By Josh Depenbrok and Chandler Peterson /Global Chistian Relief
When we last saw Maryam and her family, she had just been released from bonded labor. Her debt paid, the once-enslaved Christian left behind her days working at a brick kiln in Pakistan for a new life of freedom, hope and restored dignity.
As GCR reported last year:
When Maryam’s husband fell ill, they took out a loan of just $862 for his medical care. Little did they know that this financial “agreement” with the brick kiln industry would steal their freedom for years. “We agreed to the loan, believing that we would work off our debt in the brick kilns for one year, and then we’d be able to return to our homes,” Maryam recalls. But one year turned to twenty as high interest rates and garnished wages made it impossible to repay the loan.
Maryam and her husband raised their four children in the brick kilns. As they grew older, they were left with no choice but to abandon their education and join their parents as fellow brick makers. Their daughter Shazia, only twelve years old, now makes hundreds of bricks a day. “She used to go to school, but now she makes bricks … since her father passed away,” Maryam shares tearfully. “This is how we make our living.”
“What I have done, it’s all because of God. He has done this all for me. So my faith is strengthened.”
Maryam and her family, one year later
Thanks to your generosity, GCR was able to provide Maryam with a produce cart and donkey. She now makes her living selling fruits and vegetables in nearby villages.
Best of all, Maryam has been able to build a home on land her husband purchased before he died. No longer forced to live in the brick kiln or stay with relatives, Maryam feels safe and comfortable in a home of her own—a place where she can live surrounded by her children and grandchildren.
“What I have done, it’s all because of God,” Maryam said. “He has done this all for me. So my faith is strengthened. The trust in God, the faith in God is increased.”
She shared that she and her husband had dreamed of building their own house and providing brighter futures for their children, but since their income went toward paying off their debt, these dreams felt impossible.
“Before paying the debt, I wanted to do a lot of things,” Maryam said. “I wanted to build but we didn’t have the resources for it. Because all was given to the bricklayer. So it was all dead in my heart. We used to talk about our life. That was our life. So I cannot do what I wanted to do, but as you paid the debt, so I was able to fulfill my desires, fulfill my dreams.”
In just a year, Maryam has made incredible progress on her home and has even purchased a refrigerator and water pump so that she can wash her clothes and dishes at home. These may not seem like luxuries to many of us, but as she thinks back on her life as an enslaved Christian, she does not take her new amenities for granted. To her, everything is special.
Hope for the future
Maryam has four children: Sana (20), Samina (14), Aneem (13) and Nagina (11). Sana has been learning to sew so that she can work as a seamstress from home. Aneem has been learning to drive a rickshaw. Unfortunately, after his father died, he had to leave school, but hopes to return. Samina hopes to study the Bible and become a pastor. As the youngest, Nagina has been enjoying her childhood while occasionally making bricks.
Last year, Maryam feared for her daughters’ safety—for a good reason. After their father’s tragic death left them without protection, the girls were vulnerable to sexual harassment and abuse prevalent in brick kilns. “I now have to rely on my son for a living and for protection,” Maryam told us. “The girls have to come with me to work. It’s the only way to keep my daughters safe.”
Now, Maryam’s attitude has completely changed. “It’s better that I have my own place,” she shared. “I feel secure. The house is safe.”
Maryam and her family sing to the Lord, praising His name and rejoicing that His word gives hope.
“When we are in difficult times, we read the Bible,” Maryam told us. “It gives hope and courage and helps us to come out of this difficult situation.”
Maryam offered her thanks to those who gave so that she could be free. She prays that God would bless us so that we can free even more enslaved Christian families in Pakistan. She asked us to pray for good marriages for her daughters. Please also join us in prayer for the safety of her family, for Maryam’s produce business and for the ongoing construction of their home.
In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus declares, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Thank You Jesus that You have proclaimed good news and freedom to Maryam and her family!
