considering.

Consequently, we feel that your other accusations are without foundation in terms of the fulfilling of our call to enlarge the Kingdom of God. We also feel that your demand that we gather the boards of the USA and Canada to meet with you in order to escape your threats is excessive, impractical and counter to the commitment of our time to getting the Gospel to those who have not heard. We do not intend to call for or participate in such a board meeting.

Therefore, we send this as our final report and communication and now consider the matter closed.

Gayle

In behalf of the Board of Gospel for Asia

From: K.P. Yohannan
Sent: March-26-15 12:24 PM
To: [GFA Offices, GFA Board]
Subject: FW: Final Report

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I just received the final report that Gayle did on behalf of the USA Board of Directors that addresses JD’s appeal to the Board. I am forwarding it for you to see. The text from the attachment is below in case you have trouble opening it.

Let us continue to pray for all of our brothers and sisters who are a part of this situation, that we could sincerely be reconciled as one (John 17:21).

Thank you for serving our Lord and bringing the Gospel to the unreached in our generation.

In His grace,

K.P. Yohannan

Diaspora responds to KP’s apology to Diaspora member Troy.

“What he is hoping for, along with all of us in the Diaspora, is your repentance—a change in mindset and behavior from you and your leaders as well as public acknowledgement of your sins against staff and deceptive practices toward donors.”

To: [KP Yohannan]
Cc: [GFA Leaders, Arms-Length Board Members]
Date: Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 2:36 PM
Subject: Troy
From: gfadiaspora.com

Dear Brother KP,

We are writing you on behalf of Troy, and by his request.

While we understand your reaching out to Troy to ask forgiveness, he has already forgiven you and is not asking for an apology.

What he is hoping for, along with all of us in the Diaspora, is your repentance—a change in mindset and behavior from you and your leaders as well as public acknowledgement of your sins against staff and deceptive practices toward donors.

Until this happens we do not believe there can be true reconciliation with anyone individually in our group, nor do we believe GFA is fulfilling its mission in a manner pleasing to the Lord.

Please contact us at this email if you desire further conversation with the GFA Diaspora.

Sincerely,
The Diaspora

To continue a dialogue with GFA staff, prompted by a response to our March 17 email, we invite them to visit our “Comments & Responses” page.

“We hope you will consider our responses. May this discussion be fruitful for all.”

From: GFA Diaspora <info@gfadiaspora.com>
Date: Mon, Mar 23, 2015 at 5:36 AM
Subject: Re: GFA Diaspora response
To: [Hiro and those he Cc’d]

Dear Hiro,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to our concerns. We appreciate that you value people’s feelings and acknowledge that “some harsh things were said and done over the years.” You also ask us to “stop this campaign” and made a number of comments on which we would like to further dialogue.

We know we are not perfect, and our hearts are open to scripture-based correction. It is good for the Body of Christ to discuss matters of serving Him. “Come, let us reason together.” Therefore, our responses to people’s questions and comments, including yours, are posted on a new GFA Diaspora page called Comments & Responses.

We hope you will consider our responses. May this discussion be fruitful for all.

Sincerely,

The Diaspora

Our non-public website uses the following anonymous login:
www.gfadiaspora.com/comments-and-responses
Username: gfa
Password: redacted
Please keep this confidential to GFA staff only.

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 5:05 PM, Hiro _____ wrote:

JD, Et al.,

Thank you for sending me a link to your GFA Diaspora site. It has provided the background for why so many people have felt hurt when they left on their own accord or were asked to leave. I’ve read through every page, every attached document and even heard from a couple of you first hand.

I know that many of you have experienced genuine pain, of a type that couldn’t possibly come from someone you didn’t love. I believe some harsh things were said and done over the years.

For those who don’t know me, I’ve been supporting missionaries with GFA since 1989, and sharing the opportunity about GFA to everyone I came in contact during my military career. (Which is a lot of people since we moved every 2-4 years.) I was a volunteer before there even was a volunteer department. I’ve been on full time staff since my retirement in 2011. I was, and remain, a major donor and don’t receive a salary. Even so, since coming on staff, I’ve had some harsh things said to me as well, one time in love, other times… not so much. I’ve experienced stress and wanted to “give up” many times. (I’ve never thought of quitting GFA though, they’d have to fire me.)

One of the grievances you mentioned is not portraying the liturgical nature of Believers Church to GFA supporters. I’m not convinced that is necessary, after all, many of our supporters come from a KJV Bible only background but no one expects us to specifically tell everyone that we are not printing English KJV bibles in Asia! Liturgical churches are what’s recognized as “church” over there. However, leadership has expressed openness about sharing the liturgical nature with our donor base. I think you’ll agree this should be done in a wise manner, which usually includes slowly. You don’t turn a multimillion dollar, multinational organization around on a dime. Organizations and bureaucracies, by their nature, are SLOW. This is a good thing, if they weren’t, the organization would be whipped around by every change of opinion and circumstance so that it could not stand.

