No Refunds in the Religion Business

I have in evidence a complete file concerning a woman in Welland, Ontario, Canada. I will protect her by calling her “Mrs. A.” (Unlike the evangelists who refuse to make the original material available, I do have the genuine original documents on file, and interested persons who are able to responsibly represent any source of assistance for this person will be allowed to see them.) Mrs. A literally begged, borrowed, and stole to satisfy Popoff’s stated needs. She heard his insistent demands, and in 1980 she began sending him varying financial contributions. At first, she took money from a savings account established by her husband. When that was depleted, she borrowed money from her mother and from her son. Next, she took a loan at her bank to continue funding Popoff, who had instructed her that it was a sign of weakness to fail to do so. The Devil, he said, would try to stop her from supporting his ministry. Mrs. A sent Peter Popoff well over $13,000 by these means, and when her family discovered what she’d done, she was forced to appeal to the Popoff office for a refund of at least part of that money. Letter after letter was ignored. She began sending registered letters, both to the post office box in Toronto, where the Canadian branch of the Popoff money machine was located, and to the headquarters in Upland. In one letter, she pleaded with Popoff to send her some of the money, and explained:I then started to receive letters from the ministry ... so I started to send money from a small account I had. It so happened I had no money left and your letter said if I borrowed some to send it in God would bless us. So I started borrowing it from my son ... about $3,000 in all. As I told you over the phone I read in the Bible about putting out a fleece. Because I would not know how much to send I would let the bible fall open to a page or scripture number and send that amount in. Then in Nov. 1980 I got desperate because I had no more funds and did not want to miss God. So I started to take out loans against a savings that my husband had placed into a Savings Certificate in my name. I also sold his centennial silver and gold coins ... my husband was very hurt and angry that I did this to him. Despite all of that I still kept on writing to your ministry, afraid of losing contact, borrowing a few dollars from my mother or taking it out of my husband’s pay. I am sorry to cause such a mess ...

I have often been asked why I become so infuriated by the people I am investigating. I do not think that any reader can ask that after knowing the contents of this letter. (The stunt of letting a book fall open for purposes of divination is well established in religion. The Greeks did it with Homer; the Moslems do it with the Koran. It is known as “stichomancy,” and it is an established magic ritual.) Finally, Popoff’s Toronto representative answered her inquiries. Responding to a terse note that he had received from the California office saying merely, “We’re sorry, payment can’t happen,” his letter doomed her appeal:We have checked, on our records, your record of giving to date. We do not have any donations on file.

And this answer was given after Mrs. A had forwarded photocopies of checks paid to the ministry amounting to over $6,000 as well as an official, signed Peter Popoff receipt for $893! As far as Popoff was concerned, the stone wall was up, and that was the last he wanted to hear of the matter.