Father Jeyanesan’s Tri-Tongs seek funds

"There is also the case of the former treasurer of the JDCSI and a brother of the Rev Jeyakumaran, Annappah Jeyarajan decamping to the Father Jeyanesan camp with all the instruments of his office and has not to date fulfilled his obligations to the JDCSI. He is known to have been over generous and reckless in dealing out massive loans of JDCSI funds without any authority whatsoever."

by Victor Karunairajan

(August 12, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Reverends Annappah Jeyakumaran and A S Thevagunananthan and Mr Prem Mills are Regional Chairperson, Regional Secretary and Regional Treasurer respectively of Father Sellathurai Jeyanesan’s “Instantly-Found” Church of the American Ceylon Mission (CACM) when he was not appointed bishop of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI). They are known as the Tri-Tongs of Father Jeyanesan entrusted to gather shekels supposed to be for his work in the Jaffna Region.

Father Jeyanesan was able to do this on the basis of an imprudent and irresponsible letter written under the fallacious perception that the properties of the American Ceylon Mission came under the proprietorship of the Wider Church Ministries of the United Church of Christ (WCM-UCC) in Cleveland, Ohio. They are the current successors of the original American Board of Commissioners for World Missions (ABCWM) that functioned two centuries ago.

Consequent to the said letter, what happened was an attempt at illegal appropriation of some American Ceylon Mission properties by the “Instantly-Found” church against which there is now an interim order and a judgment is expected in the near future. In other words, Father Jeyanesan, his Jaffna Region Tri-Tongs and others cannot use the nomenclature “American Ceylon Mission” but they continue to defy the interim order.

Furthermore, Father Jeyanesan and his cassocked company along with their sidemen have run short of tall stories to impress on the community that the appointment of the bishop was illegal. They exploited the weakness of the community that depends more on gossips, innuendos and tittle-tattling big mouths rather than checking or probing into the real issues as well as in this particular case, the rules and regulations that govern the selection of a bishop by the Synod of the Church of South India.

There is also the “Namudal” principle that ignores all fairness and honest assessments when the person or persons involved are friends and relatives and some self-interests matter as well. In this case, there is also the additional case of the clan that has lost its hold and some dreams have been blasted as a result.

What’s more Father Jeyanesan, desperate at having to account for the millions he had amassed in the name of the JDCSI in the US, Europe and Israel which he had obviously hoped he could tide over as bishop, scattered far and wide the impression that the appointment of the new bishop was both illegal and improper. The man, who even tried to bribe the General Secretary of the Church of South India to have him appointed as the bishop, cheated the community by claiming that the new bishop’s appointment was fraudulent. The Synod of the Church of South India acted strictly within the framework governing the election of a bishop and Father Jeyanesan was one of the several candidates considered for the office of the bishop.

We now see the next phase of CACM’s fund raising craft and tactics. The Father Jeyanesan’s Jaffna Tri-Tongs Jeyakumaran, Thevagunananthan and Mills have gone on record as having appealed for funds to maintain orphanages and residential homes in what they call as their ministry among children and women, a typical canard of their leader with his propaganda-style showcase projects in the east.

In their appeal they make the false claim with blatant cheek and temerity that more than 80% of the (in their own words) “former JDCSI have opted to sever their connections with the JDCSI but to maintain the heritage, traditions and culture developed among the Jaffna Community by the impact of the American Ceylon Missionaries.” This appeal continued to state: “The Church of the American Ceylon Mission is established by the people who believe in Justice and Peace. Now in the process of building up the new church, we are facing lot of challenges.”

In other words all that these Tri-Tongs are saying is that their scheme to torpedo the JDCSI is now running out of funds and evidently Father Jeyanesan is turning the screws on the funds that he has never accounted; the Opaque Funds!

Their appeal is also quite foolish when they concede that all the homes they claim to run are managed by the JDCSI and whatever contracts they have with donor agencies are not with them. But then they go one step further and claim that the majority of the children in the homes that are being run by the JDCSI “are reluctant to be under the JDCSI administration.”

Even more: The Tri-Tongs claim that these children have no choice and that the Church of the American Ceylon Mission of Jaffna Region has decided to select the most deserving students and help them in their own homes by providing assistance and they have already selected fifty such children.

Then they go on to give other laborious details indicating some aspects of the problems they are facing in raising funds that reflect more their track records than the actual issues. First and foremost, there was no need for them to have attempted to disrupt the work of the JDCSI if it, that is the JDCSI, felt a major overhaul was needed. There were excellent reasons for such an overhaul.

If an example is necessary, the CACM Tri-Tongs have only to re-visit the records and “reputation” of one of their sidemen G Rajanayagam in respect of the orphanages and residential homes he managed; he happens to be the brother-in-law of the Rev Annappah Jeyakumaran. This man’s records show, among others, the existence of a grocery shop in the name of the diocese, which never ever existed. It was from this mysterious store, supplies were obtained to maintain an orphanage at Vaddukoddai that was funded by a German organization. The actual number orphans who were in his care were far less than what he presented to the German organization. He was also relieved of his duties as the manager of a women’s residential home in Uduvil for good reasons by the former head of the JDCSI, Bishop Jeyam Ambalavanar.

There is also the case of the former treasurer of the JDCSI and a brother of the Rev Jeyakumaran, Annappah Jeyarajan decamping to the Father Jeyanesan camp with all the instruments of his office and has not to date fulfilled his obligations to the JDCSI. He is known to have been over generous and reckless in dealing out massive loans of JDCSI funds without any authority whatsoever.

But what would be more shocking are the records and “reputation” of the Tri-Tongs themselves. While he was minister of the Colombo JDCSI Church, the Rev Jeyakumaran fraudulently diverted a massive donor fund from Switzerland into his personal coffers. But for a bishop who over-dealt his kindness to this man, he would have been disrobed, thrown out of the church and have had criminal proceedings taken out on him. There is also a Colombo YMCA overnight incident which alone should keep him away from any residential home or orphanage of the community’s most vulnerable people.

In the case of the Rev Thevagunananthan he has a great deal to explain about a terrible tragedy that took place in Switzerland when he was in Berne. This involved a Swiss lady who helped to fund JDCSI children’s programmes. As for Mr Prem Mills, while he was treasurer of the Colombo JDCSI Church, the audit report fouled up his integrity.

If the CACM experiment is wobbling for want of honourable leaders and people with integrity, it is better they wind up and let the people who have been misguided and flocked together under false pretense and deceptive manipulations return to their churches founded, developed and cherished by generations of their ancestors.

The Tri-Tongs appeal to impress missionaries in the US is both a charade as well an expression of servility more akin to colonial bondage that challenges our pride and dignity. Our culture is precious and deeply rooted. The work of the missionaries added an enhancement to it in some respects as would any culture which has a positive bearing on another. Intercultural connectedness that is rich brings flavour and fragrance but when one dominates the other, then that leads to disastrous consequences. This is another very good reason for Father Jeyanesan to wind up his activities; maybe he should get back to his family in Canada without attempting anymore to lead astray the CACM flock along with his Tri-Tongs and sidemen.
- Sri Lanka Guardian