It seems most of the grievances were centered on the “authority” issue, as people took offense (angered or hurt) when leadership tried to exercise authority over your families or your activities during off duty times. There is legitimate debate as to the correctness or error of this teaching, even in evangelical circles, with some fuzzy line about when it turn’s “cultish”. http:// www openbible info/topics/spiritual_authority , http:// www worldchangers org/monthly-UnderstandingSpiritualAuthority.aspx I’ll let people more spiritual than myself delve into these issues. However, it seems to me that the problem is not whether someone has that level of authority over your life or not, but in the taking of offense when authority is exercised. Anger rising up within us if leadership tries to tell our wives what to do, getting into conflicts because others are not doing things the way we think they should be done, taking offense when someone exercises authority in a harsh, haphazard way. In my mind, leadership trying to exercise those authorities, if they believe them to be biblical, are not sinning, they MAY be in error, but not sin. However, taking offense and causing conflict and disunity among the brethren IS sin. In fact, these accusations (judgments in other words) against leadership is specifically warned against in James 4:11-12.

We should also remember that they are people, just as we are. They may be having a bad day, going through a season where their thinking is dominated by circumstances around them, or just plain inexperienced dealing with certain issues. Hypothetically, how would we react if we spent all day hearing about thousands of our people who just became homeless and jobless due to flooding and someone asked whether they’d get a 3 or 4 bedroom house in the new campus? How would we react if we spent weeks dealing with people attacking everything we said in the field or here in the states and someone came up to you with another grievance? How would we council people inquiring about doing certain things if you had previous experience of many others doing it and coming away with disastrous results? What would we do if we think we just learned a new insight from the Word and had the opportunity to share it with others in your circle of influence?

It seems to me that, Brother KP has taken steps to address your concerns with multiple meetings, phone calls and offers of arbitration. He’s spent considerable time with his leadership board on this topic as well. In my mind, this is unprecedented access! Brother KP is president and founder of a multimillion dollar, multinational organization and head of one of the fastest growing churches in Asia with the largest missionary force ever assembled. Do you realize:

· Believers Church has more active missionaries than the entire militaries of over 40 nations? http:// www.globalfirepower com/active-military-manpower.asp

· There are move baptized members in Believers church than there are people in 60 nations? http:// www.worldometers info/world-population/population-by-country/

· Believers Church has more people serving in it than the largest corporations in the world? http:// www.statista com/statistics/264671/top-20-companies-based-on-number-of-employees/

· That GFA has a lower employee turnover rate than most ministries (Ave. 24% per annum) http:// nccs.urban org/resources/faq.cfm or churches? (Ave. 10% per annum) http:// www.christianitytoday com/le/1993/winter/93l2103.html

It is unreasonable to expect him to answer your demands for written responses within seven days, organize meetings with people scattered across the continent or answer your emails immediately, all while leading such a huge movement, just to address your grievances. How many mayors, governors, presidents, CEO’s would have given you this amount of attention?

I understand that you are saying you are doing this for the good of the ministry and the staff here. However, what good are you actually accomplishing? By sending this email out to all the staff, all you’re doing is sowing seeds of doubt, shaking people’s confidence in what they feel God has led them to do and stirring up conflict. Think of the time, energy, and finances (not to mention pain) already expended on this issue. That is time, energy and finances that are no longer available to reach the lost. How many people are you willing to sacrifice to have your demands met? This isn’t just about staff at the US and Canadian offices. This is ammunition the enemy can AND WILL use to slow down or even stop people from getting SAVED!

PLEASE, PLEASE, stop this campaign. I trust leadership here has already heard and prayed about your concerns. I know they are taking active steps to change some things, provide training in others and putting still other safeguards in place to help stop hurting people in the future. Just hearing these concerns has already changed their hearts and behavior and Bro KP has already apologized to you for things he or other leaders have done. They have already reached out to each grieved party to try to make amends. Do you REALLY need a cross-continent group get together for him to publicly say everything was his fault to be recorded and used by the enemy? One last batch of statistics, 78% of pastors surveyed at a pastors conference in 2005 – 2006 said they were forced to resign from at least one church and 80% said it was due to conflicts that the pastor could not resolve (the rest had this reason as one of thetop three issues). http:// www.intothyword org/apps/articles/?articleid=36562 Do you want Bro K.P. to quit or be fired?

Sincerely,

Your Simply Silly, Speedy, Shipping Servants

The Diaspora invites GFA staff to visit this website to educate them about our efforts, since many have only heard about us—apparently with some misinformation—from their leaders. The GFA leaders and Board were included in this email.

“After seeking the Lord in prayer and much godly counsel, we feel a responsibility to share with you these concerns and the full story.”

From: GFA Diaspora <info@gfadiaspora.com>
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 9:17 PM
Subject: Speaking the Truth in Love – The Rest of the Story
To: [GFA staff, leaders, and board members]

Dear GFA Brothers and Sisters,

Last year, after learning that many former GFA staff saw systemic unbiblical practices and were improperly treated during their service, a group came together and reached out to GFA’s leadership and boards to address these problems. Although we have all seen God do many good things through His people at the ministry, we could not overlook these issues in good conscience.

Unfortunately, communications have failed to bring about any resolution or further cooperation. We can only conclude that our concerns have been dismissed. After seeking the Lord in prayer and much godly counsel, we feel a responsibility to share with you these concerns and the full story.

