Cover-ups

To the VBM missionaries and their families,

I, "Bradley" xxxxxxxx, on the 19th of November 2022, of my own free will and volition attest that the following statements are based upon my firsthand experience and witnessing these with my own eyes and ears.

This letter is to provide additional information to support the letter dated January 27, 2022 to the Pastoral Advisory Committee and future Board of Directors.

I highly recommend VBM missionaries and supporters examine this information in order to evaluate their participation with the organization.

I understand and accept the risks of blowing the whistle on VBM leadership in hopes of bringing awareness and accountability to those claiming to do the work of the Lord entrusted as stewards not only of God’s resources but also of the souls of God’s people.

I have determined that doing what is right is more important to me than money or my reputation.

I will not remain silent because I believe my silence would mean many more people being hurt or deceived.

I will also not tolerate VBM leadership trying to underhandedly silence my wife after she made herself publicly vulnerable by sharing her story of abuse.

In no particular order:

• On Austin’s back porch (with he and his wife, Paul and Amber Taube visiting, I showed up and then Robert Canfield and Chestley Howell came and we were there together) in September 2021, I heard him cussing, threatening, praying Christians would die like David prayed for his enemies in the Psalms, describing the upcoming meeting with deacons as a show/joke, Scott's story revealed, stating his intentions to start his own ministry if he did not get his way. Austin said, “This upcoming meeting with the deacons is a joke. The whole thing is a show. If they don’t let me do ministry, I’ll just go and start my own thing. I’m not going to, but if I wanted to I could burn VBM to the ground. … Those [VBM directors] &!$?@ f____ers.”
• Austin would often use a story of a missionary [Scott] who had messed up a hotel room and the pastor of the church he was visiting contacted Austin to let him know of the mess the missionary made. Austin would always use this story of the missionary that made a mess in the hotel room and the pastor called him and Austin stuck up for Scott to the Pastor but privately corrected and got onto Scott about leaving a mess as a way to teach loyalty to each other. It was used as a story to show how we should be loyal to one another publicly and confront each other privately. I found out from Austin’s own lips while on his back porch that it wasn’t just that the pastor thought it was a mess or that it was just a mess, but Austin said that “Scott made a drunken mess in the hotel, and I stood up for Scott, and the directors are not doing squat to stick up for me.”
• I was at Vision Baptist Church [VBC] Sunday the night that Austin publicly apologized to the church for the 5 specific sinful unrepentant behaviors
• Hearing Pastor Trent Cornwell of VBC tell me how his visit with Austin went after Austin left VBC (without talking with Trent or the deacons but having his wife notify the church by a FB post in the church FB group). Trent told me that he had gone to speak with Austin at Austin’s house, and Austin claimed he did not mean what he said in front of the church and that he did not believe that he has those sin problems, and he only said those things because he thought that’s what Trent and the deacons wanted to hear. The moral dilemma is if Austin did mean what he said before the church then he should be treated as a heathen and a publican or if he did not mean what he said publicly to the church that he lied to the whole church and made decisions as a people pleaser to get what he wanted…
• Hearing Mark Coffey say on group zoom call with the directors within the first week of the investigation that with all the information that previous VBM missionaries have out there that, “If people found out, Jefe [Austin Gardner] would be sunk and disqualified from the ministry.” There was general agreement that we would focus on sexual abuse accusations only and not deal with the other 24 accusations brought by Becky E. (I did not watch the video in its entirety until 2 weeks after its release after being encouraged by Jeff to not watch it or believe her. I did not know about the 24 other accusations in the video. I watched it in its entirety after a deacon from Hawaii asked me what about the accusations about finances and money which I was at that time unaware of.) I heard Mark Coffey state that he would stand with Jefe and let VBM go down because of all Jefe had done for him. He would not be here if not for Jefe helping in his marriage and ministry. (I got the impression that Austin had too much info on all the directors and they owed too much to him.)
• Hearing all of the Executive Directors say or clearly infer at one time or another during the investigation either on the Directors group Zoom or on a personal call with me say, “If Jefe is disqualified, then wouldn’t I be too?”
• Austin told me he was guilty of tax evasion sometime around 2019/2020 paying the IRS back thousands and thousands of dollars because he got caught.
• Jeff offering Austin an office at the Baptist Center for World Evangelism [the home of VBM and the OGTC] for when he comes back while Austin was already and still disqualified from ministry by VBC. Robert Canfield told me Austin had told him, so I called Jeff directly and he confirmed that he indeed did tell Austin that “he [Austin] has an office waiting for him for when he comes back.” Jeff said that he was only trying to encourage him because Austin was “feeling down and talking about committing suicide.”
• Jeff clearly lying about why Adam R, Ben J, Tyler M., and many other VBM missionaries left for nearly a decade, encouraging me and others to stay away from and not talk to them because they are just angry and bitter and have many sinful things wrong with them.
• KJVO deceptions to politically word it so missionaries could get money from KJV churches while not actually having the same convictions or practices. Jeff would tell me not to worry about prospective VBM missionaries who were not KJV only because he would “talk to them.”
• Jason Holt specifically at least two times in the Field Directors group chats tried to share some encouraging verses from The Message Bible. He said that he likes the way The Message Bible phrases things sometimes. This would be very concerning to the many King James Only churches that support his ministry.
• Jeff shielding and filtering Austin surrounding Friday classes and missionary meetings by coaching new people from the outside how to interpret and excuse Austin’s behavior and manner of speaking.
• Jeff specifically during the investigation as well as after we knew how bad it was from Trent prior to the 5 Major Sin issues release to the VBC church people, Jeff downplayed the whole thing to the missionaries by email and at every turn making it seem like not a big deal and we all just needed to “get back to work and try to ignore the attacks of the Devil.” From me speaking with or hearing from them all, I could tell that the directors knew it was very, very bad according to all the directors’ personal interactions and communications with Austin. Jeff even laughed it off not long after he said he got off the phone with David Gardner and “David was saying some very unChristian things” to him. [insert Jeff laughing here]
• Austin made me support the Peru Bible college monthly since I had accidentally exposed his son, Chris Gardner, in October 2015 for lying to pastors and churches about being in Peru and writing prayer letters as if from Peru but Chris was pastoring a church in Georgia funneling money to the ministries in Peru. Pastor B.A. asked how Austin’s son Chris was doing since his church supported Chris, I told him, "Chris’ family seemed to be doing well and that he is pastoring a church in Georgia now." Not too long after, I then got a call from Chris and also got talked to by Austin.

I’m sorry for the many missionaries and Christians who will be impacted by these disturbing revelations. I pray the Lord brings to light and purifies, that He heals and conforms us all more into the image of Christ as we seek to glorify Him.

May this serve as a clarion call for hard honest questions and accountability. May this cause serious introspection and personal evaluation as it has with me. I desire the name of Christ be not tarnished and the glory of God take the preeminence.

Respectfully,

"Bradley"