Christians in Pakistan are a despised and persecuted minority. Most are only able to find employment in the most dirty, dangerous and low-paid jobs. Jennifer and her family are among the many Christians enslaved by debt to one of the country’s 20,000 brick kilns, trapped in a life of gruelling labour with no hope of escape.
Listen to Jennifer and her father, Yaqoob, tell their story. Hear the heartbreaking challenges this family has faced and how they turned fear and desperation into hope, love and resilience.
Who is Jennifer?
Jennifer is an eight-year-old girl living in a poor, rural area of Punjab, Pakistan. She and her family are Christians, which leaves them marginalised and vulnerable to persecution from extremists within the Muslim majority. They live in poverty and must work in horrible conditions in order to put food on the table.
Jennifer, a young Pakistani girl, reads the Bible with her mother and father
What is life like for Christians in Pakistan?
Life for Christians in Pakistan is very difficult, and often dangerous. The country is approximately 94% Muslim, with the small minority of Christians living as second-class citizens. Persecution is rife, and often violent. Because of discrimination, many Christians are given the lowest-paid jobs, and their children often face hostility from pupils and even teachers in government-run schools because of their love for Christ.
“It’s hard to get an education in normal schools,” says Jennifer, “because the people don’t love us as much: they beat us and punish us.”
One of the places it is common for Christians to work is brick kilns. Twenty thousand kilns are in operation in Pakistan, with most of the workers being Christians who have to endure horrendous conditions and a wage so low it is almost impossible to live on.
One of the Christians enduring such arduous work is Jennifer’s father Yaqoob.
Pakistani brick kiln slaves are expected to make up to a thousand bricks per day in extreme conditions
What is it like for Christians enslaved in the brick kilns?
Workers in the brick kilns earn approximately just £4.50 ($5.40; €5) for every thousand bricks – that’s a full day’s labour. Because the wages are so low, many families have no money to see them through times of crisis like illness or when poor weather conditions force brick kilns to close temporarily. This means that they have no other choice but to borrow money at high rates of interest from the kiln owners to feed their families. These debts cause the families to become enslaved to their employers. Yaqoob’s family is one of these.
Many children also have to help their parents in the kilns, working long and gruelling days so the family can afford to put food on the table.
Jennifer told us, “Working at the brick kiln is really hard, we work in the hot sun and the chilling winters, but because they work alone, I will go with them and take pain for them because I care for them.”
What happened when Yaqoob couldn’t pay his loan?
One day, loan collectors came to Yaqoob’s house demanding that month’s payment, money that he simply didn’t have. They got angry with him, and threatened him.
But because Yaqoob couldn’t pay, he was bought by another brick kiln, meaning that the whole family was forced to move and Jennifer could no longer go to school.
“I was really scared because they were so angry with my dad,” recalls Jennifer, “We couldn’t even leave the house. I thought we were going to die. I used to pray, ‘May God help us that these loans are paid off so that we may have a life.’”
Jennifer and her father, Yaqoob offer prayers, asking the Lord to help them
How did Barnabas Aid help the family?
When Barnabas Aid heard about Jennifer’s family’s plight, they stepped in to help. With the assistance of the family’s pastor, Hamid Iqbal, Barnabas paid all the family’s debts, setting them free from slavery.
Pastor Hamid said, “Personally I thought it’s my privilege that I became a channel of blessing, and I became a source of blessing that is from God and his people from Barnabas Aid!”
After setting the family free from their debt, Barnabas Aid also helped Jennifer to enrol at a Barnabas-funded Christian school near her home. When asked what she wanted to do when she grows up, Jennifer told us, “I want to have enough money so that I can be able to pay off other people’s debts and set them free.”
Christian Pastor Hamid stands with a Christian family who have had their debts erased
Can you help more Christian families like Jennifer’s?
Although we have made amazing progress and freed hundreds of families from slavery so far, there are still many more tied to the unrelenting work and inescapable debts of Pakistan’s brick kilns. You can help.
Please prayerfully consider giving to our project to pay these families’ debts and set them free. Every amount, however small, will go a long way to helping these families escape the kilns.
Pray with us
Please join us in prayer for marginalised Christians in Pakistan:
- We pray for Jennifer, Yaqoob and their family. We give thanks for their continual hope and faith in the Lord, even through such difficult circumstances. We ask Jesus to continue watching over them as they begin their new life, and that He guides them to a happy and secure future.
- We pray for Christians in Pakistan who suffer so much for their faith. We ask that they keep their trust in God and do not lose hope despite the impossible challenges many of them face.
- We pray, especially for those who remain enslaved to the brick kilns, that God will watch over them and bless Barnabas Aid’s work so that we can free as many of them as possible.