While all of our stories are different, many of us individually tried to work through questions with leadership, only to be put off or asked to leave the ministry. Very few of us ever had a formal exit interview, and many attempts to reach out to leadership while on staff were ignored. Most of us forgave and decided to move on. Then we realized our individual stories were part of a larger narrative revealing unbiblical doctrines and practices. Now we have done our best to justly and prayerfully bring our concerns to everyone responsible for holding GFA accountable. We can only conclude that our concerns have been dismissed–viewed as petty offenses at worst. It is not our intention to cause unnecessary division, but rather long-term reconciliation and peace.

We desire that, while reaching the lost in Asia, GFA maintains a healthy spiritual environment for the staff and transparency for the sake of those who support the work. We are concerned for the ministry and for you, the friends we love, who have invested your lives as we have ours to reach Asia with the Gospel.

Scripture directs us to test all things and to walk in the light as He is in the light. By sharing the communications we’ve had with leadership and the GFA board, you can judge for yourselves our concerns and perhaps help bring needed change for the sake of fellow staff, supporters, those on the field, and ultimately the glory of the Lord.

To hear our personal testimonies and all that has transpired, please visit our non-public website and use the following generic, anonymous login:
www dot gfadiaspora dot com (remove the spaces and replace “dot” with .)
user: [redacted for security]
password: [redacted for security]

We appreciate your devotion to the Lord and hope you prayerfully assess our concerns. May God give you grace, peace and discernment as you consider His view on these issues.

Sincerely,
The Diaspora

…

To unsubscribe, please reply with “remove” in the subject. Thanks.
GFA Diaspora: …, Dallas TX 75219

To date, there has not yet been any meeting between the Diaspora and GFA Leaders and Boards, originally set for October 13, 2014.

We have not yet received any investigation conclusions from board member Gayle’s October investigation.

There have not been any known communications by GFA or the Board to us since the previous post.

JD informs Diaspora that there has been a board meeting and will supposedly be an update to JD soon.

“Of course, we aren’t holding our breath as there’s a good chance this is just another stall tactic and I don’t know why KP wouldn’t have called me also if he were genuinely interested in working with our group.”

JD shares:

Larry just called me today to let me know he had received a text and voicemail from K.P. stating that there was a long board meeting this past week, and that an update would soon be sent to JD about it.
Of course, we aren’t holding our breath as there’s a good chance this is just another stall tactic and I don’t know why KP wouldn’t have called me also if he were genuinely interested in working with our group. But thought you all should know it and be informed, for your prayers.

JD leaves message for Gayle requesting response.

Receptionist said, “Gayle will get this message.”

As of this writing (March 16, 2015) no response has been received from Gayle.

JD asks for follow-up on the proposed board meeting and asks Gayle to communicate directly with JD and not through KP to avoid the conflict of interest. [Once we receive a response from the board, we will post it in the communications history.]

“Since you are heading the investigation and Brother KP is the one who is being investigated, we don’t expect him to be the spokesperson or leader of the process, so we need to hear from you.”

JD

Summary:

JD calls to follow up with Gayle on the status of the investigation since we had heard nothing.

Gayle reports he is finished with his part and is awaiting a board meeting to see where to go from here. He says he does not need any further information from us.

He also says he believes the board meeting will occur between December 16, 2014 and December 25, 2014.

Having not had any communication from either the board or GFA, JD thanks Gayle for his service and affirms that all of us are willing to answer any questions Gayle might have. JD also directs him to please address communication directly to JD instead of Larry. NOTE: Gayle never asked for further comment from any former staff except Martin in Canada.

“Please know that the rest of us are also willing and able to help you.”

JD

KP wishes JD a happy birthday.

“I prayed for you this morning.”

JD explains that there’s been a delay in the investigation due to Gayle’s illness, but that Gayle is taking the investigation seriously.

“*If* KP gave an accurate account of what Gayle told him, this would be another sign that Gayle is not at all dismissing our claims and even willing to take hard actions.”

JD shares:

Just heard from Larry that KP called him this morning and talked for about 5 minutes. I think Larry is in KP’s mind an ally of sorts, due to their long term friendship and Larry’s candor, and KP has said as much.
KP told Larry that Gayle spoke with him yesterday, and said that he’s been sick and that delayed him on the investigation. KP also told Larry that Gayle said, “I’m not going to be your friend in this [process.]” Larry felt that it was significant that Gayle said this, and it seemed even KP was surprised by how seriously Gayle was taking it and the potential seriousness of the forthcoming actions by the board.
*If* KP gave an accurate account of what Gayle told him, this would be another sign that Gayle is not at all dismissing our claims and even willing to take hard actions. I still qualify that because I have not heard directly from Gayle and this is coming from an un-trustworthy source; so we’ll see what Gayle has to say.
Based on this, the email I drafted should be modified to say that Larry has heard from KP, but that we still prefer to communicate directly with the board.

JD offers Gayle more information, including additional testimonies, to help in the investigation. [Note: Our group was not asked any questions by the board investigation before or after this email.]

“A big thank you for taking on this investigation. Please know that we are praying for you, and we are available to answer any questions.”

M. responds to Gayle’s request for copy of email.

” I thank the Lord for the active role that you are taking in this investigation.”

