Yesterday afternoon, I received word from the management of Patheos that lawyers for Gospel for Asia demanded the removal of posts with audio of the May 14, 2015 staff meeting in Wills Point, TX. They also wanted the picture of David Carroll in priestly garb sprinkling water around the Wills Point building site taken down.
The following posts were targeted by GFA:
Gospel for Asia’s President K.P. Yohannan and Indian Courts Seem to Disagree about His Status with Indian Charities
Believers Church in India Gave Nearly 20 Million to Help Gospel for Asia’s New Office Complex
Gospel for Asia Leaders Tell Staff Cash Carrying is Legal but They Won’t Do It Anymore
What is This Gospel for Asia Priest Doing? (Image replaced with a link to the image – the image was freely available to GFA staff)
All but one of these posts contain audio from the May 14, 2015 staff meeting where GFA leaders (David Carroll, John Beers, Danny Punnoose and K.P. Yohannan) answered questions from staff about various staff concerns and problems. This meeting was supposed to put to rest many of these questions, but in the long run more questions and problems have come up. GFA leaders are willing to pay lawyers to threaten lawsuits but they are not willing to publicly address the concerns and allegations of former staff and former donors.
Patheos management and I decided remove their sail from the wind in that I have now linked to the audio hosted elsewhere. I see no reason for GFA to harass Patheos with frivolous demands when the use of these materials is fair use of material for the purpose of providing commentary on the practices of GFA. I was provided the audio by a former staff member at GFA. The staff meeting was attended by the entire staff of GFA and was supposed to provide answers to public controversies. Now, GFA does not want you to hear their answers. Despite GFA’s heavy handed effort at intimidation, readers can still get the facts by going to these posts and following the links to the audio.
This is an incredible and I think foolish move on the part of GFA leaders. They are now making a direct attempt to cover up their own statements. This information has been in the public ear for weeks. We can hear them making their claims in their own words. When the information is available like this, I cannot be accused of taking material out of context or providing false information. So now, they want to remove these facts from the public consciousness.
Since 100% of donations to GFA are supposed to go to the field, I wonder where the funds come from to pay lawyers to threaten legal action. Perhaps GFA leaders believe attorneys’ fees are where donor funds are most needed.
Gospel for Asia is a non-profit organization. As such, GFA has a responsibility to operate in the public interest. Covering up information which allows donors insight into the actual workings and claims of the organization is the not the action of an organization operating in the public interest. From a religious point of view, they are walking in darkness and want to keep the rest of us in darkness as well.
I do not intend to allow GFA’s threats and intimidation to silence the facts. There is more to come.
Category: Charity
Gospel for Asia Still Claims Membership in Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
In a mailing just received today, Gospel for Asia’s fund solicitation still carries the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability seal. The letter is dated October 15, which is nearly two weeks after the ECFA board voted to terminate GFA’s membership.
Here is the pledge card with the seal and “Enhancing Trust” slogan (click to see letter and other materials):
Along with the ECFA charter member seal, the pledge card carries the meaningless ICA “Best in America” Seal.
According to the ECFA standards, this GFA mailing violates Standard 7.1 which relates to “Truthfulness in Communications.” According David Carroll, GFA’s COO, GFA will seek membership in the future. Continuing to violate a standard doesn’t seem like the best way to make a case for reinstatement.
By continuing to claim membership in the ECFA, GFA is in violation of ICA standards and the standards for qualification as a charity for inclusion in the Combined Federal Campaign.
The ICA requires truthful and non-deceptive fundraising materials (see the next to last bullet point in the image below):
The Office of Personnel Management’s standards also require truthful materials.
Does Independent Charities of America Bring Value to Donors?
I can’t see much. I intend to take a closer look at ICA over the next week or two. In the mean time, check out this article from Charity Watch:
F Rated Charities Awarded Best in America Seal
A little bit:
Ubiquitous on charity web sites is a ribbon-style seal that in large type reads “BEST IN AMERICA,” features five stars across the top edge, and indicates that the charity awarded the seal is “certified by Independent Charities of America” (ICA). Many donors may view such a seal as a reflection of how efficiently a particular charity will use their donations, and assume that it represents an independent endorsement of a charity from an outside organization. While ICA may refer to its member charities as “Best in America,” some donors may be disappointed to learn that ICA is funded by the very charities that use its seal, and that ICA generally does not screen charities for financial efficiency.
Any money that goes to ICA is money that won’t go to poor children or mission work. Whenever someone gives to a charity through the appeal of ICA, a percentage goes to ICA and their association manager Maguire & Maguire.
It appears to me that ICA enables a message designed to create a false impression. See the image below:
Like Gospel for Asia, ICA refuses to answer questions. I asked ICA if the 2,500 number represented the number of charities that chose to pay ICA for the use of the Seal but got no answer. Since ICA uses the same criteria as the Office of Personnel Management, I believe the 2,500 are those who pay the fee to use the Seal. In other words, it means nothing extra in terms of quality or efficiency. Another way to look at it is that 47,500 charities would rather put their money toward services as opposed to paying for a meaningless image on their webpage. Perhaps the Seal could be renamed Seal of Excess.
We know one charity (GFA) kicked out of the ECFA (a rare happening) which pays to create a false impression.
Gospel for Asia and the Independent Charities of America: Many Questions, Few Answers
Now that the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability has terminated Gospel for Asia’s membership due to violations of multiple standards, GFA is using the Seal of the Independent Charities of America as a badge of financial integrity.
When I called the ICA, I was connected to Mike May with Maguire & Maguire, an association management firm. May told me that organizations approved by the Office of Personnel Management for inclusion in the Combined Federal Campaign are allowed by ICA to display the ICA Seal. GFA is approved as a charity for the 2015 campaign in progress now.
At the time, I asked why GFA was allowed to display the seal since GFA is a proselytizing organization. In contrast to the federal standards, the ICA adds a provision barring “proselytizing organizations.” See the image below:
Beyond explaining ICA’s use of CFC approval, May had no comment about any of the other questions put to him. At this time, I don’t know why ICA has the restriction on proselytizing organizations or why GFA, as a proselytizing organization, is allowed to display the Seal of Excellence.
In any case, my research, the recent actions of the ECFA and the recent statement of former board member Gayle Erwin call into question the compliance of GFA with most of the eligibility standards of ICA (and more basically with the federal standards for participation in the Combined Federal Campaign). Click the image below to go to a pdf chart with supporting links.
ICA is now aware of the discrepancies between their criteria and GFA’s performance and it remains to be seen if ICA will investigate or take any action.
Board Members Quit Floundering Teen Mania; Will Gateway Church Continue Support?
World magazine reported on October 17 that half of Teen Mania’s independent board members resigned. I am linking to World’s coverage of TM as an alert to readers that the former high flying ministry is in free fall. TM continues to break commitments and is going deeper into debt to various groups, some of whom are suing.
Top Ten Charities in trouble; note that TM is #5.
I am not sure why anyone would want to be involved with TM after seeing this in 2011:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/OAKGVF3EooA?list=PLDPcYCH6dNUHK5htHOMV5OTqES8u5kUVM[/youtube]
Part two and part three are available on You Tube.
This is required reading as well.
I don’t care how much good TM claims to do (e.g., Acquire the Fire is for the most a big pep rally for God), the mistreatment of teens that is glorified by TM in the msnbc documentary is enough to shut the whole thing down.
Despite light coming to the situation, some groups continue to stand by TM. One such group is Gateway Church and The Kings University.
TKU actually gives academic credit for TM’s Honor Academy. This should be an embarrassment for TKU.
Robert Morris endorses TM, as does K.P. Yohannan.