As acanstockphoto13112688 child, we are limited in our ability to see beyond where we sit in any given moment.  While a child plays in a sandbox, the three by five foot box is his world.  Nothing matters other than the sand between her fingers and toes; the water that’s dripping over her knees.  An argument could be taking place in the yard ten feet away, but for the child in the sandbox, that fact is meaningless.  Yards are mowed; dogs bark; traffic zips by; even a parent calling for the child can go unnoticed.  Instead, his attention and all that matters in his world are necessarily limited to what’s directly in front of him:  the sandbox.

As we grow and mature, our view of the world ought to grow and mature as well.  Who was once our “neighbor” expands beyond our neighborhood.  “God’s people” stops being limited to the people in our church or even in our country, but rather children of God around the world in every country, on every continent.  It is for this time that Pure & Faultless is founded.

We, the Church, need to do a better job of looking up at the Cross and out across the seas to get in touch with what’s happening in the world around us and, to be frank, we need to care.  Isis isn’t only a threat to Pakistani or Iraqi believers who are being murdered; it’s a threat to all of us.  Now.  Here.  Ebola isn’t some distant disease that doesn’t impact us; it is ravaging the people of three countries.  Our neighbors.  Friends we haven’t met yet.  We should start praying for them now, not just when ebola {finally} graces our shores.  The seemingly endless shooting victims in Chicago matter whether you live in Boston, Miami or Portland.  These are our neighbors – our people.

When we pray, “Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours,” do we really mean it?  Are we ready to have our hearts broken for things that may not touch us personally?  Are we ready to care about the thousands of people dying in sub-Sahara Africa from famine, disease, war, and unnecessary violence?  Are we prepared to worry about the oppression of women in the Middle East?  Are we ready to worry about sex trafficking in Eastern Europe?  Is it time to care about victims of racial hostility in our own country?  Are we ready?  Really ready?

The reality is that in God’s economy, we are global citizens – people who are on a journey to have hearts that look more like the heart of Christ and in the process, continue to break for Him.  We at Pure & Faultless seek to come along side the local church in the process of meeting felt needs of the needy . . .  anywhere.  For the destitute woman in the town next to yours?  Pure & Faultless.  To the grandmother in Uganda caring for her ten grandchildren, despite her advanced age?  Pure & Faultless.  To the orphan in Ukraine who has no hope of an education?  Pure & Faultless.  For religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is caring for widows and orphans {the needy}.  Pure & Faultless.