Thousands of people in our churches are trapped in generational slavery.
We are on a mission to set them free.
JANUARY 2024 Mini—documentary UPDATE
Shot on our January 2024 trip, a full year after our first encounter with the Brick Industry. This is Part Two of our Mini—Documentary showing the Freedom Process.
Sponsor an entire family
$3,750 covers the cost of purchasing a family's debt and a brand new rickshaw to begin their own business and have transportation. It also covers new clothing, a Freedom Celebration, rent for the first month, and the salaries of our pastors responsible for ongoing care and training as they transition into a new community and new life of freedom.
* Choose “Make a Donation” to Donate Once.
The Monthly Match
The freed families have officially set free two families on their own and working towards the next. The freed people are freeing people.
We’re all familiar with Match Campaigns — Someone generously puts up an amount of money that will be doubled if we all join together to match that amount. We’re proposing a different kind of match. On a recent Sunday, the church took up an offering of $153 to free another family. 55 of the families who gave were in slavery. Can you match them?
25 donors @ $150 / month = 1 family
50 donors @ $75 / month = 1 family
We are seeking monthly donors at any level who will co-labor alongside these families. 100% of your gift will go directly to setting families free. No matter how much you give, every dollar funds setting captives free spiritually and physically.
You can also contribute to a Personal Campaign page.
These photos are from our April 2024 trip when we freed 80 families.
Since January of 2023, we have seen 452 families in our churches liberated from a lifetime of slavery. And yet we have a growing list of hundreds more waiting to join them.
The message of the Gospel is that all of us were stuck in the miry clay. We were helpless to save ourselves or pay our debt of sin. We needed a Savior to rescue us. We partner with pastors to introduce each family to Jesus and after they are established in our churches, we work to set them free physically.
We can change the trajectory of their lives and liberate them from the generational bondage of their slavery — and help establish the church in a Middle Eastern nation by demonstrating the beauty and power of the Gospel to set us free in every way.
Will you join us in doing for them what Jesus did for us?
Let’s do this.
Watch our short documentary below describing the problem.
The families in the video were recorded on our July 2023 trip.
DECEMBER 2023 VIDEO UPDATE
It’s working.
We’re thrilled to share that this model is working and the families are thriving.
Before each family was earning between $5-6 a day. Now, only one member of the family works using their rickshaw, making between $9 and $20 each day — enough money to pay their rent in two days and provide for all of their ongoing needs and enabling many to begin sending their children to school for the first time. They are finally free to be who God intends for them to be — and free to rest.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making this possible for over 2500 people. Their gratitude will stay with you forever.
How family sponsorship works
While setting a family free can have its complexities — we think sponsoring one shouldn’t.
Here’s what you can expect:
You make a donation
When our team is ready to host another celebration, we transfer funds to set free a new group of families. The process of officially setting them free can take several weeks from the time the funds are sent.
We match you with a family
We assign you to the next family on our waiting list. Once they are officially freed, our team helps them get resettled and re-established in their new community.
You receive proof of their freedom
One of the best gifts you may ever give yourself is a photo of a family being set free — one of the most defining moments of their lives and a tangible demonstration of God’s love for them.
The video below captures what this experience has meant to Kathryn.
These were taken on our July 2023 trip this year. 30 families from our second group that were set free a month earlier gathered to “show off'“ their brand-new loader-carts and rickshaws to celebrate all God had done.
Perspective
The average family makes 1,000 bricks each day, six days a week. They earn around $5.40 per day to live on.
Essentially, the entire family makes $140 per month for making 26,000 bricks. Meanwhile, the interest is compounding and the rainy season adds to their balance.
That is 312,000 bricks a year for $1675. Freedom is impossible without a deliverer.
This is one week of bricks for this family.
Our process.
We have a fantastic team in the Middle East. They are experienced, wise, passionate, and determined. They work closely with local lawyers to negotiate and confirm the contractual purchase of a family’s debt.
Purchase their freedom
On average, each family has a debt of around $1,000. The cost to buy them out varies based on the original loan amount and each family’s unique circumstances.
Throw a top-notch Celebration
Jesus has made a way for them to be free. This moment is worth celebrating. And they are worth honoring. Think wedding feast. “I will give you joy instead of mourning.”
