Faces

After growing up in Kentucky during the Great Depression, the Rev. Ralph Beiting dedicated himself to helping neighbors. He began by cramming his car full of food and making deliveries to Appalachian families. Some 50 years later, his delivery service has become a $60 million operation called the Christian Appalachian Project. Serving over 50,000 families, the project offers 75 outreach programs including a "School on Wheels" that sends private GED and literacy tutors to 30 counties. After escaping a 12-year alcohol addiction through faith in Christ, Fort Worth construction worker Roy Gray took his story to the streets. Armed with a pot of stew and a Bible, he staked out a tiny slab of inner-city concrete and began preaching the gospel and passing out soup bowls. Twelve years later, his outdoor "Church on the Slab" hosts 150 street dwellers each Sunday. The streetside chapel also distributes clothing and food to 193 area charities.