For many years I have had an increasing concern in my heart for those living in utter poverty around the globe. I’ve watched dozens of documentaries, spoken to people who have seen poverty firsthand, read many books and articles and have studied the hundreds of verses in the Holy Scriptures about responsibility to care for those in need. My visit to Haiti, however, was what put me over the edge. I realized that for many it is simply that they lack the material comforts that westerners enjoy. They lack clean water, medicine, education and other essentials. Without these they will never fulfill their dreams. This has been something I feel can not be ignored in our world. It’s a matter of human rights.
I came to a point in my life when I felt I had cried enough about poverty. It was time to actually do something. Sure, I was giving some money to different causes and helped to raise awareness here and there but I knew that I could be doing so much more. For about a year a vision emerged in my heart to build a collective of people that would work together to transform impoverished communities around the world. I started thinking about all the friends I have all over the U.S. and around the globe that care deeply about the poor. I started thinking about the untapped resources of not just money but ideas, knowledge and creativity. I started imagining what could happen if 1000 people made a decision to invest some of what they have to the cause of helping the poorest of the poor.
Over the course of a few months I pulled together a core of about a dozen people I knew locally that have a deep concern about the poor. Some are pastors, some artists, some Brown and Risd students, some moms and dads. They represent several area churches of varying denominations coming together out of a passion to serve the poor.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”. In other words, Christ was encouraging us to pray that this world would become like the wonderful peaceful world above. We are to pray and work toward making this world beautiful. Poverty, injustice, oppression, hatred and anything that undermines the dignity of human life is unacceptable. That’s what we are about.
Scott Axtmann - director