C A U T I O N I
Evangelical Swindlers
by Dr. Clyde Taylor
S w i n d l e r s a r e a p r e t t y sad lot under any circum stance. But it would be hard to conceive of a more reprehensible character than the one who uses the gos pel of Jesus Christ as the flag under which he carries out his fraudulent schemes. Such swindlers do exist, however, and I am becoming alarmed at the degree to which they have been able to hoodwink the evangelical public. They prey upon churches and individual Christians who have a sincere interest in the increase of the gospel witness in foreign lands. Their appeals to the Christian public usually fall into two categories. They pretend to operate either missionary activities or charitable works such as orphanages, lepro- sariums, etc. Now in case you don’t read the rest of this article and are about to decide right here to cut off your contribu tions to all of these organizations, let me quickly say that most of the missionary and charitable ministries that you know about are legitimate; they need and are worthy of your continued support. Here is how these religious “ con” men get started: Our shady character sets up a religious nonprofit corpora tion with a board of flattered yes-men and then takes a trip around the world. He encounters national workers that are “ available” and concludes that he must put them to work. He never bothers to check on their stories If so, he would discover that in most cases they have been disciplined out of national churches for any number of immoral or unethical offenses and were not considered worthy of Christian ministry. Then he launches a publication to a mailing list that he manages to procure and begins to tell his story. I have before me such a publication that is fleecing gullible evangelicals. It reports on mission work that doesn’t exist and even its geography is fabricated. But the articles are cleverly written and well illustrated (it is easy to photograph the work of other missions), so the swindler is probably doing well financially while enjoying tax exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. A man who has visited many mission fields and now seeks support across the board from a great variety of evangelical churches currently operates such an agency. He raises money for the support of nationals “ who can do the work so much more cheaply and better” than the missionaries. After checking his reports and statistics, we find gross misrepresentations and have had to recommend that evangelicals should not support his work. Some of these swindlers are Americans; some are nationals of other countries. Just because a national from some country overseas has visited your church and is a
“real evangelical,” don’t put him on your payroll. You may be throwing your money away. One church stub bornly misspent money in this way for ten years and only recently consented to an investigation which proved that their support had been wasted. The only alternative means of putting these people out of business—and this is by far the best solution any- way—is for evangelicals to be more alert to missionary organizations and the charities to which they give. If the people who give knew how their money was used, the swindlers would soon be out of business. Too few evangelicals ask for a financial accounting from the organization to which they give. How efficient ly does it operate? What does it really accomplish? Can the results be checked out by other sources? These are the questions that need to be raised by individuals and churches which support missions. The reputable mission agencies will have the answers. Two evangelical organizations help solve this prob lem by vouching for the fiscal integrity of their member mission agencies. The Interdenominational Foreign Mis sion Association (I'FMA) was formed in 1917 and the Evangelical Foreign Missions Association (EFMA) in 1946. The 1FMA includes in its membership many of the nondenominational “ faith” boards, while the EFMA includes both denominational and nondenominational boards. Both of these organizations maintain high stand ards of membership. Only mission agencies which are thoroughly evangelical in character and which have the highest ethical standards can belong. There is a simple rule to go by: never support a mission until you have checked it. If it is a member of either of the two organizations mentioned above, you can be sure that it is operated by people of recognized Christian integrity. In cases of an independent mission agency not be longing to either of the above organizations, be sure that: 1. It is a bonafide, incorporated mission with a solid board of directors (watch out for the family affair which is headed by “me, my wife, and my daughter-in-law” ). 2. It carefully screens its missionaries and national workers and directs their activities overseas. 3. It uses funds efficiently—get a financial statement which can be clearly understood. Where there is doubt about any organization, ask further. Inquiries may be directed to either of the or ganizations mentioned earlier. But do be cautious. There is too much work to be done, too many trustworthy missionaries to send, too many fine national pastors and workers to support for money to be wasted on the swindlers. Copyright 1963 hy United Evangelical Action. Reprinted by permission.
JANUARY, 1964
45
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