Article

Sovereignty Over Slavery

How much would you pay for a life?

In some parts of the world, like Pakistan, there are still modern-day slaves. Slaves that start out as a man in need of work in order to provide for his family, but who end up being indebted to a factory owner for life, with no hope of ever paying back the interest accrued on each meagre paycheck or loan.

For a slave-worker, life is a constant state of hunger. Dire living conditions. No clean drinking water. Dawn to dark manual labor.

But behind the gloomy shadows under eyes, frail and skinny bodies, and warrior-esque facial expressions lies a human. A man or woman made in God’s image. Most, if not all, were trapped into this life of slavery. Even tricked into it.

If there was a way to set this man or woman “free” from this physical bondage, would you join the effort?

For Lifeline’s partners in Pakistan, this type of freedom fight is a daily part of ministry. The couple, who runs a hostel for 38 vulnerable girls during the day also takes on the task of liberating these modern-day slaves.

So far, they’ve purchased freedom for 20 families. For less than the cost of a worn-down 15-year-old car, a human, a child of God, is set free from bonded labor. Let that settle in your heart.

Once these men and women are freed physically, they are also taught about the hope and joy and peace found in our Savior, the only real source of freedom. The Savior that didn’t pay in dollars or rupees or shillings but paid with His very life on a cross for our eternal freedom.

Our partners don’t leave the work after these men and women are set free. They don’t leave after they have heard the gospel. They stay and invest. They advocate to provide transportation for the children in the community to go to school. They find people of God and sculpt them into pastors to serve the community. They send Sunday School teachers to lead 450 children on a regular basis in six locations. They locate and provide Bible study materials for the churches that have sprouted up in slave communities.

Someone from the outside might look at this effort and say, “Wow, these two are heroes!” And it’s true, they are involved in some remarkable work.

But our partners know and declare that they are simple tools being used by a mighty God. A God who is sovereign even over slavery, and has a plan for each person’s life.

“We only have one agenda, and that is to serve the Lord,”  they told us in January.

So, the next time you are faced with a decision to either help someone in need, or to turn your face from the difficult, consider this work in Pakistan. Ask yourself, “If I were bonded in slavery today, how much would I hope someone would pay to set me free?”


For more information on the ministry in Pakistan, ways to get involved, or other Lifeline Children’s Services work around the world, contact [email protected] or visit www.lifelinechild.org/unadopted.