From: M.
Date: October 11, 2014 at 1:12:10 AM EDT
To: Gayle
Cc: [GFA Board]
Subject: RE: GFA

Hi Gayle,

I am pleased to hear from you brother. I am just one more of many, who have found great encouragement and also a good ol belly laugh J from your messages over the years and especially your teaching on the Jesus Style! Thank you.

And I thank the Lord for the active role that you are taking in this investigation. I am praying for you consistently and desire only the health and restoration of GFA and its members and the work at large.

I was in fact preparing this letter to send to KP this weekend with our story attached as I felt it was only right for him to know that I have shared this with the Canadian board.

Here is what I have just written to him below and our story is attached. (I warn you its long!) I will also copy you on my email to him also.

For His glory and the good of the Church,

M.

Dear Brother KP,

Thank you for your recent email. It encourages my heart to hear from yourself and others like JD that positive steps are being taken to change the spiritually controlling and abusive culture of GFA and to walk in the light with staff and donors. I pray that there will be genuine and lasting change and that the fruits of repentance will be evident to all. I know this cannot be an easy time for you but I thank you for humbling yourself and trust that your leaders also would follow your example. It will of course take time for an autocratic culture of fear and control to be remedied and trust to be restored and I believe that in some cases leadership change may be necessary in order to see lasting results. I am praying for wisdom and grace for you and the board who are now fulfilling their God given responsibility.

I wanted you to know that we have written out our story and that it was sent to the Canadian board a couple of months ago to help confirm the many other allegations both in the US and Canada. The Canadian board is ultimately responsible and if our story could be used to help bring about further understanding, healing and protection for other staff, then that was our desire.

These things were not easy to write as I can assure you they were written with much sorrow and pain and concern for the ministry that we gave so much of our lives to. I recognize that you have understood bits and pieces of this along the way but we were never really given the opportunity to share freely with you, nor did we completely understand what was taking place at the time in our own hearts. It is only in leaving GFA that we have started to process our painful journey and have the freedom to be honest about our experiences and begin the healing. I have copied our testimony below for your understanding and awareness of what was shared with the board. 

May the Lord give you much grace and understanding as you read this.

In love,

M.

Gayle says he is examining our claims on behalf of GFA.

“As soon as my work is done, I am sure KP will let you know.”

JD

KP reveals he has had the first of a series of staff meetings to assure the staff that we are good people with real hurts that need to be resolved and that Gayle visited for a couple days to research things on his own.

“He is currently generating his official findings for the board and those should be ready in the next few days.”

Board member Gayle emails Martin of the Diaspora, requesting information for his investigation.

“…it might help me in my research…”

From: Gayle
Sent: October-10-14 7:16 PM
To: M.
Subject: GFA

Hello M.,

I have just been on the phone with Rob of Canada relative to the investigation I have been authorized to do for GFA. He informed me that you had sent him an email expressing your experiences but had not given him permission to share it. Consequently, I am inquiring if you would feel free to send me a copy. If not, that is OK, but if you think it might help me in my research, I would appreciate it.

My email is …

Blessings,

Gayle

From the highways and hedges handing out invitations

JD asks for the courtesy of being contacted directly by Gayle regarding the investigation and to be given adequate notice of the planned upcoming October 13th meeting. JD asks KP to explain why he has not followed through on his promises to talk to the staff about us and our concerns.

“Our group is losing faith in your word.”

JD  <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

KP postpones “GFA Family Gathering” because he will be away.

“…we need to postpone our gathering to a later date. We will keep you updated with the change.”

Dear [multiple Diaspora individuals],

I have been really looking forward to our weekend together next month, however, I just learned that I will need to be out of the country during the dates I sent you due to my need to be in Burma. I am sorry for any inconvenience this causes, but we need to postpone our gathering to a later date. We will keep you updated with the change. I look forward to when we will get to see each other again.

Blessings on you. You are loved.
K.P. Yohannan

JD promises to respond to KP’s email next week.

“I am away today but will respond in more detail next week.”

JD <xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

KP says he is submitting the process to the board and promises he will share with the staff.

“I have submitted this process to the board for them to deal with it.”

KP tells Larry that Gayle will be contacting JD soon and that the allegations are true. KP says he is making changes.

“KP has accepted that his authority teachings were at the root of the problem, and he assured me they will no longer be a part of GFA.”

Larry shares:

KP rang me this morning. Here is the picture as I see: First of all, Gayle, as the Board member tasked with this investigation, is taking it very seriously. He has spent the last two days at GFA. He has read all of the materials we have sent and has interviewed a number of people on the staff. He is en route back to California today. He will be contacting JD.

He has told KP that the allegations are true, and that all of the pain inflicted on dozens of people are the direct result of his teaching on authority. He told KP that this must change. KP is already moving to make changes at GFA, including re-writing the handbook and various rules. KP has accepted that his authority teachings were at the root of the problem, and he assured me they will no longer be a part of GFA.

Gayle also made clear that there must be a strong delineation between Gospel for Asia and Believer’s Church. He said the GFA must make it clear that it is not a church, but a multi-denominational ministry, and that Believer’s Church doctrine is not to be enforced on GFA staff. He also said that KP must make public who and what Believer’s Church is, from beads and robes to how it handles finances.

Gayle told KP that at some point answer all of the individual questions, rumors and concerns of the group.

