As Mark Christopher grows up in a small railroad town during the Great Depression, he dreams of doing something special with his life. Instead, he must face one tragedy after the other as war looms. First, his parents die and then his brother while serving in the Pacific.

When the war in Europe ends, Mark's sister sends him to live with their grandmother and her son. To please them, Mark is baptized in a Baptist church. While enrolled in college, he befriends a Wallabot Indian who unsuccessfully tries to save Mark's soul. Despite their religious differences, their friendship continues as Mark is offered a post-graduate scholarship contingent upon his admission to the ministry. Although Mark applies, he secretly believes he is unsuited. After he accepts a student pastorate position in a nearby church, he falls in love and marries. But when he shuns church leaders' advice and leads a group of black migrants to integrate the county fair, Mark is thrown in jail where he is forced to reflect on his life, his choices, and whether what has been done can be undone.

Mark Christopher is the tale of one man's faithful journey through poverty and war and tragedy and opposition as he searches for his destiny and meaning in his life.