Vin Dayal
Vinworth A. Dayal is the pastor of Third Exodus Assembly, Depot Road, Longdenville, Trinidad & Tobago.
What Third Exodus believes
For those not familiar with the church or its teachings, the church would be considered a cult by virtually all Protestant, Roman Catholic or Orthodox churches.
The church would self-describe itself as following "The Message" of William Branham. Outsiders would refer to them as being followers of Branhamism. The reason that most Christians would consider this church to be heretical in its teachings are as follows:
- They deny the doctrine of the Trinity and espouse "Oneness" theology.
- They believe that the original sin was sexual in nature and involved the serpent seducing Eve.
- They revere William Branham as the greatest prophet since Jesus Christ and generally place his teaching above the Bible.
January 2020 news reports
On December 9, 2019, the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago announced that all paper $100 dollar banknotes would cease to be legal tender as of December 31, 2019.
According to multiple newspaper articles including both the Trinidad Express and the Trinidad Guardian, Vin Dayal went to a branch of the State-run First Citizens Bank on December 23, 2109, and informed the bank that he intended to redeem all of the old paper $100 notes in his possession which amounted to TTD$28,046,500 (Trinidad & Tobago Dollars), which is equivalent to about USD$4,100,000 (US Dollars).
Because of the substantial amount, he was redirected to the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT). Apparently CBTT representatives instructed him to visit the bank in person and fill out a source of funds declaration form prior to redemption of the notes in his possession.
According to Dayal’s lawyer, Darrell Allahar, the source of funds was churchgoers who contributed their tithes. He said Dayal “had collected over the past 19 years voluntary offerings for his personal use and benefit from members of the congregation of the church in the form of tithes”.
The funds were seized on December 31, 2019 by officers of the Financial Investigations Branch (FIB) of the Police Service as Vin Dayal attmepted to exchange them. Additionaly, FIB officers, along with six uniformed, armed police officers, subsequently searched the residence of the Vin Dayal's children. We also understand that the church has also been subject to search and "millions more in cash" was seized.
It was reported that the funds were seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Why we should not be surprised
William Branham taught that:
- The New Testament requires tithing, so Christians are required to tithe;
- The tithe in the Old Testament was ten percent; and
- The tithe should go to the pastor of the church.
In message churches, pastors generally consider tithing paid into the church to be their personal property. As a result, it is not surprising that Vin Dayal took the tithe as being his and did with it as he saw fit.
This is the same issue that created the significant problem which William Branham had with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 1956. The IRS charged Branham with tax evasion, which was eventually settled out of court by Branham accepting a penalty of USD$40,000.
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