KP said this is the hardest thing he’s ever been through, but that he is willing to do whatever is necessary to make things right. He wants GFA staff members to be free to be who God has called them to be.

Gayle said the Board will be monitoring the changes and new procedures to make sure they continue. KP said he welcomes that. There will be meetings with representatives of our group. KP said he will be contacting JD, and I encouraged him to make that contact soon.

There is still a very long way to go, and many hard issues to resolve, but I don’t want anyone to miss what momentous changes are taking place at GFA because of this group. Your courage in speaking out has started a seismic shift at GFA. Let us pray that it continues, and that the end result will be a ministry where people are truly free in Christ to serve Him with joy.

JD confirms meeting on October 13th and invites Canadian board members. He asks why KP has not yet follow through with his promise to share with the staff.

“Brother KP, we were disappointed to hear that you did not share anything about us with the staff as you had promised us you would.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxx>

KP visits with Diaspora member Larry to ask his advice.

“His words were that he is committed to changing GFA so that no one would be hurt in the future and wants to make amends to each person who was hurt in the past.”

Larry shares:
Well, folks, my old friend KP came by for a visit with Gayle and me. We had a two-hour talk. Basically, KP wanted to know what he should do to make all of the wrongs right. My advice was to be honest, humble himself and do what needed to be done to change the oppressive culture of GFA. His words were that he is committed to changing GFA so that no one would be hurt in the future and wants to make amends to each person who was hurt in the past. He also said he is working with the US board to get the initial meeting with our group together, hopefully October 13, and possibly at our house. We will see how this plays out. Please pray.

KP confirms that later date option is better for a meeting.

“Later date is better. I will be in touch.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

JD gives KP several date options for a meeting.

“We’d like to proceed with the meeting even if not all can attend.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

KP emails to say he is working on contacting board members for an October 2nd meeting with us.

“I did not have the opportunity yet to communicate with all of the board and leadership for their permission and decision about it. I am working on it.”

JD asks KP about his promised meeting with staff about our group.

“Did you share with the staff your changed views about us?”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxx>

JD calls to set up meeting and include Canadian board members.

“With a large percentage of former Canadian staff also having joined with us to testify to and address the same five issues going on there under your leadership, they are an equally important part of this group.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

K.P. says that 75 signers can not all be wrong, that the Lord is using us, and offers to give us the group meeting that we were looking for.

He promises to tell the staff the next morning that we are not trying to take down the ministry and that God is using us. We request that he do this because we value our friends on staff.

K.P. does not admit any specific wrongs or concede that we are correct in our accusations.

Phone conversation transcript

Note: As far as we know he did not tell the staff, or at least adequately, because many staff still believe and have even told us that we are being used by the Enemy to try and take down the ministry, and that “there are two sides to every story” and even though we served there, somehow we don’t understand the “other side.”

KP awaits JD’s call.

“Love you and I wait for your call.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

JD promises to return KP’s messages.

“I had a busy schedule and wasn’t able to talk yet. I will try to call you later this evening…”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxx>

JD leaves KP voicemail to set up meeting

“I promised I’d call you today to try to set up that meeting.”

Voicemail from JD Smith to KP Yohannan, September 16, 2014

JD:  Hi brother KP, this is JD calling. It’s Tuesday evening and I promised I’d call you today to try to set up that meeting. So I wanted to reach out and leave a voicemail to you. Please feel free to give me a call back at your earliest convenience or send an email. We’d love to set something up real soon. OK, I love you brother and I’ll talk to you soon. Thank you. Praying for you, bye-bye.

JD explains he appealed to the board because KP had not responded to JD’s August 22nd email about scheduling a meeting and because the board is KP’s authority.

“I never received a response to that email… So I was pleasantly surprised to hear from you… I am appreciative that you acknowledge the board as your authority.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxx>

KP tells JD he was surprised by our appeal to the board and that he thought we were working toward a meeting but hadn’t yet had a chance to schedule.

“I still think that you and I getting together to discuss these grievances face-to-face would be the best and most biblical way of reconciliation. However, since you have a appealed to the board as our authority, I will contact them and set up a meeting for them to examine and inquire of us and our leadership practices and teachings as a ministry as you have suggested.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

JD emails KP again after 2 weeks’ silence because we had not heard anymore about scheduling a meeting. JD requested confirmation of KP’s willingness to meet.

“Can you please confirm your willingness to schedule that meeting?”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxx>

Diaspora realized the original 2nd appeal letter included identifying information regarding some indiscretions and also contained an incorrect signature count. We asked that the original be destroyed and replaced with this corrected version.

“I would like to send you a corrected version of the document I attached last night …”

Corrected Letter to GFA Board

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

JD acknowledges that while it appears KP is working with us, there is no action to match.

“The fact that he offered “the meeting you wanted” but has not responded for 12 days yet to my last email about involving the board and a mediator, casts serious doubt on his willingness to actually give us the meeting we wanted, which would have a mediator and board members present.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxx>

Rob acknowledges the serious nature of our concerns and rebukes JD for attaching personal emails between KP and JD while KP seems to be trying to work things out.

“I have read the materials you have sent along over the past months and note that you raise very serious concerns…. Why not pursue [KP’s] offer rather than break trust further by publicly distributing personal correspondence as you have done?”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

JD sends Diaspora’s Appeal to arms-length board members in US and Canada to please consider our concerns.

