Kerala Evangelist K P Yohannan Dies (image- facebook/KP Yohannan)

Founder of Eastern Believers Church and evangelist Mor Athanasius Yohan I alias KP Yohannan died on Wednesday after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was in Dallas, Texas where he met with an accident. 

The official communication from the Church said “the metropolitan passed away due to sudden cardiac arrest in a hospital in Dallas, Texas where he had been receiving treatment since his accident on May 7.’’

As per the report, Yohannan was out for a morning walk. Though he usually walked in the mornings on the Believers Church campus in Dallas, on Tuesday, he walked on the country road which had no walkway at the time of the accident. Police arrived at the scene shortly after the incident occurred and Yohannan was taken to the hospital immediately. He had undergone surgery and spent the next 24 hours on medical observation. 

Yohannan being an influential Christian leader in Kerala rose from the rank of a Pentecostal preacher. Yohannan, who had once been heavily criticized by the RSS in Kerala claiming that he is converting the Hindus to Christianity, recently hit the headlines when he extended his support to Anil Antony, BJP candidate in the Pathanamthitta constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

He had joined the evangelical mission at a very early age and set up Gospel for Asia (GFA) in 1979 along with his wife Gisela, a German by birth, to promote biblical teachings.

Athmeeya Yathra (spiritual Journey), one of the dozens of trusts of Yohannan set up, has been broadcasting religious radio programs. 

Yohannan later became the Metropolitan Archbishop, with a bunch of junior bishops under him.