Source: Global Christian Relief
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| GCR ambassador David Latting traveled to Pakistan in late August to meet Christian families living and working in brick kilns under generations of bonded labor. |
GCR: What did the kilns look, sound, and feel like?
David: Stepping into the brick kilns was like stepping into Egypt. You could see the ruthless nature of the constant production, regardless of the human soul and the image of God. There was no dignity in those brick kilns. There was only work to be done.
It was so noisy, but so quiet. There was so much noise from machines, animals, and shovels hitting mud, but there was no music. There was no singing.
I see construction workers in the heat, and there’s at least a sense of camaraderie. Here there was none of that. There wasn’t even peace at the end of the day. You could feel it.
GCR: What surprised you most about the Christian families you met?
David: Their endurance. Something I saw in every kiln was the families’ smiles and their genuine ability to refrain from despair.
In every interview, I would ask the same question: How have you endured? How have you kept faith in Christ? I kept hearing Psalm 23 and Psalm 91. And they believed it. They looked at us, weeping, saying, “Look, here we are. Look at the faithfulness of God. We had no hope. We continued to hope despite the lack of it.”
GCR: Tell us about Pastor Samuel and why that meeting stayed with you.
David: My first interaction with Pastor Samuel was on the back of a donkey cart. There were no seats. You stand, basically donkey surfing. It was awesome. We didn’t speak the same language, but we were laughing because I was trying not to fall, and he was trying to keep me from falling. I’m six foot six and 250 pounds. I’m a big guy next to him.
Then we went from that moment into the seriousness of his house. He was looking at the Word of God, and to me it felt like one of those big moments when a promise had been fulfilled. He had read the Bible to his family for years. He knew it to be true, and now it had happened. The faithfulness of God was everything.
Psalm 91 was especially meaningful because my wife had been praying Psalm 91 for me every night while I was in Pakistan. It felt like a genuine family moment.
In situations like this, everything can feel compartmentalized: you’re there, I’m here. We’re on different sides of the world. But in that moment, we were really sitting at one table. I thought, “You are my brother.” And I felt it. It wasn’t artificial. We had a brotherly experience, and then we sat down with brotherly love.
GCR: What made him a pastor inside the kilns?
David: He had been enslaved when he was 12 years old, so before that, he knew how to read. He was the one with the Bible. He read Scripture to people and told them what it meant, and people gathered because of that.
He had faith in God. That’s what made him pastoral. You could feel it. It was definitely a vocation. His occupation was brickmaking, but his vocation was caring for the souls of others.
He cared for mine.
The harsh reality for Christians in Pakistan
- 20,000 Brick Kilns in Pakistan
- 1.5 to 2.4M Christians in bonded labor
- 1/3 laborers are children
- $809 average debt
Another Example:
Mumtaz & Shagufta
A loan that his grandfather took out was passed down to Mumtaz's father and then to him. His own 10-year-old son just started making bricks, the fourth generation of slavery.
35 Years Enslaved
$718 total debt
Global Christian Relief has a goal of freeing 500 Christians from bonded labor.
Pray for the thousands of Christians held in bonded labor. Pray that they will be set free and that they will keep their faith strong in God.
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