How The Church Is Ending Slavery
Last Fall, I was at a wedding with my wife when I ran into my old college friend, Ben. While we were catching up I told him about my work with Child Freedom Coalition, and he was immediately excited about our mission.
“I’ve gotta introduce you to my brother-in-law, David Rudie,” he told me right away. “He pastors my church in Spartanburg, and I know he’d love to hear about this.”
So, a few weeks later, I sat down for coffee with David all thanks to Ben. David was passionate about helping others in his own city and across the globe. He shared with me about his two-year-old church, Doxa, and their mission for the South Carolina Upstate. They were already supporting a ministry that rescues slaves in Pakistan, but that didn’t deter David from wanting to get his church involved in helping in South Asia too. We met a few more times and bonded over our dedication to supporting Christian anti-slavery efforts.
Soon Ben & David had set up a time for me to lead a discussion in one of Doxa’s small groups as well as teach in a Sunday Service about James’ call for churches to care for widows and orphans.
I was honored and a bit surprised.
Most churches don’t invite me to speak on Sunday mornings unless I’ve known them for years, and Doxa was jumping right in. I knew that this partnership was from God.
Even though Doxa was young and small, they began to give generously to support what God is doing in South Asia. Over the past six months, it has been incredible to watch how their willingness to give and speak up has impacted the children, the congregation, and our team.
It’s thrilling to see their whole church get behind what is happening in South Asia!
They are planning to run and volunteer at our Child Freedom 5K in September, and they have truly bought in as a community to ending child slavery.
Child Freedom Coalition is a Christian non-profit organization which means that what we do is motivated by our faith.
Rescuing children from slavery and abuse matters because in Mark 10 Jesus called the little children to him. He didn’t want anything to stand in the way of children knowing him.
We love working with a variety of like-minded churches that want to spread the Kingdom of God and do good in the world. In 2019 and 2020, we have received support from Doxa and 9 other churches across the Southeast.
Some of those churches are big organizations with missions departments and full-time mission staff while other churches, like Doxa, are just getting started with their missions programs. Working with these churches is one of the best ways for us to tell more people about the rescued children and the good news of Jesus.
God is at work in South Asia, and it is our privilege to partner with churches ------ no matter their size.
When churches choose to work with us even in small ways, it opens the door for their members to get involved. This partnership is significant because a trustworthy organization has been vetted by their church. The opposite can also be true as well like the story of Ben introducing us to Doxa. When a member of a church involved with CFC can introduce us to their church, that introduction can make new partnerships possible.
This Fall, we’ll be taking our first trip for church and business leaders to show them The Sylom Children’s Home in person so they can learn more about modern slavery in South Asia. It’s an exciting time as we begin to plan the next phase of mission trips. Supporters from the United States will be able to learn from and work alongside our team in the field.
If you are or someone at your church is interested in learning more about getting your church involved or getting an application for the trip in October, please contact us at info@childfreedom.org. Space is limited.