“Since the leadership at GFA has dismissed our claims that a number of serious issues exist within GFA, we now appeal directly to you…”

Appeal to GFA Board

[note – this is the corrected version that was sent in the Sept. 3, 2014 email. The original will not be posted for the same reasons given in that email.]

JD <xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

JD communicates the desire by the Diaspora that the meeting be video taped.

“We’d also like it to be video-recorded.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxx>

JD emails KP to confirm setting up a group meeting including the board and a mediator.

“Can you confirm that you are willing to schedule a meeting with us…?”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

GFA invites Diaspora to see new campus and reconnect.

Note: the Family Gathering was postponed by KP on October 10, 2014.

“Coming together like this will be an opportunity to bring cleansing and develop a closer relationship.”

Dear [multiple Diaspora individuals],

I am so grateful for the time you spent serving with us and being a part of reaching multiplied millions in Asia who had not previously heard His name!

It is through the hands of all of us who served at GFA at one time or another over the last 35 years that so many lives have been touched, changed and saved. Your service at Gospel for Asia has borne eternal fruit for His glory, and we as a ministry would not be where we are without the investment you made with us.

As a part of us, I wanted to make sure you knew the latest development in our US headquarters. After more than 15 years of prayer, God has miraculously provided us with a tool to reach more precious souls for His glory. We have acquired property about 60 miles from our current location and developed it into a campus to house the ministry. This campus has been miraculously provided for by the Lord, and will help us to save up to $5M per year in operating costs, while allowing us to expand the size of the staff and the School of Discipleship.

You are invited to a GFA Family Gathering weekend November 7-8, 2014 to celebrate His faithfulness. Our time together will begin with a First Friday Prayer Meeting on November 7. On Saturday there will be tours of the campus as well as a pig roast for lunch. We hope that you can come for this time of fellowship and rejoicing in what the Lord has done. We look forward to connecting with you to hear how God is working in your life and how we can continue to pray for you and your family.

In all relationships there will be struggles, misunderstandings, failures, and hurt. Many times we are not even aware that we are hurting others through our words and actions. I often feel grieved when I think about my lack of love and humility in dealing with my brothers and sisters at different times over the years.

Coming together like this will be an opportunity to bring cleansing and develop a closer relationship. I would personally like to talk to you when you’re here. May I ask you to please do all you can to be with us for this special occasion? You are part of our lives and you always will be.

If you can join us, please contact me by email at kp@gfa.org as soon as you can, so that we can make the necessary arrangements. If you are not able to come for these dates, please know that you are welcome here any time, just let me know when you are planning to visit so I can do my best to also be here.

Thank you very much for your part in serving with GFA and growing His Kingdom. I hope you will be able to come and celebrate the Lord’s faithfulness.

Your brother in Christ,

K. P. Yohannan

Former staff member J.P. sends an e-mail to all the senior leadership apologizing for not properly saying good-bye upon leaving and offering a copy of his original June 10th resignation letter, in which he presents three reasons for leaving.

“I know you may not agree with my reasons for leaving, but if any of you see anything in the letter is not accurate or if any of you have any concerns about anything in the letter, I would greatly appreciate it if you would let me know.”

After this email was sent, no one contacted either C.P or J.P. with any corrections or concerns about any of the issues they presented.

KP agrees to meet to honestly listen to those who feel hurt and mentions sending the articles JD had shared on to his leaders.

“…I am willing to meet with you and any one else as soon as I get back. This is something you asked for from the beginning.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

JD enquires what the purpose of a meeting would be since the official response denied wrongdoing and requests a new written response if things have changed.

“I see no sign of repentance…If you’ve changed your mind, please send a new written response at your convenience.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxx>

KP says he wants to meet and make things right and asks JD’s forgiveness for not responding to his requests to discuss spiritual authority.

“I/we do want to meet with you and others and I want to make things right with our brothers and sisters.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxx>

KP says he desires to meet for peace and reconciliation and asks JD for help in getting ex-staff to October dedication.

“…we will meet as soon as I get back. Please I pray let us focus on bringing peace and reconciliation. The Lord will do it for us. I need your help.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Voicemail from JD Smith to KP Yohannan

July 24, 2014

J:  Hi brother KP, this is JD Smith just returning your call about setting up a meeting.  (A couple seconds are garbled)  I’d like to set up a meeting with board members and some of us and a mediating pastor if that’s OK with you. You can reach me at (***)***-****. Thank you.

Canadian Board member, Rob, replies to David’s response letter, praising and thanking GFA for their gracious response.

“I am encouraged by your willingness to address the specific issues in detail.”

GFA sent an email to JD that details their belief that we handled this matter unbiblically, that we refused to respond to leadership’s attempts to contact individuals who signed the letter and that we sent the letter to supporting pastors and churches to get them to drop support. GFA accuses JD of refusing to meet with leadership and a local pastor. They attached testimonies of GFA staff to the email, but we have not included them because we do not have permission from each staff member to publish the document. They tell of the board’s counsel that GFA not respond to our letter any further. Nevertheless, David says he will give his response to each of the five points raised in the initial letter.

