Finding Freedom: The Best Gifts Can’t Be Wrapped
Ever since I was a little, my family has praised the year I was born. Being born in 1988 made me a ‘Dragon’ baby, which according to my family, was the luckiest of all the Chinese zodiac signs. This is because in Chinese culture, Dragons are associated with royalty, wealth and power. Much like the mythical creature, I was told that Dragon children would grow up to be larger-than-life creatures who would ambitiously fight for the freedom of self-rule. While I don’t believe in zodiac signs; and while I’m far from royal or powerful, there is a ‘Dragon’ trait of mine that has proved to be extremely accurate: my need for freedom.
The Need For Freedom
My need for freedom has expressed itself in many ways. As a child, I dreamed big. As a teenager, I pushed boundaries. I refused to satisfy the ‘Asian’ stereotype, and saw rules and traditions as a means for control. Despite having a strict ‘Tiger Dad’, I fought for freedom of choice over my friends, boyfriends, study and career path. I refused to let anyone define for me what a ‘successful’ life was, choosing instead to carve out my own path and identity. Even my Myers Briggs personality profile confirms this. As an ‘ESFP’, I’m by nature an extroverted explorer who values freedom of choice and self-expression. For me, there’s nothing worse than feeling ‘boxed in’ by someone or something. As I reflect on my ambitious thirst for freedom, I wonder if such a desire is exclusive to Dragon babies?
Didn’t my parents migrate to Australia so that I could enjoy the freedoms that they never had? Don’t we fight to preserve the freedom to choose, vote and speak? Aren’t we outraged when we see animals abused in small cages or the innocent framed in prison? Don’t we find ourselves escaping into our media devices to be free from the burdens and boredom of everyday life? Weren’t we all moved when Aladdin used his last wish to free his friend Genie from the lamp? Deep down, don’t we all desire freedom?
“Freedom means a lot of things to me; it is something we all want and we all deserve. We all want to be free.” – Deisy, IJM Survivor
The Search For Freedom
Over the years I’ve learned that my desire for freedom has actually served to point me to the One who not only created such a desire, but who is powerful and willing to set me free. Growing up in Australia, Western Individualism taught me that I was free to ‘be me’. What sounded liberating led me down a path of enslavement, as the very things and people that I chose to live for were incapable of setting me free.
The more I tried to seek freedom in my popularity, the more enslaved I became to peer pressure and the fear of rejection. The more I tried to seek freedom in financial security the more enslaved I became to a workaholic lifestyle. The more I tried to seek freedom in personal happiness, the more enslaved I became to selfishness and self-preservation.
At a time in my life when I felt enslaved by my track record of bad decisions, I told my best friend Jess, that I wanted to end our friendship. I wanted to be spiritually free from my guilt and shame. I remember typing out the words “I don’t think we should be friends anymore”, and with the assistance of a swift shot of vodka, I pressed send.
“That lonely night, I decided to abandon my closest friend to free my soul from shame.”
I met Jess as a teenager when I visited a Christian youth group. I was loud and she was quiet. I was a risk taker and she was traditional. I was rebellious and she respected rules. We couldn’t be more different but I loved being friends with Jess because she gave me the freedom to ‘be me’. She was patient with my larger-than-life personality and gracious towards my mistakes.
Things changed when Jess began to take her faith more seriously. As Jess made drastic decisions for Jesus, ‘being me’ around her would fill me with guilt and shame. I became tired of being the ‘bad’ friend. As our paths diverged, and as I compared myself to her ‘good’ works, I couldn’t see how she or God could ever choose to love someone like me. That lonely night, I decided to abandon my closest friend to free my soul from shame.
Finding Freedom
When I told Jess that our friendship was over, I expected her to lash out at me. That would have been the deserving response. Instead, she came over to my house to comfort me. She told me that even if I was to reject her, she would still love and forgive me, not because she’s the ‘perfect’ person but because this is how Jesus has loved and forgiven her. She reminded me that Jesus didn’t come to the world to save ‘good people’, rather he came to set spiritual and physical prisoners free.
