Dar grows up in poverty. He helps his dad make beer and teaches his friends to do the same. His mother takes him to church once when he is five. He cooks dinner and irons for his younger sister because his parents work. He caddies at age eleven with Johnny, a boy who is faithful in church. Dar has a gift of humor and enters a contest that he wins over thousands; but he turns down a contract to go to Hollywood. Too poor for college, he works at the battery factory where his dad works and Dar is made the manager. Then he buys a gas station. Johnny invites him to church where Dar gives his life to Christ. The first part ends after he leads his sister to the Lord.