Americans travel to Pakistan to free Christians trapped in modern-day slavery: 'God's hand was in it'

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Idaho resident Aaron Hutchings arrived at a Pakistani brick factory in January. The devout Christian told Fox News Digital that he was shocked to see children turning bricks under the hot sun to work off the debts that their families had incurred, sometimes over the course of generations.

Within hours of his arrival, Hutchings paid off the debts for two enslaved Christian families and escorted them to freedom, breaking the "curse that they’ve had for hundreds of years."

There are up to one million Christians working in slave and bonded labor in Pakistan, according to Emma Hall, a persecution researcher working with charity Open Doors U.K. and Ireland, told Fox News Digital. This could comprise as much as 30% of Pakistani Christians, counted at 3.3 million in the 2023 census and accounting for 1.37 percent of the population.

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After paying the debts of a family of Pakistani Christians, Aaron Hutchings embraces newly-freed brick laborers.  (Courtesy: Aaron Hutchings)

Hall noted that "extreme poverty drives desperate families to accept advance loans (peshgri) for emergency and basic needs, trapping them in cycles of debt bondage where repayment systems are structured in ways that make exit extremely difficult."

Emmanuel Hernandez said he was shocked when he first heard that Christians in Pakistan were living in debt-based enslavement in Pakistan’s brick-making industry. After traveling to Pakistan to meet the woman who would later become his wife, Hernandez witnessed bonded laborers at a brick factory for the first time.

"Never in my life have I seen such hopelessness," he told Fox News Digital. "At that moment, I committed myself to rescuing one family a year for the rest of my life."

In January 2025, Hernandez started the nonprofit Project Jubilee. He says that it is "by the grace of God" that people have already donated enough through the nonprofit to save 300 Pakistanis from slavery.

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Born into bonded labor in Pakistan, children must flip bricks in the hot sun outside of Lahore, Pakistan.  (Courtesy: Aaron Hutchings. )

Though Project Jubilee will save any bonded slave, regardless of race or faith , Hernandez said that "98% of the people we rescue are Christians, and that’s because they’re second-class citizens" in their country.

The average cost to help one family is about $8,500, Hernandez said, because Project Jubilee recognizes that slaves needed more than debt relief to escape the cycle of bonded labor.

"Our goal is for them to succeed in life and make sure that they never go back," he explained. To accomplish this, Hernandez and his team pay lawyers to take care of all applicable paperwork, and help each family with two months of rent and food. They also get families in touch with a local minister, pay for children to attend school and purchase every family a tuk tuk, a motorcycle taxi, which they can use to create income.

He said that in most cases, factory owners are grudgingly accepting of letting slaves go after their debts are paid off. But in some cases, he says owners have put a cap on the number of families Hernandez’s group can free in a month, or told them that they’re "never allowed to come back again."

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A family of brickmakers speak with American Christian Aaron Hutchings before learning they will be freed from their debt.  (Courtesy: Aaron Hutchings.)

Hutchings found Hernandez’s online profile in late 2025 and messaged him, asking to be part of his effort. Retired from the IT world, Hutchings said he is "just a normal guy who wanted to do something…to help people."

After a short conversation over the phone, Hernandez invited Hutchings to come along to a trip to Pakistan in January. Hutchings agreed. It was during this visit that Hutchings freed two families and reported he "just got hooked." He admits that the process is highly emotional. "It changes an entire family’s future for generations," he explained.

Hutchings said that it is especially impactful to witness the change that freedom brings to children. "We get to ask them, ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?" Hutchings said. "They probably haven’t even really thought about that. They’re [thinking] ‘I’m going to be a brick worder for the rest of my life, just like my parents.’"

Hutchings started his own nonprofit, Intentional Faith Foundation , which he now uses to collect donations from people who want to help free more slaves.

Christians demanded justice during a protest in Islamabad condemning attacks on churches in Pakistan on August 20, 2023. Pakistan is one of the top 10 worst countries for Christian persecution, according to a new report. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)

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