GFA Seeks Prayer in Wake of
Propaganda Attacks

Gospel for Asia President K.P. Yohannan has asked Christians from around the world to pray for those who are attacking the ministry through lies and misinformation in the media and on the web.

Radical religious extremists based in India have launched a propaganda and cyber war against GFA in an attempt to stop the unreached people of Asia from knowing the love and hope found in Jesus Christ.

The most recent attacks have included planting false stories in Asian newspapers and magazines, sending counterfeit emails to American Christians, and placing false rumors on Asian websites.

"This is a major, planned and coordinated attack on Gospel for Asia and other Christian ministries by those who hate the work of God," K.P. said.

For decades, he explained, these same militants have beaten up GFA missionaries, burned churches, and driven believers from their homes and villages.

"In the last year, they have even attacked our women missionaries in public," he noted, adding that such behavior was previously considered unthinkable.

"But the Church continues to grow," K.P. said. "In fact, across South Asia, as many people have come to Christ in the first five months of this year as in all of 2007.

"So in desperation, these enemies of the Gospel have mounted a campaign of lies planted in both the print media and on the internet. Having failed to stop God's purposes in other ways, they are now trying to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of those who don't know any better."

They are also becoming more sophisticated in their deceit, he warned.

"A recent attack included an email disguised to appear as if they come from Dr. Joseph D'Souza, the director of Operation Mobilization in India, head of India All-Christian Council and founder of the Dalit Freedom Network," K.P. noted. "The email accused me of pumping money into India to convert Hindus to Christianity and said that I was under investigation by the police.

"Can you imagine an email like that coming from a church leader who knows us so well and is strong supporter of GFA?"

The email, of course, was not from Dr. D'Souza, but was sent out by a radical anti-Christian website based in India.

"People who know us realize that the misinformation being spread is totally false," K.P. said. "But there are many who do not know us and will think there is some truth to what they are reading. Especially in Asia, spreading lies can actually undermine the work of good people."

One story, placed by a radical who worked for an Indian newsmagazine, said GFA was "being investigated," inferring that something was amiss in its finances.

"In fact," K.P. explained, "the Indian government has reviewed our books every year for three decades, and every year they tell us that we are one of the best groups in the country in terms of how we handle our finances. Our books are absolutely squeaky clean.

"Recently, the Kerala state government also looked at our financial records, and, once again, found everything in perfect order. They said we could tell anyone that they reviewed our finances and found absolutely no wrongdoing.

"In spite of such facts, the anti-Christian militants are still sending out false information about me. One said I was arrested and in jail in India when I was actually in California at a pastors' conference. Another said police raided my 75-year-old house in India. That was also false; in fact, no one even lives in the house!

"Still another story announced that the Kerala state government had found a vast discrepancy between what GFA has received for charity work and what was actually spent for it.

"What is ironic is that these allegations, supposedly made by the police, have been declared to be totally untrue by the high-ranking government officials who looked at our books."

K.P. noted that the web attacks are not new, pointing out that anti-Christian forces in India have posted blatant lies on their websites for several years.

"Now, however, they have mustered an international campaign against us, involving cells in the UK, Canada and the US as well as India, with access to computers that can spread their poison to millions of unsuspecting people.

"Our response, of course, is the same as it is to those who attack us physically: We pray for those who persecute us, that the love of God will replace the hate in their souls, and that they will come to know the One who loves them and died for them. And I ask Christians around the world to join me in praying for those who have been so blinded by hate as to attack a ministry that seeks only good for India and her people.

"We are in a spiritual warfare to rescue souls from the grip of Satan. False accusations are only an example of how the Enemy uses his servants to try and hurt God's work. Jesus faced this. Paul had to deal with it, too. But Paul wrote, '. . . in all these things [trouble, hardship, persecution etc.] we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us' (from Romans 8:36-37).

"So let us pray for those who, through their fear and spiritual blindness, are being led by the Enemy to attack God's people, the body of Christ."