TBN affiliated pastor refuses to return donations made by mental patient!

I was very sad to read again how a very poor family (in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province) was made even poorer by TBN and US "missionaries". The gentleman had developed brain problems in his line of duty as a cop, and gave all the family savings (of R90 000) to TBN's River Ministries. His wife kept several extended family members afloat on a R2000 salary per month. She demanded the money back, however the reply was: if everyone who hadn't been "blessed" (as promised) got their cash back the "ministry" would collapse. Well duh. But why are there no clear laws about this?

I think that if preachers are offering the "prosperity gospel" as God's law, and thus as a proven commodity, it should come with a guarantee.
If people are not "blessed" then the money should be refunded with interest. If it is a sham industry, it will then disappear pretty soon.

So, I say: CONSUMER RIGHTS FOR CHRISTIANS NOW!
And also, the mentally challenged should be protected from being conned. Any advice? When is one "mentally challenged" enough to get the cash back? Currently there are no laws on this here. Suffice to say that according to Cult News with Rick Ross TBN are sitting on double digit millions, and they could actually pay this man back.
www.religionnewsblog.com...


Here is the quote I get from the above address (re-checked it and it links to something related above), pasted from the site:
"Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the Bhisho-based Christian TV and radio station, cannot refund donations it received from a mentally ill diagnosed pensioner because it is allegedly running at a financial loss.

This is according to River Ministries’ Andre Roebert, who is also chief executive of TBN Africa.

“TBN in Bhisho does not have that money,” said Roebert during a meeting with the Daily Dispatch on Wednesday.

“A director of the cash-strapped Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) still received lucrative payments for three years after the network’s overseas funding had been stopped. [...] Details about the remuneration to Pastor Bernard Roebert surfaced when Icasa licensing officer Victor Grootboom questioned TBN over its claim that it has suffered financially since Icasa in 2003 stopped the funding it received from its mother organisation in the United States.”

Trintiy Broadcasting Network (TBN), led by founders Paul and Jan Crouch, is the world’s largest religious TV network. It claims to be a Christian ministry. However, while some legitimate ministries and teachers (those who adhere to the orthodox teachings and practices of historical Christianity) appear on TBN, the network promotes such an incredible amount of heretical material – including extremist Word-Faith teachings – that it is often referred to as “The Blasphemy Network.”


Research resources on TBNLast year the newspaper reported that the family of Manjo Maphuma, a former Gauteng police officer who now lives in Mdantsane and has been diagnosed with a mental illness, said TBN had rejected their calls that the money be repaid.

His wife, Nomathemba Zita, said her husband had been making numerous donations to TBN over seven years – including a R90000 cheque.

Maphuma was first diagnosed with paranoid psychosis in 1986 by Cecilia Makiwane Hospital psychiatrist Dr Tony Pentz.

Roebert, however, disputed this and said TBN’s Bhisho board went to visit Maphuma to ask him what his status was and whether he wanted the money back. “He told us under no circumstances do you give the money back. It was a gift to TBN.”

This week, Zita said that she was struggling to maintain their two children, who are both students, on her R2000 a month salary. She has since approached the Legal Aid Board to have a curator appointed who could handle her husband’s financial affairs.

River Ministries’ financial director, Greg Clur, said if TBN – a Section 21 company for non-profit – returned the money to Maphuma it could contravene both income tax and company laws. However, tax experts at PriceWaterhouseCoopers told the Daily Dispatch that a Section 21 company was exempted from paying tax and could repay the money without any tax implications.

Roebert said returning the money could also have other moral implications for a body such as the church. He said people who made earlier donations and later fell onto hard times may ask for their money back.

• Original title: TBN in financial crisis, says CEO. So we can’t refund mentally ill man’s cash, he says

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[edit on 25-3-2010 by halfoldman]

[edit on 25-3-2010 by halfoldman]

[edit on 25-3-2010 by halfoldman]

reply to post by halfoldman

Well, I include here Rick Ross's TBN page, which mentions the gay scandal, the huge amount of stored-up money, and the empty 3rd World promises - as well as the constant funding for the son's unsightly and unwatchable movies:
www.rickross.com...

Am I being unfair? Perhaps they have merit?
But still, they are not going bankrupt (as they threaten in every praise-a-thon), they are sitting on untold riches, and yet they refuse to help this family, from one of the poorest regions on earth. Why?

reply to post by halfoldman


I would love to see the vile TBN go as bankrupt as their teachings... There is NOTHING Christian about them... They are money grabbing scumbags who dupe people everyday using Gods words....

