Trouble at Gospel for Asia

This week news broke that the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability has terminated the membership of Gospel for Asia. The EFCA is a very important body in the USA that scrutinises the finances of member organizations to ensure they meet their strict code of practice, It is rare that an organization loses its membership. Gospel for Asia is an organization that raises very substantial amounts of funds, in the States especially, to support 'native missionaries' in Asia. The organization was founded by K. P. Yohannan from India and that is where most of the finances seem to be channelled. I have previously commented on Yohannan's philosophy here and here. Read more on the story here. I want to add a few more comments on the organization and its approach.

GFA is not all bad. There are organizations that are quite simply rotten to the core. Their leaders are charlatans, they lie through their teeth and cheat many generous donors out of their hard-earned cash. One such is K. A. Paul, also of India, who visited Nepal when I was there. He styled himself as Dr. K. A. Paul (USA) - he was based in America and clearly thought that was somehow relevant to his 'ministry' in the subcontinent; I have yet to discover from where he received his doctorate. I will spare you the details but it is a public fact that he made a wretched nuisance of himself in Kathmandu. Privately, members of the organizing committee confided some truly jaw-dropping allegations against him after he was literally chased out of the country by self-respecting Nepalis who wanted his blood.

GFA is not like that. But there is nevertheless an integrity issue. Some questions might help to focus the issue: 

1. How is it that it 'only takes $30 a month to help enable a national missionary to serve full-time to reach an unreached village' when they work in different countries, under different regimes, in different economies, and have variously sized families and needs? Do they each get $30 or is it adjusted? If so, why is this not stated on the web site? Perhaps it does take £30 a month but it would be good to see how this figure is arrived at.
2. Why is there nothing about 'Believers' Church' on the web site? I was told by the UK director six years back that all the churches that are planted constitute this denomination and that the metropolitan (archbishop if you like) is K. P. Yohannan. Should this not be public - something like 'your donations go to building up the Believers' Church denomination'? I think a lot of donors would like to know that.
3. How independent are those churches allowed to be? I was told that if the church wanted to dismiss its pastor they would not be free to do that but that it could only happen on the order of the bishop. I am not saying an episcopalian form of church government is wrong (though I don't favour it myself) but rather that donors might like to know about that.
4. Since the metropolitan lives in Dallas isn't this denomination under foreign control - something that the indigenous church movement (especially in India of all places) fought so hard against in colonial times?
5. Doesn't this event worsen the scandal of the evangelical dollar in Asia? It is hardly surprising, is it, that several states in India have enacted anti-conversion laws if money is coming from the US with the intention, it is thought, of 'converting people to a foreign religion'? Now this is a nuanced debate and sadly most people involved in it don't realize that. But there was a time when most Indian mission organizations eschewed foreign funds for this reason. It is a fact that many Asian people would rather die than give up what they consider their heritage. They regard the use of outside funds to pursue what they see as wholesale cultural and religious transmogrification in the image of the donor as reprehensible. And that means that for every person presented with the gospel a dozen may be inoculated against it. It is not the scandal of the cross.

My prayer for GFA, like other similar organizations, is that they put their house in order, come clean about their shortcomings and pursue the ministry of the gospel in Asia in ways that will not put any stumbling block in anyone's path except that of the crucified lord of history.

Revolution in World Missions (Part 2)

Part 1 of this review is here.

Yohannan’s shaky evidence leads him to take an exaggeratedly contrasting approach to bolster his case. “Americans have never known the fear of persecution,” he writes (51), forgetting that the country was founded in large part by men and women fleeing an authoritarian state. Yohannan, in contrast, knows what it is like to suffer as a persecuted minority in his own country: he tells the story of being beaten and having stones thrown at him on one of his visits to an Indian village while in OM. But he neglects to mention that the vast majority of Indian believers haven’t experienced persecution any more than their brothers and sisters in America have.

