Gospel for Asia

History

In 1981, current president K. P. Yohannan formed a branch of GFA in his native Kerala, with an Indian headquarters being set up in Tiruvalla in 1983. It is active throughout India, especially in the North, and directly administers bible colleges, whose graduates receive financial support to found new congregations. Increasing donations made GFA "one of the most financially powerful mission undertakings in India in the 1980s." GFA directly supports more than 50 Bible colleges in various countries.

In 1993, GFA began founding its own network of churches in Asia, including the Believers Church which is Episcopal in governance.

Mission statement, vision and programs

The mission statement for Gospel for Asia is Our mission in life is to be devout followers of Christ and to fulfill the Great Commission among the unreached in Asia through training, sending out and assisting qualified laborers in partnership with the Body of Christ. The goal of Gospel for Asia focuses on the formation of missionaries native to the nation the missionary is serving, with special emphasis on Asia. It embraces the claim that God himself builds his church in Asia. The organization has defined its primary mission field as being those people that live in the “10/40 Window”, a rectangular region extending from west Africa to east Asia and between 10 and 40 degrees north longitude. By concentrating on this region Gospel for Asia ministers to a dense population of largely poor communities that have had limited or no exposure to the Christian faith.

Although the ministry accepts trainers for Bible translation, the ministry discourages direct missions of Western countries. Yohannan considers that the sending of Western missionaries to areas that are inaccessible to foreign missionaries can result in a waste of resources. He also believes that the imposition of western culture and neo-colonialism should be avoided. In order to increase efficiency and achieve its goals, Gospel for Asia has become a repository for donations and financial support of Asian missionaries by non-Asian cultures. Gospel for Asia administers these resources to the various programs listed below within its organization.

National missionaries

Gospel for Asia’s main focus is to train and equip national missionaries. Yohannan has stated that he does not limit "national missionaries" to formal nation-states, instead focusing on differences in culture and language to define nationalities. This approach might result in several specialized missionary groups within a single nation-state, from large cities and regions down to small tribes and villages. Gospel for Asia has over 16,000 missionaries and church planters in over 10 Asian nations

Church buildings, bibles and gospel literature

Gospel for Asia sponsors the building of Christian worship centers to educate new disciples as well as provide a visible meeting place for Christians. Approximately 16 churches or mission stations are created every day. Similarly, Gospel for Asia distributes native-language bibles and evangelical Christian literature to the region in order to strengthen churches and promote proclamation of the Christian faith.

Radio and television broadcasts

Radio in Asia is a broadcast that is especially designed to reach Asian communities. Yohannan's Athmeeya Yathra (Spiritual Journey) radio programs reach more than a billion people and are translated into 113 languages. His Road to Reality is aired on more than 900 radio stations across North America, Europe and Australia. Athmeeya Yathra was recently expanded to include a television station and print media.

Bible colleges

Gospel for Asia has over 56 bible colleges serving a whole range of cultures and dialects. The purpose of the bible colleges are to train native missionaries within their own dialects and cultures so that they will be effective ministers. The program includes three years of instruction, including field instruction and experience. Over 9000 native missionaries have been trained through these institutions.

Bridge of Hope

Bridge of Hope is a child sponsorship program for poor families in underserved communities, especially lower-caste families and Dalits. Child sponsorship provides education, three daily meals, and access to medical care. The program also presents the Christian faith to the child as well as to the child’s family. Religious conversion is not required for participation; rather, the service increases exposure to the family and community.

Jesus Wells

Jesus Wells are local wells dug for free by Gospel for Asia in communities where water is scarce during parts or most of the year. The wells are built for long-term use near churches, bible colleges or Bridge of Hope centers, and each well is maintained by the local pastor. All wells provide free, clean water to individuals regardless of caste, class, social designation or religion. Each well also contains a plaque with the Bible verse from John 4:13-14, “Jesus answered and said to her: 'Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” While profession of Christian faith is not required for access, the wells increase exposure to Christianity though their locations and the scripture verse. Gospel for Asia claims that most of the wells become very important for lower-caste and Dalit communities, as they previously had to collect water from specially-designated areas far from their homes. Several hundred wells have been built, and Gospel for Asia plans to build another 5000 in the coming years.

Court rulings

The operations of Gospel for Asia and Believers Church were scrutinized after Believers Church, under the guidance of Yohannan, purchased a 2,268-acre (9.18 km²) rubber estate in Kerala, India. Opponents claimed the church had diverted foreign funds to amass land for itself and for uses other than declared purposes. Further, it was alleged that the rubber estate, which Believers Church purchased from Harrison's Malayalam Ltd., was on leasehold from the government and not saleable. Hence, Believers Church was accused of illegally holding government land. At a later time, Harrison's Malayalam was accused of forging their land title, leading to continued debate about the legality of the sale.

Legal proceedings are still ongoing. “Former Ernakulam District Collector Dr M G Rajamanickam, who was appointed as the Special Officer of the government to confiscate the illegal and excess estate lands under the custody of various companies, had issued an order in May, 2015, confiscating the 2,268 acre of land from Believers’ Church." However, this ruling was appealed and now there is further complication because the local government wants to build an airport on this estate. News outlets are reporting that the local government wants to buy the property. However, it is also reported that "The government does not need permission from K P Yohannan to set up airport in the Cheruvally estate, BJP national executive member V Muraleedharan said." The BJP is currently behind a large scale anti-corruption crackdown on Black Money inside India.

Yohannan says that the claims were politically motivated and that the workings of Gospel for Asia and Believers Church are transparent. Further, the rubber estate is an investment to help fund social work among underdeveloped communities and not a personal land grab as opponents have claimed.

Controversies

In October 2015, GFA lost their 36-year membership in the financial standards advocacy group Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, with the ECFA reporting that GFA hadn't met their standards. The ECFA states that their membership was "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". The GFA's board responded with a statement that noted "ECFA's decision was made after conducting a special review of Gospel for Asia, and we respect ECFA's evaluation. Our response was to begin a focused review and to implement the ECFA's recommended improvements".

Warren Throckmorton had shown that the GFA had significant financial reserves that were in contrast with claims made by the group when seeking funds.