Imagine yourself outside one sunny afternoon with your spouse and children when you look over to find your four-year-old daughter playing in the mud. Now imagine it’s 80-90 degrees outside, and you’re on hour 13 of a 16-hour workday making clay bricks by hand. As you look over to your four-year-old daughter, you realize she’s not playing in the mud but scooping it into a mold to help you make bricks alongside her three older siblings. This is your life. This is their life. Enslaved in a brick kiln, day in and day out, making bricks for the brick kiln master who loaned you the $160 to help pay the medical expenses associated with your first child’s birth. Due to the exorbitant interest rates and the fact that you must pay your own expenses by living in the brick kiln, your debt has now grown to over $1,850. You continue to get deeper in debt despite all your hard work. This is the true story of Badri, his wife Seba, and their four children. It’s also the reality for millions of Christians being persecuted in Asia through modern-day slavery. Without any other options, they go to the brick kiln for what we would consider a minimal loan to help pay for medical expenses, legal fees, etc. Because of the atrocious interest rates, they are never able to pay off the loan. The debt is then handed down from generation to generation. Many of these families are abused both physically and sexually because they refuse to denounce Christ and convert to the more popular religion in their land. I’m sure you’re like me in having a difficult time imagining what it would be like to have this kind of life. Many of these people don’t know anything different. They’ve spent their entire life in bondage and have never enjoyed freedom. They cannot leave the kiln or go to church, and their children are not allowed to attend school. It seems like a hopeless situation, and the idea of their rescue is an impossible scenario.
Good thing our God specializes in the impossible!
In Matthew 19:26, Jesus says that the things that are impossible for man are possible with God.
When Pam and I learned about these Christians facing such traumatic conditions, we knew God was calling us to get involved and make it a new aspect of our ministry. Thanks to our faithful partners, we’re able to pay off their debt and move them into a new home at least two hours away from where they were being held captive. We purchase groceries, connect them with a local church and pastor, enroll the children in school, and set them up with a new business.
To them, their rescue seemed impossible as they watched that initial, small debt grow, and they would be forced to hand that debt down to their children and their children’s children.
There was no way out, but God specializes in the impossible!
Not only are they now free, but they have a new start to life! Their children are no longer abused and forced into hard labor, but they are now free to get an education. Their family has found friends and community within their church and an income from their new business. It’s an impossible dream that has come true!
This is the God we love. He is a Rescuer. He is a Deliverer and a Provider. He is the Savior.
He saw Badri, Seba, and their children and heard their cries. He used a ministry nearly 8,000 miles away to bring them freedom by paying off their debt and moving them out of their personal hell on earth.
Our God specializes in the impossible, and He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). What He does for one in principle, He must do for another equally in faith.
Your situation may not be as traumatic as Badri’s family, but that doesn’t mean it’s unimportant to God.
If God saw them in their trial and torment, He sees you in yours. If He rescued them out of what appeared to be an impossible situation–and He doesn’t play favorites–then He’ll rescue you out of yours if you believe. And that’s the key…if you believe.
In Mark 9:23 Jesus says, “if you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes.”
He says, “If you can believe,” in the scripture. Our ability to believe God’s promises to us in His word turns impossible situations into possible solutions. The Bible says we are co-laborers with God (1 Corinthians 3:9), which means we must work together with Him to unlock His promises in our lives.
His part is to do the impossible; our part is to believe that He can and will. We must stand in faith for it until we experience it.
We see an example of people’s role in receiving God’s will into their lives in Mark 6:4-6 when Jesus returned to His hometown to minister to the people. The scripture tells us that He was hindered in doing any mighty works among his family, friends, and neighbors. It’s not because He didn’t have the power or that He didn’t have the desire–it was because of their unbelief. They only saw Him as a carpenter and as Mary’s son. They remembered seeing Him grow up and lived alongside Him all those years, and they had their mind made up about who He was and what He could do. They didn’t believe He was the Christ and could bring healing and deliverance to their lives. He wanted to and came there to do just that, but He couldn’t. Their refusal to believe hindered His ability to help them.
Let’s not make the same mistake when He’s already freely given us all things (Romans 8:32). He can and wants to do it, but that’s not enough for it to show up in our lives. He expects us to believe Him for it and not back down until we see it.
What are you able to believe? Are you able to believe that God will rescue you from your situation and take care of that need, or He’ll heal that marriage or your body? The degree to which you’re able to believe God’s promises for you is the degree to which you’ll receive those promises.
If you aren’t sure what God has promised, I encourage you to read His word every day. Find a good Bible-teaching church that teaches the word of God unapologetically and sit under that teaching so you can become convinced that God can and wants to help you.
Our God specializes in the impossible and wants to do it for you – if you’ll believe.
To learn more about rescuing Christian Slaves out of the brick kilns of Asia visit:
Feature Image: Bigstock.com | Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the family.
