Meet Gulfaam & Anaya Malik. This hardworking Christian couple’s journey into Pakistan’s brick kilns began eight years ago. Doctors determined that, due to pregnancy complications, Anaya needed an essential C-section surgery to safely deliver her newborn daughter.
As impoverished minority Christians, Gulfaam and Anaya were regularly subjected to religious discrimination in the work sector. Because of their faith, they were denied access to good job opportunities, fair wages, and educational pursuits. With little savings to fall back on—and few lending choices available to them—Gulfaam was forced to make a difficult decision.
He turned to the brick kiln industry where slavery still exists to ensure his wife and child’s survival.
Gulfaam borrowed $945 to cover his wife’s surgical procedure and other expenses related to bringing a baby home. Sadly, he didn’t fully understanding the predatory nature of a brick kiln loan. The debt comes with extremely high interest rates. As couples labor in the kilns to repay their principal, their daily earnings are garnished to pay the interest charges, leaving them with very little money to live on, and very little progress toward repaying the original amount borrowed.
Today, the couple makes hundreds of bricks per day and their debt has not diminished. As they wipe the sweat from their brows, they feel overwhelming discouragement with the situation. “When our daughter was born, we took a loan from the kiln for the operation. Since then, we’ve been trapped in all this,” explains a weary Gulfaam.
Despite difficult working conditions, they pray daily and keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, hoping that God will one day help them to escape.
The couple now has four young children to provide for, and they desperately long for their son and daughters to have a more prosperous future. When asked how we can pray for the Malik family, Gulfaam says, “We don’t want our children to spend their lives in the kilns. We’d like to have a business.”
As we explain that Global Christian Relief is working to raise funds to free the Malik family from bonded labor, and provide small business stipends so they have alternative sources of income, Gulfaam looks hopeful. At the prospect of freedom and new opportunities, he humbly says, “We’ll work hard for our children. We’ll be very thankful.”
Let’s lift our voices to the Lord on behalf of this suffering couple and others for whom slavery still exists.Â
Dear Lord, we thank You for the Malik family: Gulfaam, Anaya and their four precious children. As the couple endures working conditions akin to modern-day slavery, please encourage their hearts through Your Word and the love of Jesus.
God, we ask You to free this family from the clutches of bonded labor. Right this financial injustice. Fulfill their hearts’ desire for a business of their own, restoring their hope and dignity. May Gulfaam and Anaya be blessed in their future work endeavors so they can give their children a life far beyond the kilns. Amen.
About the author
Josh Depenbrok serves as a Public Relations Manager at Global Christian Relief. He is passionate about supporting persecuted Christians who endure threats and violence because of their faith in some of the most difficult countries in the world. Read the latest Christian persecution stories on our website and learn more at GlobalChristianRelief.org.
Image caption: A photo of the Malik family, for whom slavery still exists, taken during GCR’s recent visit to Pakistan. Please note that names have been changed to ensure the couple’s safety and anonymity.
