Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter | About 4.5 million people, including 1 million children, live in Pakistan's most miserable slavery in 20,000 nearby brick kilns.

 

According to the Global Slavery Index, Pakistan ranks eighth with approximately 3,186,000 people living in

modern slavery. Most of the minorities are confined to bondage labor in brick kilns, and their misery have no bounds.

 

‘Newsnomics’ had an interview with Lee. Seok Jae, the

CEO of the WGM(World Gospel Mission) and the

senior pastor of Bright light Church, Daejeon, who

recently visited Esa Nagar Kasur city to south of Lahore

in the Punjab Province of Pakistan where minorities are

forced to do bounded labor for generations in terms of paying back the debt of the owners.

Pastor Lee is working for the support of miserable slave workers at Brick kiln factories making bricks in harsh,

hazardous conditions in Esa Nagar Kasur, Pakistan since August 2021.

 

At first, Pastor Lee connected to the Brick kiln factory

people’s life through Facebook in the year 2021, when

his heart was moved to see the pictures of little children with bare footed, no proper clothes and with dirty muddy bodies. He saw a great vision for the redemption of the workers of the city of Kasur who were oppressed and confined to labor, and decided to select and

support such people.

 

“I was surprised to know the environment of Kasur surro-

undings filled with brick kilns where thousands of

minorities spending their life miserably to fulfill their daily needs since generations. The most shocking for me

is to see the children making bricks with their fragile

hands.” 

 

 

“What will be the future of that kids?” Should they have hope? Should they have healthy life for future? Shall

their dreams come true one day?” Said Pastor Lee.

    

 

On 25 August 2021, pastor Lee sent the shoes for the barefooted children and school bags, notebooks for the children not going to school living hard life without these facilities of life.

 About 250 children are studying everyday by sitting on mats on the

floor in an open air under the guidance of volunteer teachers since 2021. But they still have no building of school, no furniture, no uniform, no proper system of Education.

“My wish is to develop a qualified education system with proper school, college, university building and clean environment.” said Pastor

Lee Seok Jae.

Pastor Lee is also taking care of the brick kiln factory people to maintain

their physical, mental and spiritual and growth through the word of God every Friday.

 

“I want to develop a church and mission center to comfort the wounded souls so they can have new transformed life with the bless-ings of God” he said

 

Pastor Lee also provides food for the starving people that works hard

more than their capacity everyday without caring the coldness of

winter and the hotness of the summer.

“They are God’s chosen people and I want to serve them with plenty of

good and healthy food so they can experience the blessing of God amid

their hardships.”

 

 

Not only that on December 12, 2023 Pastor Lee personally visited Pakistan,

Kasur city for two weeks and experienced the bondage slavery life of mino-

rities at the brick kilns “I am astonished to see that the people are still living life of slavery in this modern

world for generations. 

“I am astonished to see that the people are

still living life of slavery in this modern world. Not only men, but women, young girls and

even children are the victim of bounded labor. The whole families are trapped in the system of debt and forced to do work like slaves in

return from generation to generation.” Lee

Seok Jae told Newsnomics.

“It's felt like a bondage of Israel in Egypt for

hundred years from generations.” He spoke.

 

 

 

 

The people are facing a lot of problems I am witnessed of, still need efforts and time to solve.

1.    Poverty 

Every day, the people work for ten to 11 hours, starts at 3 or 4 am only to earn 4$ to 6$ per day. They mix

clay with water and press it into brick-shaped molds. After drying in the open air, the bricks are baked in kilns at very high temperatures. Everything in Pakistan is getting expensive day by day. And the money they earn is

not enough to fulfill their basic needs of life. Because of the poverty the people take loan from the owners

and beg them to deduct a small portion every day or every month. 

2- Inter-generational Bondage:

I met many people who even take loans or advances from factory owners to pay hospital bills or buy med-

icines, electricity bills, house rents, dowry of daughter or weddings etc. The owner charges high interest rates

on the borrowed amount, making it almost impossible for them to repay their debts. In addition, the workers are required to sign documents, which they cannot read, as most of them are uneducated. Debt bondage

applies to the whole family and is inter-generational.

 

3- Health Issues

 

The men, women, young girls, boys, children in Kasur work bare footed everyday whether it’s winter or

summer. The continues smoke from the furnace effects their respiratory system. Many of the workers suffer

from asthma and vision problems.  Even the water of the area is not clean and people are forced to use the

dirty water. It leaves the workers in a poor state of health. When they become ill and need urgent medical

help, but they don’t have the money. But they carry on as if nothing went wrong. 

4- No Education system

The most heart touching and painful sight I witnessed is the bounded labor of children under 18. Their future has no hope. There eyes have no dreams. The parents have no money to spent on school children education so they don’t go to school. They work with their parents instead that destroys the childhood and future of an

innocent children ahead. The parents can hardly earn the money for food after deducting the debts money.

 

 

WGM is the missionary movement started by pastor Lee in September, 2021 to meet the needs of the poor

slave workers at Esa Nagar, Kasur area in Pakistan. This area has no School, no College, No University, No

clean water, no hospital, No Church, No Mission center. 

WGM is searching for the land donors who can help to transform the better living standards of the poor slave works. There are a lot of necessary steps to take for the development of Esa Nagar, Kasur area. WGM waiting

for all to become the part of pastor Lee’s revolutionary vision and support for the bright future of the kids in

Pakistan.

 

WGM account Number  Nongyup 301-0298-1121-31 (세계복음선교회)