“We explained [to the board] that after receiving your letter… we were led to contact each one of you… for the sake of reconciliation. But, we shared that you refused to do that. We shared how we successfully contacted JD and asked him to come and to even bring a pastor with him to meet with Brother K. P. and the leadership, but that he chose not to do that.”

Note that although each of our issue points is addressed and denied, we believe the evidence shared on this website overwhelmingly contradicts many of the answers given by GFA below. We invite you to judge for yourself.

JD sends the board a copy of GFA’s initial email, explaining that GFA has not addressed and has even denied the 5 concerns.

“Since you are in authority over Brother K.P. … I appeal to you all directly to take these matters seriously and to see that a response is sent to us … specifically addressing the concerns in the letter.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Response to your letter-corrected

---

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>	Tue, Jul 15, 2014 at 1:56 AM
To: [GFA Canada Board]
Dear GFA Canada Board Members, We wanted to ensure that the GFA Board members have seen the only reply that GFA has sent to our June 17 letter. So we are attaching here a copy of David _____ July 3 letter. Also attached is a copy of the email sent to Bro. K.P. on Sunday. Please note that the letter received from GFA on July 3 did not address any of the five concerns brought to the ministry in our original letter, so we are unable to consider that a valid response. It also flatly denied the truth in many respects. Since you are in authority over Brother K.P. with regard to Gospel for Asia Canada, and ultimately you hold the reigns of the ministry, I appeal to you all directly to take these matters seriously and to see that a response is sent to us by the end of this week, specifically addressing the concerns in the letter. If a response is received in that timeframe, we will certainly be open to further discussions as a group, most preferably with you all invited to attend at least by phone. Brother K.P. has not given us any reason to believe that he will respond to these concerns, as scores of people have approached him, or tried to, in the past on these very same things, with no effect or no response previously. Even now, the attached response is attempting to question the standing of the 37 witnesses, and avoiding addressing the issues we raised. This is our last effort to bring about a discussion or response regarding these issues. If we do not receive a proper response as defined previously, we must assume that GFA’s silence means they do not wish to respond to these concerns nor correct any misunderstandings that these three dozen witnesses may have. We recognize that no Canadians signed the original letter, but these issues are systemic and affect the Canadian staff just as much. We would be happy to provide testimony from many of the former Canadian staff upon your request. Collectively, we 37 signers have dedicated 125 years of service to GFA. We find it disheartening that GFA leaders would try to write us off as though we don’t have standing to bring these concerns forward. We beg you to consider these things carefully. Know that we are praying for you, the board, and that God would grant you wisdom and courage to do what is right and bring about repentance. -JD, for all of us. (xxx) xxx-xxxx (any calls or questions welcome) xxxxx, Dallas, TX 75219 ———- Forwarded message ———- From: JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Sun, Jul 13, 2014 at 3:52 PM Subject: Fwd: Response to your letter-corrected To: … [Quoted text hidden]   JD Response Letter.pdf 1376K

JD sends the board a copy of GFA’s initial email, explaining that GFA has not addressed and has even denied the 5 concerns.

“Since you are in authority over Brother K.P. … I appeal to you all directly to take these matters seriously and to see that a response is sent to us … specifically addressing the concerns in the letter.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxx>

Response to your letter-corrected

---

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxx>	Tue, Jul 15, 2014 at 1:47 AM
To: [GFA US Board]
Dear GFA U.S. Board Members, We wanted to ensure that the GFA Board members have seen the only reply that GFA has sent to our June 17 letter. So we are attaching here a copy of David _____ July 3 letter. Also attached is a copy of the email sent to Bro. K.P. on Sunday. Please note that the letter received from GFA on July 3 did not address any of the five concerns brought to the ministry in our original letter, so we are unable to consider that a valid response. It also flatly denied the truth in many respects. Since you are in authority over Brother K.P., and ultimately you hold the reigns of the ministry, I appeal to you all directly to take these matters seriously and to see that a response is sent to us by the end of this week, specifically addressing the concerns in the letter. If a response is received in that timeframe, we will certainly be open to further discussions as a group, most preferably with you all invited to attend at least by phone. Brother K.P. has not given us any reason to believe that he will respond to these concerns, as scores of people have approached him, or tried to, in the past on these very same things, with no effect or no response previously. Even now, the attached response is attempting to question the standing of the 37 witnesses, and avoiding addressing the issues we raised. This is our last effort to bring about a discussion or response regarding these issues. If we do not receive a proper response as defined previously, we must assume that GFA’s silence means they do not wish to respond to these concerns nor correct any misunderstandings that these three dozen witnesses may have. Collectively, we 37 signers have dedicated 125 years of service to GFA. We find it disheartening that GFA leaders would try to write us off as though we don’t have standing to bring these concerns forward. We beg you to consider these things carefully. Know that we are praying for you, the board, and that God would grant you wisdom and courage to do what is right and bring about repentance. -JD, for all of us. (xxx) xxx-xxxx (any calls or questions welcome) xxxxx, Dallas, TX 75219 P.S. I could not locate Skip’s email address; feel free to pass this along to him.   JD Response Letter.pdf 1376K

KP returns JD’s call and says they will send detailed answers to all of the issues we raised. JD reiterates that an official response is needed before any meeting takes place. KP invites JD and Chrissy to visit India in Jan. 2015.