The American church, says Yohannan, is in “spiritual decline” (51). American Christians are “worldly” (96), living in “extravagance, self-indulgence and spiritual weakness” (51), whereas “native missionaries...suffer for their commitment” as they “serve Christ daily” (98). He fails to mention that great numbers of American disciples of Jesus serve Christ daily in the lives that the Lord has given them or that the majority of Indians who wear the label Christian are, as he well knows, also deeply affected by extravagance, self-indulgence and spiritual weakness.

Instead he tells the story of one who he calls Brother P. in Nepal. Brother P., we are told, was a native missionary who served time in 14 different prisons between 1960 and 1975, suffering torture and ridicule for preaching the gospel (49). He neglects to tell the rest of Brother P’s story. Some years ago, I pieced together the following few details from various accounts by people who knew him. When Brother P. was released from jail it seems he hoped to be more highly regarded by his fellow Nepali believers and not receiving the recognition he felt was his due withdrew from their fellowship. A US-based organization, which predates the founding of GFA, began funding him in order to support native missionaries in the country. Allegations of financial mismanagement were flagged up to the HQ but never acted upon for over 20 years until they finally sent a representative to investigate the work. A few weeks later I was informed that the organization was no longer supporting Brother P’s ministry. Over the years as much as $1 million may have been sent in the support of this man. But Yohannan holds him up as a model to emulate in stark contrast to the ‘worldliness’ of American believers! His argument rings hollow. (For another related story see “Grace and Greed: The Making and Marring of the Tamang Movement to Christ” by Mark Johnson, Voice of Bhakti 3 (1) February, 2004, http://www.bhaktivani.com/volume3/number1/grace_greed.html.)

Yohannan tells us that “Western missionaries are no longer able to do church planting” in many nations where it was formerly allowed (157). And yet agencies are sending men and women to such countries every year to do just that. He argues, rather, that “the most effective way now to win Asia for Christ is through prayer and financial support for the native missionary force” for five reasons. I will interact with each of these, one by one.

1. It is wise stewardship (158). I would agree here that it certainly makes sound economic sense to support workers who need less to live on. But the figures that Yohannan uses are extreme. The dearest, no expense spared, American missionary (with his family with all their needs) is contrasted with the cheapest Indian. Yohannan hardly mentions the many missionaries who are living on a lot less than the extreme upper limit. Neither does he mention the hardships imposed on native workers who are having to live in poverty or their leaders who need a higher level of support as their needs increase with longevity of service.
2. In many places the presence of Western missionaries perpetuates the myth that Christianity is the religion of the West (159). This is hogwash. The fact is that many people in Asia will continue to believe that for a long time to come whether Western missionaries continue to visit or not. Furthermore, native workers often have precisely the same effect when they do things like insist that new believers change their name to a ‘Christian’ one. The opinion that Jesus is not for Asians has deep historical and cultural causes and will not go away by simply telling Westerners not to come.
3. Western missionaries, and the money they bring, compromise the natural growth and independence of the national church (161). Indeed, this has often been the case and great problems have arisen from the abuse of money. But if the money flows from foreign funds the involvement or otherwise of Western missionaries may not be such a significant factor after all. Indeed is the difference that significant if a native rather than a Westerner controls the dollars? The story of Brother P., repeated in so many other cases, indicates otherwise.
4. Western missionaries cannot easily go to the countries where most so-called “hidden people” live (164). Indeed, it is a great challenge to enter into a restricted-access country, learn the language and become culturally competent. But this is one way that the Lord has continued to take to fulfil the Great Commission even in the twenty-first century. Difficult, but not impossible. With God, all things are possible.
5. Western missionaries seldom are effective today in reaching Asians and establishing local churches in the villages of Asia (164). Yohannan gives us another sad story of missionary failure and incompetence. But his evidence is purely anecdotal. I am tempted to ask for the facts but the work of the Spirit is usually quiet and unassuming, as is the work of those who are filled with the Spirit, whether brown-skinned or white. And furthermore, the people of Asia are flocking to the cities which are fast becoming cosmopolitan melting pots of hidden and not-so-hidden peoples. The need for outsiders as well as insiders to reach these peoples in their new places is as great as ever.

