I DID NOT NEED help to believe that Derek Prince was a great man, but I was about to get it anyway. Never mind that I had nearly grown up to the sound of this man's voice. By the miracle of the audiocassette, Derek Prince had for years taught the Scriptures in my childhood home, often while lau ndry was folded or the evening meal was prepared.

He was part of the family, though if he got lo ng-winded and the family routine was threatened with delay, my mother simply increased the speed on our 1970s tape recorder so that the revered Mr. Prince sounded like a British Mickey Mouse or a BBC newscast with technical difficulties. But he was always there, his voice providing much of the soundtrack of my early life.