They have their place in hell I assure you.... Same can be said about Daystar, God TV and many other networks who fleece the people of God to fund their mini "Christian" empires....

I am not saying that all of those who preach on these channels are bad.. But MOST are...

If they truly believed their vile prosperity BS then they would "sow their own seed" to the poor to receive Gods blessings.... The sowing and reaping should work both ways no?


Dont give them your money.... Give it direct to the poor instead..

This subject has been discussed on THIS thread....

reply to post by Yissachar1

I suppose TBN brings the topic out, but which of their contributers are some of the "worthy" (you clearly state that you don't condem them all)? I'd love to know.
And what about the rights of the dependants of the people "giving", especially when the "givers" are mentally challenged? (And that argument is relevant to may religious groups.)
But ultimately I argue that Christians deserve guarantees and consumer rights if the promised "blessing" fails to materialize.

If people really feel the need to give to a religious organization, the Salvation Army hands down is the best one out there to donate to.

TBN and these other modern televangelist churches are the worst to donate to.

reply to post by MikeboydUS

The salvation army seems to have had an uneasy relationship with official Christianity lately, and it harks back to days when Freemasonry was seen as good and public-minded, and communities from different denominations came together for Rotaries and so forth. I recall reading that some Christians took offense at their music, calling it too "worldly" in the late 19th century.
I'm a big fan.
A local South African business-lady I know recently returned from the US, and she was wearing the most happening, sharp clothing. We enquired what boutique she'd been at and how much she spent, and she said she bought it all at a salvation army charity store for next to nothing! Our jaws dropped!
But hey, I doubt evangelists appreciate competition, and the "seed" they demand is cash!!!

Just a couple of points / opinions

Point 1.
The more I hear "prosperity gospel" being preached the more convinced I become that about the only one it helps to prosper is the preacher.

Point 2.
Shame on them. Like a "bad cop", or a "bad whatever" they cast a dark cloud on all decent Christians and preachers. Don't they know its easier to squeeze a camel through the eye of needle than for a rich guy to get into heaven? I guess this is a good example of why. They have traded their faith for $.

reply to post by Frogs

Well made, succint insight!
Sure it benefits the pastor, and this kind of evangelism goes even beyond normal tithing. The constant hammering of preching is (whether blatant begging, promises of blessing, dire warnings, or subtle love gifts exchanged for useless books and trinkets) is based on a paradox. These pastors and their collectives, like TBN portray themselves as the result of their own obedient giving. Well sure it's easy to be rich when people are sending you their cash - but who sends cash to the often impoverished senders (and unlike religious institutions normal people pay tax)? So how can it work for them, like it does for the razmattazz pastors?
The other side of the paradox is that the preahers constantly claim in their tedious Praise-a-thons that they're going bankrupt and off the air without YOUR "love gift".

What really shocks me is that they have no New Testament justification for what they are preaching. My Christian friends point me to Malachi, which tells the faithful to bring 10% to the storehouse of the OT temple. But that temple was destroyed!

Nevertheless, if people swallow the hammering, and accept that God will return manifold to them what they give to the pastors and their ministries as a SPIRITUAL LAW (that's how it's advertised), then if people are not blessed after 6 months they should get that money back!

In all other advertising rules apply, or you get your cash back. The same should apply here, or they must tone down the cause and effect investment promises!!!

This is crap, im all for religious freedom and i believe that churches have the right to ask for donations but this is crazy. I do not care if the person donating is crazy off their meds or the smartest guy in the world they should be able to get their money back.

Just to let you all know Rick Ross is a self appointed "cult expert" that has no credentials of any sort aside from his high school diploma. He has made a living out of kid napping (which bankrupted him) people under the guise of deprograming them.

reply to post by zaiger

Good points, especially on the self-appointed "cult deprogrammers". That is new info to me and something to explore. Not so sure though what specifically is "crap" in your first line. I suppose it is outrage at this family not getting their money back. I agree, but in law there is nothing to compel them as yet to do so.
Perhaps we should consider what kind of law could be drafted that at once protects religion, and holds it to financial account.
The fact that they (religion) claim poverty when they have mansions and fund turkey movies as a hobby means that they should have refunded this one man's money. It could have said much in their favour. But no. Every greedy penny must be pocketed (well, how else does one become super rich?).

While I hear you on Rick Ross, his collection on TBN news articles is the most compact and coherent that I could find. He also claims at the opening of his site (to my memory) that not all the groups he mentions are bona fide cults. They are just systems open to abuse and the reader must make his/her own discernments.