Popular Atlanta based Televangelist Creflo Dollar has gotten a wave of backlash following his campaign to raise $65 million for a G650 jet.
The campaign website has been removed following the criticism received. On the now defunct site, a 5-minute long video was put together explaining why the church needs an insanely expensive private jet to fly around the world in.
Here’s the wild details, via WTSP:
The video says the use of an airplane is necessary to bring Dollar’s ministry to all parts of the world.
In the video, 200,000 of Dollar’s followers are asked to give $300 to purchase the plane.
“If all of our existing partners were to sow $300 each, from all over the world, we’d be able to acquire this jet in a very, very short period of time,” said Rick Hayes, identified on the video as project manager of what Dollar’s ministry is calling Project G650.
Multiple reports on the project and solicitation across the internet on Friday called project into question, with more than one blog pointing out that Dollar’s personal net worth is in excess of $27 million, while the average household income in College Park, GA, where his World Changers Church International is located, is just over $29,000 per year.
By 3 p.m. Friday, the solicitation had vanished from the Creflo Dollar Ministries website, and all links to the page went to blank pages.
The G650 is Gulfstream’s top-end business jet model and first flew in November, 2009. The jet costs about $64.5 million, according to Gulfstream’s website. It carries a crew of two, and will carry 11-to-18 passengers, depending on the internal cabin configuration. It will cruise at up to 610 mph, and has a range of up to 7,000 nautical miles.
This is just utter corruption. Feel bad for those who donated prior to the site going down.
