Unlike some ministers who can draw only one type of audience, Meyer's messages cross all boundaries and attract people from all denominations, genders, races and income levels.

To illustrate her prominence in the ministry, more than 2.5 billion people can tune in to her television broadcasts on 400 stations around the world. Her messages are heard on more than 300 radio stations across the country. And booksellers say Meyer is the top-selling female Christian author in America...

Her star has risen so high and so fast that it amazes even Meyer.

``Dave and I feel almost like, `Can this really be us?''` she said. ``We feel like we're the most blessed and honored people on the face of the Earth.'' Meyer's ministry stretches around the globe.

From a 15-minute St. Louis-area radio show in 1983, it has spread to virtually every corner of the civilized world, largely through the reach of satellite and cable transmissions and the Internet.

She says the ministry gets 15,000 letters a month from India alone.

In September, an Arabic language translation of her program began airing six times a day on the Life Channel network in the Middle East. Meyer hopes to use the network to bring the message of Christianity to 31 Islamic nations.

Meyer and her husband say the ministry has the potential to reach 2.5 billion people every weekday.

The couple's recent slogan, printed on posters in the ministry's headquarters and on banners at its conferences, sets out an ambitious goal for the future: ``Every nation, every city, every day.''

Nancy Armstrong of Highland is excited about Meyer's visit to Metro Detroit. Her church, the Cornerstone Church in Highland, will send two bus loads of members to see Meyer.

"She preaches the word in such a way that I can really understand it and really apply it to my life," says Armstrong. "That's part of her popularity. She understands the thinking of a woman and that's why she relates so well to women."

Victoria Myles of Detroit also is a Meyer fan.

"She's lived through things and has been victorious," she says. "She reminds you that there are other people who have gone through what you're going through."