Photo by Kevin Austin
Villages in India are turning traffickers away. Children in northern Thailand are safe from abusers. Women in prostitution in Athens, Greece, are finding new futures. Youth in the Philippines are protected. Free Methodists in more than 20 locations in the United States are engaging in awareness, education, prevention, rescue and mobilization in our churches, city halls, universities, hospitals and places of business.
For the past four years, Freedom Sunday has been a catalyst for effective, smart action. Prayer has formed us. Sermons have inspired us. The Holy Spirit and the example of Jesus have compelled us to move from worship into action.
On March 9, 2014, Free Methodists have an opportunity to expand the work of freedom. Each church is encouraged to participate by singing songs of freedom, praying for the oppressed, amplifying the cries of the broken and lost, and proclaiming God’s saving power to set the captives free.
Each church is encouraged to take an offering for freedom. Our three freedom projects are in partnership with Free Methodist World Missions, International Child Care Ministries and the Set Free Movement: 1) expanding the work of a girls home in Bogota, Colombia: 2) empowering courageous work in Nepal; and 3) working for freedom for women who sell their bodies while literally standing underneath a neon cross of a church on an overpass in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Freedom Sunday is not just a day of observance and celebration. It is a catalyst for transformation every day of the year. The church is a powerful force for good in the world. We are agents of hope and healing. We are ending modern slavery and creating new futures in Jesus’ name.
Find out more about Freedom Sunday and how you can join the movement to end modern slavery at
setfreemovement.org and setfreemovement.org/events/freedom-sunday.
Kevin Austin is the director of the Set Free Movement and a Free Methodist missionary working to end slavery.
