Gospel for Asia faces fresh questions about financial affairs

An investigation by blogger Warren Throckmorton has appeared to find discrepancies between how Gospel for Asia raises funds for its work in India and its spending there.

On its US website, GFA asks supporters for $35 a month to sponsor a child, saying that 100 per cent of the money donated "is sent to the field to support your child".

However, the GFA/Believers' Church website says that the cost is 800 Indian Rupees a month or about $12.50.

In addition to this, Throckmorton says that he has seen documents showing that the actual cost of supporting a child in a GFA Bridge of Hope centre was just under $8.20 per month.

Throckmorton says: "At that rate, Americans who send $35/month to GFA for a child sponsorship could actually support four children. Or GFA could keep the excess in a bank and draw interest on the balance as they appear to be doing."

While GFA spent more than $6 million of foreign contributions on Bridge of Hope centres in 2014, it has $23.5 million designated for "the welfare of children" in a bank drawing interest at the same time.

Throckmorton says: "It is past time for GFA to end the silence and address this matter as well as others which have come out in recent weeks."

He has also raised questions about GFA's practice of sending large amounts of cash to India with students and staff, now discontinued.

GFA is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and has been awarded the Independent Charities Seal of Excellence. It has so far not responded to requests for comment. 

related articles
Is new PM Narendra Modi really bad news for India?
Is new PM Narendra Modi really bad news for India?

Is new PM Narendra Modi really bad news for India?

Why did Gospel For Asia send money to India in students\' backpacks?
Why did Gospel For Asia send money to India in students' backpacks?

Why did Gospel For Asia send money to India in students' backpacks?

News
Christians take issue with 'one-sided' engagement over conversion therapy ban
Christians take issue with 'one-sided' engagement over conversion therapy ban

LGBT groups have the ear of the Scottish government.

2,700 conversions recorded as Germany’s Free Evangelical Churches report renewed growth
2,700 conversions recorded as Germany’s Free Evangelical Churches report renewed growth

Baptisms and conversions have risen across Germany’s Federation of Free Evangelical Churches, as new figures suggest congregational life has largely rebounded after the setbacks of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The book that changed Sweden: 500 years of the Swedish New Testament
The book that changed Sweden: 500 years of the Swedish New Testament

2026 is the 500th anniversary of the first New Testament in Swedish. This is the story …

Catholic Church 'deeply disturbed' by Greens call for complete abortion decriminalisation
Catholic Church 'deeply disturbed' by Greens call for complete abortion decriminalisation

The Catholic Church in Scotland has said it is “deeply disturbed” by the Scottish Green Party’s call for the complete decriminalisation of abortion.