Buy everyone new clothing
“I will give you garments of praise instead of garments of despair.” — Robes of Righteousness are supplied to all. The old has gone, and the new has come!
Provide food and basic necessities
Each family member leaves the brick kiln carrying one basket — containing literally everything they own. We outfit them with what they need to start fresh.
Cover the first month of rent
We’re often asked about the financial burden that a family would immediately face after they are set free. We provide a long enough runway for them to get re-established.
Give them a loader-cart / taxi
One of the best ways to ensure their long-term freedom and prosperity is to provide them with a way to make a living. Check out the video below.
Watch the first 50 families receive their loader carts.
59 families from Group 3 receive their loader carts.
Watch the full process of this family being set free and moving into their new home.
January 2023 Freedom Celebration for the first 50 families.
Take advantage of every opportunity to be a blessing to others, especially to our brothers and sisters in the family of faith!
GALATIANS 6:10
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We do not mention the name of the country for a variety of reasons. If you don’t know, then you can watch the helpful video from Insider News.
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The average family makes 1,000 bricks each day, six days a week. They earn around $5.40 per day to live on. Essentially, the entire family makes $140 per month for making 26,000 bricks. Meanwhile, the interest is compounding and the rainy season adds to their balance. That is 312,000 bricks a year for $1675.
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Usually for medical reasons. This was far and away the most frequent answer we heard. It is also common to borrow money for a wedding dowry. One man we interviewed said he took out loans to marry off his 4 sisters. These families are already in dire straights and most are illiterate and don’t always fully understand the contractual details they are obligating themselves to.
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Most families we spoke to have been there for multiple generations since the debt is passed on to their families even after they die. Almost every answer we heard was greater than 10 years. It is very common to see grandparents working alongside their grandchildren. We met one man who inherited his father’s debt at the age of 18 and was now 68 years old. He was married and has raised three grown children at the brick kiln over the last 50 years.
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We have been given a list of families and we simply are working our way through that list numerically. We have full confidence in our pastors to discern which families in our churches have the greatest need of being set free — especially those with younger children.
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It is certainly possible. We have heard stories of retaliation and threats, however, our team is very cautious and prudent in how they deal with the owners — having lawyers and plenty of cameras recording the full legal transaction. Recently, one openly acknowledged, “What you are doing for these people is a good thing. I have heard of your church and what you are doing for these people is good.”
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The motorcycle loader-carts are so vital to their long-term ability to sustain their freedom and have the ability to abundantly provide for their entire family. We received reports two days following the delivery of the loader carts to the families that they were already making enough money to pay for 3 warm meals a day. Our US team recently conducted interviews with freed families and discovered that they are making 4x what they were before and that they earn enough in two days to cover their rent. More than that, many have begun sending their kids to school! Now that’s awesome! This is an incredible indication that they are financially self-sufficient in addition to having the support of their local church — including all of the other freed families.
We are also currently exploring partnerships with several Savings & Loans non-profits in hopes of creating an additional support structure should another medical or family crisis arise.
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In short, yes, they will seek to replace them with new laborers. However, most families that have been at a kiln have been there for 10-30 years.
We have set free 22 families from one brick kiln. There are around 40 families enslaved there alongside another 100 families who are day-laborers. The owners will simply seek out more day laborers to replace each freed family. This is the goal.
Building a workforce can take time. On multiple occasions, we completely bought out the entire labor force of a Brick Kiln and shut it down. The owners prey upon the misfortune of the poorest and most helpless people. Inevitably, there will always be more people who are in a desperate situation and are forced to seek their “help”.
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Rickshaws are everywhere in the Middle East. This is their version of an Taxi and Amazon delivery truck. They can immediately begin to earn enough money to provide for their entire family to have three warm meals a day and cover all of their expenses without extensive training or requiring a shop space. On average, each family is making 2-4x more than they did at the Brick Kilns — and only one person is working for 5-6 hours a day instead of the entire family working together each day.
It would take them many years to save enough to buy one if they were free. The goal is for each family to be self-sustaining. They are hard workers and our team reported back to us that the families began earning a living on day one. Let’s go! We think that is awesome.
Frequently asked questions
This short film by Insider News from April 2023 does an incredible job depicting the plight of these people.