Punjab: Church adopts 18 brick slave girls and celebrates their marriages

A group of women working in the brickyards, unable to afford the expenses for a wedding, entrusted their daughters to the Pentecostal Church. A collective event was celebrated at the beginning of the month. The hope is that the girls will thus have the chance to avoid the spiral of poverty of their families.

Sheikhupura (AsiaNews) - The Pentecostal Church of Pakistan organised group marriages for 18 girls from Christian families working in near-slavery conditions in a brick kiln in the Sheikhupura district of Punjab province. The event was held on 6 December 2024 and brought relief and hope to these young women and their families.

The church's decision came about following a pastoral visit in January of this year, explained Pastor Matti Karamat, mission director of the Pentecostal Church. During a church service, a group of women told Pastor Jamil Nasir, national head of the Pentecostal Church, about their living conditions.

Working in the bakery for a meagre salary, half of which goes to repay unending debts, the women said they could not cope with their daily needs, let alone those related to their daughters' marriages. Concerned about the future of the young girls, the mothers asked for the Church's help to prevent their daughters from also ending up trapped in the spiral of poverty and slavery.

The Church thus decided to adopt the 18 girls as its daughters, taking full responsibility for their marriages. In addition to covering the expenses for the ceremonies, it provided the dowries, including furniture, electronics and kitchen utensils, and also organised the wedding reception.

The event followed local traditions, with the bride and groom warmly welcomed by the families of the brides and the church community. ‘This is the month of Christmas and the Prince of Peace has arranged everything for these girls,’ commented Rev. Matti Karamat.

Muslims in the area, including the furnace owners, were also impressed by the event. One of them visited the pastor the next day, bringing sweets in appreciation. ‘I had never seen such a beautiful event in the district,’ he said, praising the genuine and authentic joy on the faces of the families.

‘The brides walked escorted by the pastors, indicating that they had become their daughters,’ Rev Karamat commented. The Pentecostal Church is not new to such acts of solidarity. In the past, it had already organised group marriages for persecuted Christian girls, such as in 2013 in Badami Bagh, Lahore, and in 2023 in Jaranwala, where sectarian violence destroyed dozens of Christian churches and homes. ‘We must adopt poor girls as our daughters, to protect them and show our deep love as Jesus taught us,’ Rev Karamat added.