KP: “we are sending you our detailed answer to all the questions”

Phone transcript

JD leaves a voicemail message to KP to confirm he received the email requesting a written response.

JD: “I look forward to your reply this week.”

Voicemail from J.D. Smith to K.P. Yohannan

July 14, 2014

J:  Hi brother KP, this is JD Smith calling. It’s Monday afternoon at 4:30. I just wanted to confirm that you received the email I sent you last Saturday. Please respond back by email if you have any questions. Otherwise I look forward to your reply this week.  Thank you so much.  Bye-bye.

JD explains that Diaspora wants a written response before meeting to give a foundation for any future meeting.

“[We] 37 signers unanimously agree that before any such meeting takes place we must receive a thorough, written response to the weighty concerns we outlined in the letter. We feel that any meeting would be unproductive if we have not heard your clear explanation on these matters in writing first.”

JD Smith <xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

JD returns KP’s phone call. KP requests a meeting with just JD and Pastor Jerry from a local Church (who had offered to be a neutral witness but would not act as a mediator) together with John, David and himself. JD requests a meeting with a significant portion of the group represented but agrees to ask the group about a one-on-one meeting KP was requesting.

JD: “I do think that because so many people have approached you guys over the years on these same issues… it’s come to the point now where all of us have come together and approached you guys together so I feel like the right thing to do is to meet with us together or at least a representative portion of us…”

KP: “JD, why don’t we with all the information you have one meeting even an hour before we have the second meeting… after that if you feel I am more than happy to do it. “

Phone transcript

JD sends Gayle an electronic copy of the letter after hearing Gayle has been out of town.

“I only just now heard you’re out of town for a while, so I thought I’d email you a copy so that you are informed about it.”

Morgan (former GFA staff) responds to Leader David by requesting a mediated meeting.

“The first step, going individually with concerns, has already happened (and over the course of many, many years). Unfortunately, these concerns were dismissed or explained away.”

Morgan via Facebook

GFA Leader David contacts Morgan (former GFA staff) requesting a one-on-one phone call (one of many individuals contacted privately by GFA leadership).

“I would like to talk with you about the letter … in hope of finding Biblical reconciliation.”

David via Facebook

Hi Lenny,

It was nice to see you at the store the other day. I am glad that it is working out for you to get teaching position that you wanted.

Hey Lenny I am wondering if you would have a few minutes to talk sometime. I got a copy of the letter from JD that you and Tiffany signed, and would like to talk to you about if possible.

We both now that Matt 5 & 18 tell us that if we are offended or if we have offended another that we need to go to that brother in love and discuss t so that there is no division in the Body of Christ. By the fact that you signed the letter you indicate that I/we have offended you and so I feel compelled to reach out to you in love and ask if we can talk about it as brothers.

What I remember from the time GFA was forced to lay you off was just how godly you were in your response. I remember your saying how you felt the Lord was directing it and you and how you had struggled with the support trip and not having been able to raise any support. I remember feeling so badly for you and having you almost try to cheer me up. I was blessed by how you responded. However maybe now you feel differently. If so I would love to sit down with you over a cup of coffee or on the phone and talk about it as brothers.

I would like to invite you to give me a call (XXX) XXX-XXXX. I will be traveling some this week so if I miss your call I will call you back asap. I hope this can work out.

Thanks Lenny.

Blessings, John

JD suggests setting up a meeting to address the 5 issues.

“Are you open to setting up a meeting in the near future, between you and those who signed the letter, and mediated by a mutually agreed-upon pastor or elder?”

GFA’s Initial Response Letter was emailed from a  GFA Leader to JD, signed “The Leadership Team of Gospel for Asia.” It was scanned from a printout on GFA letterhead.

“…all of these accusations or details were either fabricated … or there has been a serious misunderstanding.”

GFA’s Initial Response Letter

This Letter to GFA and Board was the first communication from our group to GFA.

It is the single most important document for staff to read. It fully outlines our concerns, and explains why we and our advisory pastors believe they are valid.

This letter was sent as hard-copy via express mail on June 17, 2014, to every US and Canada senior leader, corporate officer and board member, as well as to the known leaders of every GFA international office, except field leaders or offices as we did not wish to involve the field. In the following weeks it was also emailed to a few board members who did not receive the hard copy.

We received advisory input from four pastors on the letter, and each one said that if the things the letter says are true, then they are indeed very serious and need to be dealt with. They also said that the way in which we were approaching this was biblical. Each pastor agreed to keep the matter confidential by our request.

“we are deeply concerned about five key issues at GFA”

Letter to GFA and Board

Staff member J.P.’s resignation letter.

Hey brother KP, I heard about the campus ground breaking, congratulations!

I know you’re busy but am still eager to speak with you or get your response on this.

Have a great weekend,

JD

On Mar 5, 2012, at 2:46 PM, “K.P. Yohannan” <kp@gfa.org> wrote:

> Thanks JD,sorry I did’t get to call you. Right now I am at the DFW airport to catch my flight to Germany.i will call you next couple of says. Kpy
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 4, 2012, at 8:29 PM, “JD Smith” <xxxxxx> wrote:

….