A Valuable Colleague

Before the end of our investigation, Don Henvick would be healed by four different healers, in six different cities, of six different diseases, under four different names and two different sexes. Believe me, as “Bernice,” Henvick is not a beauty. During his campaign, he went through an astonishing set of changes. He shaved off his beard, then most of his hair, dyed a fringe of hair gray, wore thick glasses, walked on crutches, dieted and lost 40 pounds, wore wigs and funny costumes—all for the cause. By these means, he proved beyond any doubt that many faith-healers—Popoff among them—were obtaining information by subterfuge and then feeding it back as if it came from God.

The Electronic Evidence

During our investigations of Popoff, we recorded what were obviously unintentionally transmitted off-mike conversations from the trailer between Elizabeth Popoff and Pam Sherrill that demonstrated just how callous, arrogant, bigoted, and shallow were the “anointed.” Elizabeth laughed and joked at the “boobs” and “big butts” of terminally ill women who were there giving their money and their confidence to the Popoffs. The two women made raunchy gags at the expense of many of their ailing victims. They discussed breast implants, recipes, and family scandals while Popoff pretended to heal the sick, snapping back into action only when the reverend went into a series of “amens” that signaled his need for a new data set. On one occasion, Elizabeth Popoff left the transmitter switched on for 40 minutes following a performance, and the ensuing conversation with her husband and others of the inner sanctum was most revealing, as they discussed the results of the meeting and the individuals involved. Our man was listening to all of this. While his tape machine and scanner hummed away, Alec Jason, our electronics whiz who detected the secret broadcasts, stood directly outside the TV trailer, staring at the sky as though he were a tourist and was undetected.

A Different Brand of People

Elizabeth Popoff is a Roman Catholic, with rosary and all, a fact not well advertised by husband Peter, and unknown to the Popoff following. (The Popoff family attends a Nazarene church in Upland.) Perhaps that is one reason she was able to operate the “Word of Knowledge” scam without too many serious qualms, because the victims were of the “wrong” denomination. Following the “Tonight Show” exposure, though there were a number of personnel and public relations problems at the Popoff office, the money continued to arrive daily. Why did it take eight months for the Popoff organization to feel the effect of the devastating exposure? Had it involved any other sort of business, the result would have been catastrophic within 24 hours. But, as his former controller, Ira McCorriston, explained, Popoff had told his staff:Randi can hit me through the media, he can hit me through the news, TV, radio, but he can’t hit me through the mailing list. That’s the only way he could hurt me all the way.

He was wrong. But why eight months? The explanation for that delay lies in the lifestyle of the faithful. They rarely see any television other than Christian programming, certainly not a late-night show like Carson’s that may allow naughty words occasionally. Even regular network newscasts are suspect to these people, because the personnel may not be Christians and could thus be tools of Satan. This isolation is encouraged by the leaders of many sects. A best-seller currently on the Christian merchandise list of the Dominion Network is a specially programmed and selective satellite dish receiver tuned only to 100 percent Christian channels. The rest of the world—the real world—can thus be effectively shut out. Ira McCorriston summed up the situation for me: You’re not familiar with Christian people. They live in their own little world. A lot of them don’t even read the paper. They’re a whole different brand of people. If you want to understand them you have to think the way they think.

It seems that there isn’t much thinking going on. In discussing this closed world with Professor Joseph Barnhart of North Texas State University, and others, I have learned that many fundamentalist, evangelical, and born-again Christian homes simply do not watch television news or listen to radio news. Their preachers have told them that the media are controlled by Satan, and they fear invasion of their homes by doubt. But through overheard conversation and gossip within church circles, the shocking news eventually got around that Popoff might not be quite what he represented himself to be, and the effect was eventually felt in Upland. People began inquiring by mail about the dreadful rumors they’d heard. McCorriston says that Popoff decided simply to refuse to give any explanation, even to those who telephoned or visited the headquarters with queries.