This experience of gospel freedom kick-started my admiration of Jesus. Instead of seeing him as an abusive authority figure who would control my life with rules, I found freedom in his unconditional love and forgiveness for my mistakes. I learned that because Jesus is perfect in power, I can trust him with my tomorrows; and because he is perfect in love, I know that all things will be planned out for my good. I now know that because Jesus conquered death, I am free to weather life’s challenges with patience, joy and hope because death is not the end and the best is yet to come.
Being born in Australia has secured me extravagant physical freedoms but being born again into God’s family has secured me spiritual freedoms into eternity. Today, I know true and tangible freedom because ten years ago, my friend lovingly shared with me, the gift of gospel freedom. The best gifts can’t be wrapped.
“The best gifts can’t be wrapped” is the heartbeat of the International Justice Mission (IJM) Christmas catalogue and is a conviction that I’ve chosen to adopt this Christmas. As a Christian born in Australia, I enjoy so many freedoms that I often take for granted. This Christmas, I want to use my freedoms to support the work of IJM in freeing victims of human trafficking and modern-day slavery.
Meet Thaiyamma: A Slave Set Free
When Thaiyamma and Devendran found out their five-month-old daughter Lavanya was ill, they took a $20 loan from the owner of a wood-cutting facility to help pay for her treatment. Paying back the loan seemed simple enough. They began working at the facility to try and pay off the debt with their daily wages. What they thought was a good job quickly turned into a life of abuse. For just $20, this cruel man gained complete control over them. They were slaves, and their master was a man they called “The Beast.” He controlled every aspect of their lives.
“We were like dead people living there.”
Thaiyamma and Devendran’s day began very early in the morning, and they toiled under the hot Indian sun until late at night in a non-stop cycle of violence designed to crush minds, bodies and spirits. Many days, they were only able to feed little Lavanya one meal of rice or porridge.
When IJM heard about Thaiyamma and went to investigate the facility, more than three years had passed since she was enslaved and she was just days away from delivering her second child. Tired, in pain, and desperate for freedom, Thaiyamma harnessed all of her strength to rally men and women at the facility to speak up and tell the truth. Because of her courage, Thaiyamma, Devendran, Lavanya and 12 others at the facility were set free. The Beast was arrested.
“When mothers are rescued from slavery, children grow up in freedom.”
Thaiyamma’s baby boy was born in freedom a few days after the rescue operation. As she held her baby for the first time, Thaiyamma looked down at him in awe, and whispered “I never knew I was going to see you. I never knew that I would meet you in freedom, and here you are.” When mothers are rescued from slavery, children grow up in freedom.
Give The Gift Of Freedom This Christmas
Modern day slavery is a violent crime affecting over 40 million of the world’s poor and an industry that generates more than $190 billion per annum. International Justice Mission (IJM) is the largest international anti-slavery organisation that seeks to rescue and restore victims of human trafficking whilst also ensuring arrest and conviction of the perpetrators who inflict this violence.
In the words of my friend Eunice, a graduate lawyer, supporting IJM is a way to partake in God’s work of setting captives free:
“For those of us who live in first world conditions, God has also called us to ‘Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.’ (Isaiah 1:17). What I appreciate the most about IJM is that they don’t just pay lip service to the commands of the Bible: they act and they fight.”
“As lawyers, we say that we want to change the world by ‘righting wrong’ and ‘fighting for fair’, which in itself is admirable and noble, but honestly, I don’t know how much of the world I will personally change through my work as a lawyer. Instead, what I can be confident of is that through our prayers and God’s power, many enslaved and oppressed will be set free through the work of IJM. In supporting IJM, we, too, are partaking in God’s work of setting the captives free.”
This Christmas, you can send rescue and give the gift of freedom. Purchase a Christmas card from the IJM Christmas Gift Catalogue and you can support a rescue operation, sponsor a skilled lawyer, acquire investigative equipment for IJM field staff or provide aftercare for a survivor of violence. Every purchase comes with a beautiful card that you can personalise before giving.
To browse the IJM Christmas Catalogue click here: https://ijmgifts.org.au/
