COMPASSION
Give
How I Learned to The people, places, things, and events that first inspired our belief in the power of generosity.
I
was raised by a single mother before the creation of our public welfare system. We six children did not have much growing up. I remember eating pancakes every night for dinner for several days. I was in hog heaven! I loved pancakes. Little did I realize that was all there was to eat in our home. No matter how little we had mother always seemed to make it work somehow. She told me there were several Thanksgivings and Christmases that if it had not been for the Salvation Army we would not have had either. Growing up over the years, I saw my mother time and time again share what little we had to help a neighbor. That spirit of giving, of selflessness, made me realize that everything you have is a gift from God. And when He has entrusted you with more than you need, you are to share and give to others who have the greatest need. I learned to give and love from my mother. She still touches my heart every day, and she will be in Heaven 26 years this November. -- Steve Bernhardt, Orab, Oh., CAP Supporter Since 1997
R
ev. Ralph Beiting, the priest who founded Christian Appalachian Project (CAP), had been writing to me for some time. I don’t mean in a personal way. My name had got on CAP’s mailing list and I received Rev. Beiting’s appeals on a regular basis. I ignored them. But something made me read the small autobiographic book he included with one of his appeals many years ago when he was still active with CAP. My late brother had spent a summer with a Christian nonprofit in Kentucky when he was a high school student. That was back in the 1970’s, when CAP was just starting out. I wondered if my brother had spent that summer vacation working with CAP and sat down for an interesting read. The book, I discovered, contained an eloquent love story. In his recollection of founding CAP, Rev. Beiting had married the Sermon on the Mount with a practical approach to addressing the problems of Appalachia. I
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THE MOUNTAIN SPIRIT | 50th Anniversary Commemorative Issue Volume 1
