Founded in 1984, GFA World (previously Gospel for Asia Canada) is the Canadian branch of the international Gospel for Asia organization. Gospel for Asia works to spread the message of Christ in Asia through missionaries and improvements in health, education, and local economies. The charity works in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, China, and Thailand.

Donor Advisory: 

In March 2019, a US court ordered Gospel for Asia pay a US$37 million refund to donors for misrepresenting how donations were spent. In October 2017, the Indian government forbid Gospel for Asia funds transfers to India. 

In March 2016, The Toronto Star reported that Gospel for Asia Canada is the defendant in a fraud lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that between 2007 and 2014, $94 million was sent from Gospel for Asia Canada to India. However, Gospel for Asia’s Indian affiliates have no record of receiving funds from Canada during that period. Gospel for Asia Canada denies the allegations. Toronto Star Article

Additionally, on October 6, 2015, Gospel for Asia US had its membership revoked for standards breaches in the US organization, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Christian Today Article

GFA World operates four main programs: sponsorship of national missionaries, developing communities, supporting children, and broader compassion services. The charity uses local people as national missionaries because they are familiar with the community’s people, culture, and needs. 

The charity reports that with input from local pastors and missionaries, communities are gifted items, including animals, sewing machines, fishing nets, vehicles, clean water wells, water filters, and toilets. With these gifts, the charity hopes to improve community health and provide opportunities for people to generate an income.

The charity’s child sponsorship program works to provide education, food, and medical care to poor children. It is working toward having cared for 500,000 children.

GFA World’s compassion services include slum ministry, leprosy ministry, medical ministry and disaster relief. Pastors and missionaries support people who are suffering through offering prayer, education, healthcare, clothing, and hygiene items. In 2018, compassion services were delivered in 932 slum areas, 1,226 leprosy communities, 1,132 medical camps, as well as in Kerala, India in response to flooding.

Charity Intelligence has scored GFA World as a zero in financial transparency because the charity failed to provide full financial statements when requested. The financial analysis completed by Charity Intelligence uses the most recent financial statements available to Ci, through a request to the CRA, at the time of writing this report.

GFA World is a large charity, with donations of $9.4m in F2017. Administrative costs are 8% of revenues less investment income, and fundraising costs are 7% of donations. For every dollar donated, 85 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

GFA World has $11.6m in funding reserves which could cover 16 years of program costs. The charity reports that in F2017, $7.8m granted to an organization was returned to GFA World for “political reasons”. If these funds had been granted successfully, program costs would have been higher by $7.8m and funding reserves reduced by the same amount. In this situation, the charity could have covered less than six months of program costs using reserve funds.  

This charity report is an update that has been sent to GFA World for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 9, 2019 by Madison Kerr.