This is not a new book but with 1.5 million copies in print it is influential. My prayer is that this blog might moderate its message. The day of Westerners in intercultural ministry is not over. For sure they must repudiate all colonial attitudes, seek to live a life of spiritual vitality, and be willing to suffer as their native colleagues need to do. New approaches and structures may be needed to ensure that this can happen effectively. My prayer is that readers of this book will (1) thank God for native workers who live for the gospel rather than their stipend, (2) be wise in the way they use their money, and (3) continue to seek the Lord of the harvest to thrust out labourers from overseas to join those native workers.

Revolution in World Missions (Part 1)

Revolution in World Missions (Carollton, Tex.: GFA, 2004; www.gfa.org/resource/books/revolution/)

K. P. Yohannan tells the story of his upbringing and call to ministry in India as a young man, his life on OM teams in the late 60s and early 70s, his move to the USA to study in seminary, his marriage to Gisela from Germany, the development of his vision to support ‘native missionary movements’ across Asia, and the founding of his organization, Gospel for Asia (GFA). As he tells his story he sets out his theology and philosophy of mission.

Yohannan calls the ‘native missionary movement’ the third wave of missions in history, the first being that of the NT, and the second that of the modern missionary movement that began with Carey.

Using broad brush strokes, Yohannan criticises Western churches for abandoning the gospel for a somewhat Christianized form of social welfare. He argues that the emphasis of the Bible is on evangelism and church planting rather than on feeding the hungry and providing for the poor. He also affirms the Bible’s teaching on hell and judgment in a day when this is not trendy to do so.

The book for the most part is a polemic in favour of supporting ‘native missionaries’ for gospel work in Asia. He recognizes that there are many unreached nations in the world, the majority in Asia, and states that the “native missionary movement [is] the only hope for these unreached nations...” (143). The book has gone through several printings and has been revised (as he states in his acknowledgments, though not in the publisher’s page) to soften some of Yohannan’s most strident rhetoric and in answer to friendly critique by colleagues.

I think that Yohannan makes some very good points. However, I think equally that Yohannan’s case is full of holes. In short Revolution in World Missions is naive, overstated, and unbalanced.

Yohannan tells us that there are only two religions in the world:

Mature Christians realize the Bible teaches there are only two religions in this world. There is the worship of the one true God, and there is a false system invented in ancient Persia. From there, Persian armies and priests spread their faith to India, where it took root. Its missionaries in turn spread it throughout the rest of Asia. Animism and all other Asian religions have a common heritage in this one religious system. (138)

No references are given. No indication is given as to how the false system spread to Europe, Australia, Africa or the Americas. The Bible does in fact teach that there are only two religions, if one must talk in such terms, but the divide happened way further back than ancient Persia. Rather it was in the Garden of Eden when our first parents decided to go their own way rather than God’s. That fundamental divide is in the heart of every person and does not need to diffuse through the human race. Such a naive handling of history does not inspire confidence in Yohannan’s case.

“In Asia,” we are told, “baptism and the taking of a Christian name symbolize a complete break with the past” (143). But does it really? When Krishna becomes Chris or Radha becomes Rachel do they stop eating Indian food, wearing Indian dress, speaking their Indian language? Of course not, Yohannan would reply. Then it is not a complete break, is it? No, it is a selective break. And that selectivity is a sensitive process. Is it really necessary for Krishna to become Chris? After all, Hermes and Phoebe didn't change their names (Rom 16:14, cf. Acts 14:12; Rom 16:1). So no one makes a complete break. The question is, do the changes I make in my life reflect the work of the Spirit in me and communicate to my family that I still love them. Baptism, if done sensitively, does not have to lead to a disruption of family ties. But many unnecessary actions advocated by well-meaning, but muddle-headed Western and Indian Christians, and presumably (going by the above opinion) affirmed by Yohannan, cause dire hardship to new believers and untold confusion to their families. 

Here is the second and final part of this review.