OUR STORY

In 1972, Mary Kay Beard was fleeing from the law in four states. There was an underworld contract on her life, and her name was on the FBI Most Wanted List. Apprehended and convicted of armed robbery and grand larceny, she received a sentence of twenty-one years and a day in the Alabama State prison For Women.

In 1975, Don Beard was leaving the Alabama Prison System for the second time. His wife and four children had stood by him through nine years of incarceration, and he returned to a good job in a family owned business. In spite of these advantages, less than three years after his release he went bankrupt, divorced, remarried and divorced a second wife. Eventually he hit rock bottom on skid row in New Orleans - a homeless, alcoholic derelict.

In 1984 God brought Don and Mary Kay together in marriage (they were married in the chapel at the prison where Mary Kay had been incarcerated). God has continued to use them in prison ministries, in counseling and teaching others whose lives have been wrecked by sin, rebellion and addiction.

Today, Don and Mary Kay are both college graduates with considerable experience in a variety of areas. Mary Kay is again serving as an Area Director of Prison Fellowship (the ministry founded by Charles W. Colson). During her previous service as an Area Director of Prison Fellowship for Alabama, Mary Kay founded Angel Tree. She currently serves the state of Mississippi. Today Angel Tree serves the children and families of inmates in all 50 states and 45 countries around the world.

Don and Mary Kay together founded Shepherd's Fold, a home in Birmingham's West End for people desiring to come out of prison and/or addictive lifestyles. Mary Kay founded the Encourager Center for Biblical Counseling in Houston, Texas and served as its director for four years. Don is an ordained minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a certified substance abuse counselor. Both have been certified and have taught in prison seminars for Prison Fellowship.

In addition to Shepherd's Fold, Don and Mary Kay have served as Executive Director/Manager (house parents) in the House of Clare in Jefferson City, Missouri. They have served the Lord and the Body of Christ in Alabama, Texas, Oregon and Missouri. Presently they live in Birmingham, AL where they founded and continue to carry out the work of ENCOURAGER MINISTRIES, a counseling/teaching ministry.

Theirs' is one of the most amazing stories of God's grace and mercy and what HE is able to do for His people. What brought about this unbelievable transformation?

"Come and hear all of you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul". Psalm 66:16