Gospel for Asia board was 'kept in the dark' about financial dealings, says former member

Gospel for Asia founder KP Yohannan.

A former Gospel for Asia board member has said that he resigned following revelations about the use of donors' money for the construction of GFA's headquarters building in Texas.

The admission comes after GFA was removed from membership by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) after an investigation found multiple breaches of its code of conduct.

Gayle Erwin wrote a private Facebook posting seen by blogger Warren Throckmorton, whose investigation of GFA's financial affairs helped uncover the failures. He gave Throckmorton permission to cite the post.

Erwin says that he and other board members were not aware that nearly $20 million was transferred from the Believers' Church in India to fund the Texas building.

The money had been donated to GFA for missions work in India and transferred to the Believers' Church.

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Referring to the ECFA report, Erwin says that it shows that the USA board members were "kept in the dark and limited to pedantic decisions". He says: "As I saw this, I began intense confrontations with KP [Yohannan, GFA founder] which I thought were gaining traction. The surprise revelation of foreign deposits and monies returned from the field (and previously described as from an 'anonymous donor') pushed some of us over the edge and made our board membership untenable."

Erwin stressed that GFA staff in Texas were "some of the finest, most ethical and loving people I know".

He added: "I was shocked when informed that GFA had failed all 7 of ECFA criteria for membership and had consequently been removed from membership."

Christian Today has asked GFA to comment on the ECFA decision but has not so far received a response.

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