"Daniel"

Letter of Testimony - "Daniel"

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this letter to share what I witnessed from 2004 until 2006 as a student in Peru under the ministry of Austin Gardner (AG) and then also from 2012 until 2018 as a missionary sent from Vision Baptist Church.

Theologian Michael Kruger defines spiritual abuse like this, “Spiritual abuse is when a spiritual leader—such as a pastor, elder, or head of a Christian organization—wields his position of spiritual authority in such a way that he manipulates, domineers, bullies, and intimidates those under him, as a means of accomplishing what he takes to be biblical and/or spiritual goals.”

I believe spiritual abuse is real and I have witnessed it first-hand from AG. My aim with this letter is to bring to light a pattern of spiritual abuse from AG and to call for true repentance. I also desire for those ministry leaders surrounding AG to stop enabling him and call for transparency and accountability. Why am I sharing my testimony now? On August 3, 2021 Becky Earnhart shared a video on Youtube detailing an allegation of sexual abuse by AG. When I saw the video, so many memories that I had allowed to fade away came back to me suddenly. I remembered once again when these allegations first surfaced in 2004 while I was a student in Peru, and how they were handled. I then recalled the many cases of spiritual abuse that I had witnessed. I knew that it was time to speak out. While I have never experienced or witnessed sexual abuse from AG, I have witnessed spiritual abuse and allegations of abuse mishandled and covered-up by AG and those close to him. I can stay silent no longer.

I am ashamed to say that in the past when I could have spoken out, I didn’t. I could have spoken out in 2006 when I made the choice to not continue being mentored by AG (although I later went back to his ministry). I could have spoken out in 2018 when I resigned as a missionary sent out of Vision Baptist Church. I believed that if I spoke out nothing would change. I had seen others speak out and be ignored, so what difference could I make? I didn’t want to be viewed as bitter or angry. I didn’t want to destroy the ministry. I didn’t want to lose support. But now I realize that abuse thrives when there is silence. For the sake of those still within the organization who have witnessed spiritual abuse but are afraid to expose it, and for the sake of those who will experience abuse if things don’t change in VBM, I now speak out.

August 14, 2004

I remember that date very well, because it was the day that I met my wife, _. But it’s also the day that I arrived in Peru as an Our Generation Volunteer. Before then I had been a student at Crown College, but in the summer of ’04 I went to the Baptist Camp for World Evangelism (BCWE) in Trenton, GA and heard AG preach for the first time. I was entranced by his passion for world evangelism. I was impressed by the group of young missionaries that he was mentoring and by the stories of how God had used him in Peru to train many men and plant scores of churches. I wanted God to use me in the same way! Then I heard him mention that he needed some volunteers to go down to Peru and serve in the ministry there and at the same time be trained by him. As a third-generation missionary who grew up on the field in __ and ___, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be trained for the field on the field. So in just two months I raised the funds to live in Peru and found myself in AG’s living room in Arequipa, Peru. Once there I learned three AG distinctives:

1. The doctrine of ‘union with Austin’:

It didn’t take long for me to discover the secret to success in AG’s ministry: spend time with Austin. Nothing is more important than this. Spend as much time as you possibly can with him and ask as many questions as you can, if not you won’t amount to much as a missionary.

I heard this message from AG directly, but I also heard it from his disciples. I’ll never forget when Mark Coffey, AG’s assistant at that time, called me into his office to let me know that I was spending too much time with the Peruvians. I had been finding young men to disciple in the Iglesia Bautista Fe in Arequipa and had been participating in the youth meetings there. Mark told me, “Your number one responsibility is to be with AG!”

Students and missionaries would fight over who could sit closer to him. Some would visit him on Monday, our day off, to show how committed they were to learning from him. And that’s the point. If you want to be a success, you must be united to Austin, for without him you can do nothing, or at least nothing that really matters. Instead of union with Christ, it was union with Austin.

