In a way, it's all in a day's work for Twyman, a portly, gray-haired and gregarious fellow with a booming voice and a long history of community activism - most of which is has focused on action over supplication. Though he has loads of nieces and nephews, he doesn't have a spouse or children, which he says leaves him time for the causes he is passionate about, including homelessness and bone marrow donor registration. He became interested in the latter after a close friend died of leukemia, and by his own estimate, he's roped 14,000 people into joining a national registry of donors. He also - and he's almost as proud of this - was behind the (failed) effort to nominate Oprah Winfrey for the Nobel Peace Prize.
"It comes from my mother," he said. "She just really taught us to be concerned for others."
On the face of it, the prayer drive may seem rather intangible compared to his other campaigns, but he also has big - if vague - plans to combine the spirituality with action, kind of like the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott.
