The legacy of Bible teacher Derek Prince in Israel

Many people the world over have benefitted from the biblical teachings of the eminent British scholar, Dr. Derek Prince, who authored over 100 books. Perhaps not so many will know that Jerusalem was his home until he passed away in 2003. 

Derek Prince Ministries International is an organization dedicated to distributing Prince’s teachings globally. Rudi Friesen and his wife Sharon are the Jerusalem representatives.

“Both my wife and I were born in Canada, and we’ve always had an interest in Israel,” Friesen explained. “In college, I came to put my faith in Christ and it put me on a path of following Him and being about doing things to help in different ministries. 

“As we progressed along, the Lord put Israel more and more in our hearts. And so here we are, volunteering with Christian Friends of Israel (CFI) and getting more closely connected with Derek Prince Ministries.”

Prince’s books range from the very personal, ‘Appointment in Jerusalem,’ co-authored with his first wife, Lydia, and ‘God is a Matchmaker,’ co-authored with his second wife, Ruth, to the deeply profound and yet thoroughly practical. 

“And these materials, Derek wrote largely while he was living in Jerusalem for many years. He really had a love for the area and for the people,” Friesen told Paul Calvert, a Christian journalist based in the Middle East.

“There’s titles like ‘Blessing or Curse: You Can Choose.’ We can choose to live under God’s blessing. We can, and if we don’t, then we’re going to experience very bad things in our life because we don’t have the protection and the blessing of God.”

“[We stock] other titles like, ‘Surviving the Last Days,’ how God views the End Times, things that are going to come. There’s ‘Hope Beyond Grief.’ He’s got a book out on dealing with the spiritual, ‘Spiritual Warfare,’ dealing with the demonic. He talks about how to get yourself set free from that influence. We’ve got another book called ‘You Matter to God.’ It’s just a message of how God feels about us personally.”

Derek Prince was born in India to British parents and raised in a proud military tradition where showing emotion was discouraged. At 14, he won a scholarship to the prestigious Eton College, and later attended Cambridge University, where he received a Fellowship in Ancient and Modern Philosophy. He also studied modern Hebrew and Aramaic.

In 1940, after joining the Royal Army Medical Corps, Prince relays how the aloof academic philosopher, a lapsed Anglican, came to personal faith in a Jewish Rabbi.

“I heard the voice of Jesus, speaking very very clearly through the scriptures, the Bible. And from the day I heard His voice, to this day, there are two things I’ve never doubted. I’ve never doubted that Jesus is alive, and I’ve never doubted that the Bible is the Word of God.”

Prince was discharged from the army while stationed in Jerusalem at a critical point in the history of Israel, with the state about to be reborn after 2,000 years. Although Lydia was much older than him, God brought them together, and Prince became the father of the Jewish and Arab wartime orphans in Lydia’s care.

Decades later, when tour groups visited the country, Prince would speak at conferences, Friesen explained, “addressing some of the issues relating to why God has an interest in Israel and the Jewish people, as well as His heart for all people, including the Arab people.”

The Friesens have copies of Prince’s books in different languages, including Arabic, English, Russian, Spanish and some in Hebrew. Through a project of CFI, the Canadian couple is in touch with local congregations. Pastors and leaders are happy to make use of the resources. 

“The books go very quickly. At one event, a women’s conference, there were a lot of titles in Russian, and we gave out almost 700 books!”

Calvert asked whether the books are for practical application in Christian life. 

“Yes,” Friesen answered. “I was talking to an Arab pastor up in Nazareth, and he pointed out to us that Derek would not just teach what the Bible clearly taught, but he would walk you through it. He would help you apply it to your life.

“There’s one brother we know; he said that he started reading the book on proclamations and the promises. And he’s found that basically when he prayed out loud God’s promises from the scripture, he really found there was a change in his own life and circumstances. And he wrote me and said that that really encouraged him.”

Friesen said that local contacts tell him that good, solid Bible teaching is not readily available in these languages. In addition, “Derek Prince’s teachings have been around for a long time. A lot of different pastors have read his books and found them very, very helpful.”

“He keeps everything centered on the scripture and doesn’t go off into some other extreme views... And then when people read these materials and they apply them, [the books have] been time tested and [people] find that [they] really help them.”

Specifically on the subject of Israel, Friesen spoke about three of Prince's books in stock.

“One is called ‘The Destiny of Israel and the Church.’ Another is called ‘Why Israel?: God’s heart for a people. His Plan for a Nation.' And then the third one is ‘Our Debt to Israel.’”

“Without the Jews, we’d have no patriarchs, no prophets, no apostles, no Bible, and no Savior. And Derek explains more of that from scripture,” Friesen said.

Calvert asked about Prince’s teachings concerning Replacement Theology, a common doctrine suggesting that the Church has replaced biblical Israel.

“One of the things that Christian Friends of Israel has sought to do is to educate the Church in other parts of the world about the centrality of Israel in Scripture, and also to help them realize that the first Church was Jewish,” said Friesen. 

“The writers of what we call the New Testament, [or] New Covenant, they were mostly Jewish. And, you know, the thing is, Jesus is a Jewish Messiah. He’s coming back to Jerusalem, and He’s setting up His kingdom here in Israel. So this all points to this. So that’s why Israel is so important.

“And it’s unfortunate that there’s been a lot of bad history between the Church and the Jewish people. And so God is repairing that. But I think as people of faith, [it is by] being grounded in the Scripture, that [we] recognize what God is doing in both the world and in Israel.

“We wouldn’t have an understanding of God if it wasn’t for the Jewish people.”

Calvert asked whether the Friesens, like the young Derek Prince, had expected to arrive in Israel during a time of war.

“Well, it’s always a possibility,” Friesen said. “But, well, now that we’re in it, I guess I didn’t really think about it too much. I just felt this was the place to be. And we’re finding that we do have peace being here.”

Check out www.CFIJerusalem.org for the different publications available.

Click below to listen to Paul Calvert's interview with Rudi Friesen.