Promises to Keep

By Evan Harrell

When you think of Ralph W. Beiting, you seldom think of the man who grew weary of his work in Appalachia. You think of the man who was relentless, who pressed forward when it seemed everyone else had given up on Eastern Kentucky.

Yet even Rev. Beiting himself almost threw in the towel on his promise to the people of Appalachia. In 1991, he was on his way to visit two Eastern Kentucky companies that were on the brink of collapse when he fell asleep at the wheel of the van and drove straight into the rear of a coal truck—a wreck that almost cost him his life. After weeks and months in hospitals and doctors’ offices, he began to ask if it was all worth continuing. Sure, so much had been accomplished in Appalachia through Christian Appalachian Project, but on the horizon, he could still see miles and miles of winding, country roads stretching before him—the work yet to be achieved. He asked himself, and God, why he should go on. He was 67 years old and past the age at which many Catholic priests normally retired. He had worked hard all his life and accomplished many things. He was tired and sick.

One day during his recovery, he was scanning his bookshelves for something to read to calm his mind when he arbitrarily stumbled upon a collection of Robert Frost poems, which would inspire him to write one of his last books, “Promises to Keep.” As he read the words of one of his favorite poets, he had a profound realization: he could give up. He could end his career and his commitment to the region.

But that would be taking a clear path—one that had already been beaten and traveled many times by other charitable organizations that had come and gone. He drew a comparison to “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” saying, “Suddenly it all became clear to me. The woods are certainly ‘lovely, dark, and deep.’ It would be lovely to retire and take life easy. But I have ‘promises to keep’ before my life ends. And ‘miles to go’ before I’m ready to quit.”

Christian Appalachian Project has made promises to Appalachia. These promises have not always been easy to keep, and some of them have yet to be realized. To fulfill these promises is no small task, however. There are still Appalachians without adequate housing, adults who are either functionally or entirely illiterate, and children who go to bed hungry and cold.

President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a War on Poverty in 1964. He visited the region and brought national and international attention with him, and since that time, organization after organization—with only good intent— has rushed in with the aim of alleviating poverty but leaving just as quickly with little to show for it. It’s clear the answer to the needs of this area requires trying new methods and beating down the weeds that cover the proverbial roads many people and organizations choose not to go down.

But CAP has always traveled the road not taken. CAP has always sought out the areas of greatest need in Eastern Kentucky and wisely allocated its resources accordingly.

Choosing ‘the road less traveled’ is rarely easy, however; but following Christ’s example of love puts things into perspective for us. Being blameless, he could have walked away from his duty with a clear conscience, but instead, he chose to sacrifice his life for all of us.

“Luckily,” Rev. Beiting said, “that kind of sacrifice is not required of us to help the people of Appalachia. That was a road that only Jesus could walk. But there are many other roads we all can walk—quiet, country roads in Appalachia that lead to families in great need, lonely elderly people, and hungry children. Those are the roads ‘less traveled’ that you and I can walk.”

Nobody knows what the future will hold; we will undoubtedly have to travel down some unbeaten paths and stop by woods on a snowy evening. No matter what the future brings, one thing is certain: CAP will always have its sights set on children. Rev. Beiting loved CAP’s service to children. He saw in their eyes a glimmer of hope for the future—a glimmer the despair of poverty had long ago taken from many of their parents.

Unfortunately, in Appalachia these promises may be harder to keep than anywhere else in America. These promises, however, are not different from the promises humanity should make to every child on earth—that you will be loved, and that those around you will do what they can to make sure you have a fighting chance to develop physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

Jesus Christ said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” [Matt. 18:3]. Rev. Beiting loved those words of Christ because they reminded him that, of all the promises he made to the people of Appalachia, the most important are those he made to children.

Rev. Beiting believed CAP’s programs for children were the most important of all. In our child development centers, summer camps, Bible camps, teen centers, and school programs, he wanted to instill three loving ideals in the children and youth: a love for themselves, a love for learning, and a love for others through service as an outward expression of Christ’s love for all of us.

Keeping the promises CAP has made to our children has not always been easy. We often wondered where we would find the food to feed them at our child development centers. We wondered where we would find good teachers, where we would get enough desks and books and supplies. “But a promise made to a child should never be broken,” said Rev. Beiting. “So we keep going, sometimes in the dark, to make sure we do everything we can.” “I think children are worth going into the dark for.” The future is wildly uncertain. Fifty years ago, when CAP was founded, computers took up entire rooms and the Internet was only a dream. Now we carry both of them in our pockets. Who is to say for sure what the next 50 years will bring? Is it really so inconceivable then to dream of things that, at present, are seemingly as farfetched as flying cars? Of course, with the advent of these very probable advances in technology, Appalachia will undoubtedly face another unique set of challenges as the rest of the country develops and leaves the region even further behind. As the nation and the world progress, blazing new trails, these Appalachian roads will still be left untraveled.

But CAP has always traveled the road not taken. Its very nature is to provide services Appalachia lacks at that moment in time, and then, once another person or group has the ability or interest to provide in the same capacity, CAP packs up and reallocates those resources elsewhere— walking down another road less traveled. Very careful planning goes into deciding which programs and services to provide to which areas, depending on the needs of a specific Eastern Kentucky county, sometimes even years in advance, because CAP wishes to be good stewards of the resources provided to us by God and our generous givers.

In the future, CAP will continue in this same manner, constantly seeking out unique paths toward the answer to defeating poverty, even if it means entering a darkened forest and blazing a new trail.

“We have to bring hope to these people,” said Rev. Beiting. “As children of God we are called and commanded to this task. We are not necessarily promised victory—at least not in our lifetimes. What is important is not the victory but the struggle itself. I may not live to see the complete victory. But if my span of time on earth is part of the answer, that’s all that counts. If I am part of something good, what more could I ask for?”

And what more could CAP ask for than people who, despite the darkness of the woods and uncertainty of the roads they travel, continue to press forward toward progress for the people of this region? As for whether his life was part of the answer to poverty in Appalachia, it was, Rev. Beiting. It sure was.