The Greatest Adventure of All Time

Sixty-two years ago, President Kennedy gave his famous “We choose to go to the moon!” speech that ignited one of the most intense and innovative initiatives in the history of mankind, the Apollo space program. In that speech, he said:

“We meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance… The exploration of space is one of the greatest adventures of all time. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind… So, we set sail on this new sea because of what is to be gained and used for the progress of all people… In some measure, it is an act of faith, but if we are going to do this, and do it right, then we must be bold.”

And they were bold. In just seven years, the Apollo program utilized the world’s best resources, the latest data and the top experts and then mobilized $320 billion of today’s dollars to design the most effective rocket that took Neil and the boys to the moon and back in that decade and before the Soviets.

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A Much Greater Mission

I share this because you and I are also on a mission, not to touch some rock in space before someone else, but a much greater mission. As believers, our greatest joy in life is found in joining God on His mission to redeem the world. To follow Jesus as He puts ourselves and the world back together in a right relationship with God and each other through people like you and me. This is the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, to make disciples of all nations and love our neighbors around the world.

And though it’s hard to see from here, about half of the world still lives in extreme spiritual and physical poverty, with no access to the truth of Jesus or the basic means of physical survival and well-being, like adequate food or water or jobs. Where it’s impossible to have a right relationship with God and each other when you don’t know about Jesus or you’re just trying to physically survive, and help your kids survive, just another day.

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An Hour of Challenge

But, like Kennedy, I also believe we meet in an hour of tremendous change, hope and knowledge. We live at a time of incredible opportunity to reach the day when all people have access. To do what has never been possible, and what wasn’t even possible, just a few years ago. However, we also meet in an hour of tremendous challenge, and often ignorance, when it comes to this global mission. Most of us want to make a significant global impact with our lives, but many of us feel like we can’t from where we are, and giving effectively towards this mission is... hard.

It’s easy to make a donation, it’s hard to make an impact.

Seven years ago I was a naval architect designing yachts in Florida. I had my dream job for a great company, but personally I was miserable. I felt like I wasn’t making a difference with my life. So, instead of going to counseling like a rational person, we moved to Haiti, one of the most difficult and dangerous places in the world. That'll fix it!

We loved Haiti, but over the course of about a year our world was turned upside down. Haiti was getting even more violent, we were forced to evacuate and the organization we were with was imploding. It was a brutal experience, but this experience allowed me to see the true complexity of this mission. I got to see the other side of our donations and what can happen when we aren’t wise with our giving, and the Haitians are the ones paying the real price.

Coping with my own failure, I became obsessed with this problem of our giving not making the impact we think it is. I remember during graduate school being in Turpin library at Dallas Theological researching unreached people groups, global poverty and the nonprofit sector. Just trying to figure out, "Is it possible to end global poverty and, if so, what will it take?" And what I discovered changed everything for me.

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There is a Way

There is a way. There is a way to expedite this mission and reach the day when all people have access. It’s a specific way, but there is a way, and it may just be our only way.

Currently, there are millions of nonprofits around the world doing millions of different things in millions of different places, but there is no collective strategy to accomplish this mission, there is very little accountability on behalf of donors and zero accountability on behalf of those in need. Meanwhile, donors like you and I, who want to make an impact with our giving, we don’t have the time or expertise by ourselves to evaluate all of these organizations, to find the most effective programs and monitor their work, and there wasn’t a tool to help us give well, like all the tools and resources we have to invest well. It’s a challenge. No wonder that, even though Americans alone already give enough to accomplish this mission, no wonder we haven’t made statistically significant progress, and likely won’t accomplish this mission, without a tool to help us.

So, I started researching, "What if there was a tool?" What if, just like the Apollo program, what if there was a way to utilize the world’s best resources, the latest data and the top experts to find the most effective programs that can best reduce the poverty levels in the most unreached and impoverished places. What if we could pool our donations with our friends and family to give to these top programs, so we can make more impact together than we could on our own? What if this tool actively monitored these programs for us, to make sure they’re working, that the poverty levels are reducing and to report the impact back to us in real time? And what if this tool was free, so any American at any giving level, from a hundred dollars a month to millions of dollars a year, any American can get high-level due diligence on their giving and know confidently that 100% of their donations are going to the field and that it’s making the greatest impact it can.

If enough of us use this tool, and we do it right, then and may be only then, we can see a world where all people have the opportunity to have a right relationship with God and each other. That’s what I discovered, and that's why I started All Access.

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A Tool to Help Us

For those who are new to All Access, that’s exactly what we do. It’s simply a tool, a trusted platform to help us make the most global impact we can from right where we are. We want all people to have access, at least access, to the Gospel and the means to lift themselves out of extreme poverty. To do that, we analyze the latest data, consult the top experts and evaluate organizations to find the most effective programs working in the most unreached and impoverished places.

We created a fund where you and your friends can pool your giving with us, then we grant 100% of those funds to the vetted programs in our portfolio. We actively monitor these programs and report everything back to our members every 90 days, including every single expense that it takes us to do that.

So, we stand with one arm around those in need and fight to make sure they get the best help they deserve and that it works, and with one arm around generous people like you and fight to make sure your dollar is going toward whatever can best help them, and we fight using math and science. Our hope, and what we’ve seen, is that this streamlines this mission, it makes our giving a lot more impactful and a much more rewarding experience.

The Difference Between

At All Access, we talk a lot about the "difference between.” We use this phrase a lot. The difference between the impact of the typical way of giving today and through this tool.

For example, the difference between reaching one person with the Gospel with our donations to the average, popular missions organization, or reaching over four thousand people by giving those same donations to one of the small, unpopular programs in our portfolio. That’s the difference between, and it matters because these are not just numbers, but 3,999 people just like us who are in extreme suffering. So, if we have the opportunity to reach four thousand people instead of just one, and now we do, then I think we should, because it means everything to those in the difference between.

So, I could spend the next ten minutes sharing incredible statistics about the programs in our portfolio and the difference between using and not using this tool. But instead, I want you to meet the difference between. I want you to meet some of the amazing people we’ve been able to come alongside.

Watch this video.

Why do we spend hundreds of hours every year doing all of this research when we could easily give anywhere? Because the difference between matters. The difference we can make matters.

We are the ones who meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. This mission is the greatest adventure of all time, and it does deserve the best of all mankind. So, we have set sail on this new sea because of what is to be gained and used the progress of all people. And it is definitely an act of faith, but if we’re going to do this, and do it right, then we must be bold.

Now, we can.