Government Raids Believers Church & K.P. Yohannan in India Over Foreign Contributions

In other news…

According to reports out of India, the government raided the headquarters of Believers’ Church and K.P. Yohannan in Thiruvalla, Kerala.

The raid was carried out by the Income Tax division and occurred at both Yohannan’s office and residence. Specifically, Believers Church allegedly has continued to received foreign contributions after the government revoked their registration to do so. I have reported on that since I learned the registration was revoked.

According to this Malayalam report translated with Google translate, raids took place in other Believers Church locations around India. Authorities are looking for evidence that Believers Church continued to accept foreign donations in violation of the law.

There can be no question that Yohannan and Gospel for Asia have continued to solicit donations for India after their registration was revoked. GFA has never informed donors that the registration in India was revoked which prohibits foreign funds entering to GFA and Believers Church in India.

According to one source close to the church, a priest was discovered with a large sum of cash in his car as a result of this raid. The raid just happened this morning and this is a developing story.

According to this report, phones and other materials have been seized in a massive raid.

Gospel for Asia and Believers Church lost their charity registration to take in foreign contributions in 2017. Since then I have been asking the U.S. charity how they are getting American donations to India. I never get a response. In fact, there are numerous NGOs in India which do nothing but accept funds from the U.S. and funnel them to Believers Church and Yohannan’s interests. GFA has never informed donors outside of India that their donations cannot legally go to India. Despite these restrictions, Yohannan and GFA have continued to solicit donations for Indian causes.

5 thoughts on “Government Raids Believers Church & K.P. Yohannan in India Over Foreign Contributions”

  1. While I do not know how exactly things will happen or when I do know that the end of all this will go very badly for KP and his family. We are in an age of judgment and this man managed to make himself one of the biggest targets on God’s radar. When God decides to make some examples of people who have mocked Him and leveraged His name for personal benefit, well KP has likely made the top 10 list.

    Excerpts from Psalm 37: “Do not fret when wicked men seem to succeed. Do not envy evildoers. For they will quickly dry up like grass,
    and wither away like plants.” “Wait patiently for the Lord! Wait confidently for him! Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner, a man who carries out wicked schemes. Do not be angry and frustrated. Do not fret. That only leads to trouble. Wicked men will be wiped out, but those who rely on the Lord are the ones who will possess the land. Evil men will soon disappear; you will stare at the spot where they once were, but they will be gone.” This day is coming much sooner than KP thinks…

  2. For quite a while now, Believers’ Church and the organizations associated with it have looked like a scam. They’re not being honest with, well, pretty much anybody–certainly not their foreign contributors. I hope the government of India can shut them down, and that contributors will direct their donations to other causes.

  3. If the conversion is correct 54 lakh of rupees is about 73,000 dollars for what was found in the car. I will note that the current Indian government does have a strong pro-Hindu bias which has repercussions on religious groups not perceived as Hindu. This can include making it difficult to tell whether a group being targeted by the authorities is actually corrupt or being persecuted for being non-Hindu. It also makes it easy for the group to claim the latter to hide the former.

    1. I am a Christian from Kerala. A widespread image is spread by vested interests globally that Christian organisations are targted in India under the BJP government of Narendra Modi. Let me tell you one thing; unlike Muslims and Christians, for majority of the Hindus, religion is more cultural. They are not the ones who are 24/7 obsessed with their religion and when they meet someone, they are never bothered what religion the other person belongs.
      Charity organisations in India were abusing their special status and were colluding with politicians of all dispensations and they could scam gullible devotees and create financial empires without any income tax or regulatory hurdles. Politicians corrupt money also used to be routed through these outfits (round-tripping of unaccounted or ill-gotten wealth).
      Modi did bring in stricter norms for these charties and greater accountability for the money which is being raised abroad. While it could have made life difficult for many of these dubious people (like K P Yohannan), its possible that some genuine work also could have got affected due to fund flow being affected.
      But just not that it is not just the Christian evangelists who are facing the heat. Many Hindu babas, dubious gurus, Godmen are all in trouble. A case in point is Swami Nityananda who had to escape the country. Another leading Hindu Godman Asaram is in jail on rape charges. Many godmen are in fact in jail of late.
      While many Christian entities would be facing the heat, it cannot be denied that they were misusing their special status. Dont forget the fact that the “fringe” is much bigger among Christians (fanatic 24/7 obsession with their specific religion and being judgemental towards everyone else including other Christian groups) and Muslims (violent obsession with their religion and religious book). The “fringe” among Hindus is a reaction to the “fringe” among Christians and Muslims but I would say it still will be a very negligible minority but the fringe is always more vocal and makes more noise!!

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