2. Separation from other influences:

The opposite side of that coin is that other influences outside of AG and those loyal to him are losers and have poop for brains. You shouldn’t associate with them if you don’t want to be a failure as a missionary. He would make this point by mocking other pastors and missionaries. Many times he would mock the pastors that had come down to visit him on the field. He would say one thing to their faces, but behind their backs he would belittle them.

3. Loyalty:

There is a kind of loyalty that is healthy and even expected when you are involved in a ministry, but the kind of loyalty that AG fosters is neither healthy nor biblical. Everyone knew that there were different levels within the team. Only those that had proven their utmost loyalty to him were admitted into the inner circle. Everyone else was treated with mistrust.

One of the ways to prove your loyalty was to do what he said, exactly as he said. And being loyal had its rewards: you would be a success! I remember hearing from him often that Jeff Bush was successful because he asked him questions about everything and did exactly what he said every time. He said the same about Mark Tolson.

But those same people that he praised for their success because they were loyal to him, he would slander if they ever left his ministry or confronted him. A good example of this is Aaron Bashore. AG would always speak very highly of him and his ministry and use him as an example, but then in 2014 when I was on my furlough I heard him several times speak of Aaron as a failure. He even spoke about him in that way in front of another missionary that had been recruited by Aaron and that was going to be working with Aaron. The difference between the first scenario and the second was loyalty.

I have since learned that these three distinctives are very common in abusers. They elevate themselves as the only ones that care about you and can help you and separate you from other influences so that they can control and manipulate you to do what they want you to do.

December 2004

I was on my way to North Africa with AG, a few missionaries and students, and a layman that heavily supported AG. On that trip I remember that I was constantly with AG (see above) and with the layman that had travelled with him. I could clearly hear the conversations that they were having and was shocked when I heard them talking about a missionary wife (Becky Earnhart) that had just made some very serious accusations against AG. I could make out that the allegations were sexual in nature because a lot of the discussion was focused on the idea that the statute of limitations had expired and that AG had nothing to worry about. I distinctly remember being surprised that we were still going on this trip as if nothing had happened. I was only 19, but I had the feeling that sexual abuse allegations should be taken more seriously. I didn’t know then what I know now, that when there are accusations of a criminal nature, the first step is to contact the authorities and let them conduct an investigation. None of that happened.

What happened was that an internal investigation was conducted and none of the findings were made public so that others could evaluate how the investigation was done. But it was during this whole process that I learned how anything that can potentially damage AG’s reputation and ministry is handled.

When we returned from the trip, shortly after, we all gathered in Pigeon Forge for the first Our Generation Summit. Before the Summit started, all of the pastors, missionaries and students associated with AG that were present there, were asked to go to the main conference room because AG wanted to share something very important with us. He told us about the allegations (which I already knew about) and proceeded to read through the letter that Becky Earnhart had written. The whole time he controlled the narrative. He could clarify things as he pleased. We were only hearing from him. Becky Earnhart wasn’t there to give clarifications or answer questions. He proceeded to tell us that he was guilty of over-spanking Becky, but that was the only thing that he admitted. He also told us that his mission agency and his home church had investigated the matter and had come to the conclusion that he didn’t need to resign. Again, where were the notes on the investigation so that we could examine? How was the investigation conducted? None of those things were provided for us.

He then went on to tell us that he would resign if we asked him to. He also said that he would answer any questions we had. But who among those present could truly speak their mind without being shunned? Everyone in that room looked up to him, trusted his word. It was a test of loyalty, not a biblical way of handling abuse allegations.

A pattern of cover-ups

But this is not the only example of grievous sins being covered up. As a missionary kid from ____, I speak Spanish fluently. This allowed me to build deep relationships with Peruvian nationals during my time there as a student. I was shocked to discover from these nationals that it was common for Peruvian pastors to commit sins that would disqualify them from ministry and then be restored very quickly or moved from one place to another. This privilege was given to those that were loyal to AG. It had a two-fold result. Those that benefitted from the cover-up became more loyal to AG out of gratitude and also felt guilty to speak out if they ever saw something wrong in AG’s ministry. But not only did pastors receive this kind of “benefit”; his family members did as well. Julio Soncco, AG’s son-in-law when I was in Peru (he is now divorced and remarried) was guilty of committing adultery with a missionary wife and of predatory behavior towards young women, but instead of being separated from potential victims, he (along with his wife) housed the female students that came down to Peru to train under AG’s ministry.

He (Julio Soncco) also received support from American churches without any of them knowing about his past. He was even given positions of leadership in the Iglesia Bautista Fe.

Then in 2008, his son Chris Gardner misappropriated thousands of dollars from the church he was pastoring at the time (Faith Baptist Church in Arequipa) and from others that he had convinced to invest in what turned out to be a scheme. This scheme was perpetrated by a member of the Faith Baptist Church that Chris naively trusted. When the fraud was exposed it made the news and many lives were affected. How did AG handle this? Not only did he not call for his son’s resignation, but he covered up the sin, and fully backed him as he started another church (Omega Baptist Church), taking members from his former church. As Proverbs 28:13 says, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

Insincere apologies:

When enough pressure was applied on him concerning his sinful behavior or conduct he would make an apology that was clearly insincere. It was insincere because he would not be specific about why he needed to apologize. He would give those that he apologized to the cold-shoulder, and he wouldn’t take the necessary steps to change his behavior.

The first time I witnessed this kind of “apology” was in 2005. By then my sister _ had also gone down to Peru as a student. And my other sister and her husband were there as missionaries (__). On one occasion, my brother-in-law needed to cross the border into Chile to renew his visa. Because my sister __ was going to be in their house all alone, she invited _ and I to spend the night and have a fun time as siblings. _ asked permission from her dorm supervisor (Rebecca Soncco) and I informed my dorm mates of where I was going to be, but didn’t ask permission from my dorm supervisor.

The next day, while we were all gathered at AG’s house he proceeded to yell at us for having spent the night at __’s house. I apologized for not having asked permission from my supervisor, but this was not enough for him. He then asked me in front of everyone, “What kind of brother spends the night with his sisters?” The way he framed the question clearly had sexual connotations. I was taken aback, because I had never had the close relationship I shared with my sisters portrayed in such a perverse way. I grew up in a very godly home and I had a healthy and happy relationship with my siblings. What was going on in his mind to even insinuate any kind of impropriety from us? I should have challenged him on that, but I didn’t. I was afraid that I would be kicked out, and I didn’t want that because I was dating my future wife, ____, at the time.

But _ did not back down. She refused to apologize, because she had done nothing wrong. She had done everything by the book. Seeing that she would not apologize, and not being used to young ladies challenging him, he told her to go to her dorm and pack her bags. My sister got up and did just that. In the process, she contacted my brother-in-law, ____, and he did not like what had happened at all. He called AG and told him that if he did not apologize, he would leave Peru. AG reluctantly agreed to apologize to my sister in private.

The next day he gathered all of us in his living room and gave one of the most insincere apologies I have ever heard. He turned the tables on us and made it look like we were rebellious because we didn’t want any rules. He never apologized to me directly for his inappropriate comments. He never called my parents to apologize for how he had treated their daughter.

Conclusion:

There are other stories of spiritual abuse that I could share, but I believe that what I have written is enough to show that AG is not biblically qualified to be a pastor or leader. He also isn’t in the right kind of environment for repentance and restoration to take place, because the leaders that surround him, affirm him, instead of holding him accountable.

May this letter bring the truth to light and may there be a true, open, third-party investigation that includes not only the allegations of sexual abuse from Becky Earnhart, but also the spiritual abuse that myself and many others have witnessed and experienced.

If you have any questions or if I can help clarify anything in this letter, please contact me. My email address is __ and my cell number is __.

Sincerely, "Daniel"