By Kevin Austin
“Approximately 23,000 Hungarian children live in state-run childcare institutions, including 300 children younger than three years of age.”[1]
These homes are often overrun, the buildings worn out, the social workers exhausted with so many needs. Where is the hope?
Our Hungarian Set Free team moves into the brokenness and despair with care, hospitality, love, and hope. Zsusza Mecséri-McNamara, Set Free Movement Hungary director, boldly states:
Jesus consistently moved toward the oppressed, the outcast, the vulnerable. Following Him means doing the same. … When Jesus said He came to “proclaim freedom for the prisoners and to set the oppressed free,” He wasn’t speaking metaphorically. Being part of this movement is an act of worship and a response to the grace I’ve received.
Jesus wasn’t speaking metaphorically about setting captives free. Caring for children at risk and social workers is an act of worship. All of it is about extending grace, hope, and healing in Jesus’ name.
Zsusza continues:
When we mentor a child, train a social worker, or help a teenager in crisis, we are participating in God’s kingdom work. I believe that standing with the vulnerable and working for justice is a deeply spiritual act.
1 John 3:18 is clear. We don’t just talk. We act in the truth of the kingdom being realized in our worship, allegiance, and actions. As agents of hope and healing, we are architects of shalom.
Over the past four years, the Set Free Movement team in Hungary has ministered to more than 1,000 children in state-run homes in Hungary. Additionally, Zsusza created a booklet about the dangers of human trafficking to distribute in schools. The team also partners with other organizations in Europe. They are having real impact.
Like Zsusza, Lillian Nyangasi in Kenya is deeply committed and motivated. As a human rights lawyer and coleader of our Thrive to Set Free team, she is on the frontlines in the fight against human trafficking:
I have watched firsthand what human trafficking does to human life. Victims are never the same again after they are shredded bit by bit by the cruelty of human trafficking. Unfortunately, some never recover, and a life is lost either to permanent physical disabilities, a lifetime of psychological trauma, or death! … They do not get a chance to live the lost years afresh and experience life outside the abuse perpetrated against them. That is why my heart beats to prevent human trafficking in all its forms, to protect the vulnerable, and to offer legal aid to victims and survivors, so that perpetrators are brought to book.
In Kenya, 36% of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day, and almost 59% of the population has no education.[2] An estimated 40% of women between the ages of 15-49 have experienced gender-based violence.[3] It’s easy to understand, considering these statistics, that Kenya is a hub for human trafficking.[4]
Where Is The Hope?
Lillian testifies:
I believe that just as our loving Father is passionate about breaking our spiritual shackles, He is also very passionate about people living a life free of enslavement and human trafficking. And this motivates me to facilitate freedom from slavery.
Lillian and other Set Free leaders in Kenya are unceasing in their efforts. In 2024 they reached 1,400+ youth and people vulnerable to human trafficking through training and mentorship. The team leads seven Thrive Junior groups (including a young men’s group!) which provide mentorship and learning opportunities for youth. Additionally, they are Wunders’[5] main distribution partners, to date having equipped and educated more than 3,200 young women with kits and education.
Zsusza echoes Lillian’s testimony:
“I’m involved in the fight against human trafficking because it is one of the clearest expressions of injustice in our world today. It strips people of their dignity, freedom, and worth, targeting the most vulnerable, especially children living in difficult situations. As a social worker and theologian, I understand that human trafficking is a symptom of deeper problems in our society: poverty, broken systems, greed, and indifference. Exploitation happens because of sin and brokenness. I believe that when we protect and empower the vulnerable, especially children, we’re working directly in line with the heart of God. … [The Set Free Movement in Hungary’s] vision is to create communities where exploitation has no place and children are free to thrive.”
Champions and Partners
The two highlighted leaders are not alone. Vicki in Turlock, California, and Ken in the Philippines are freedom champions. Nayan in India, Jazmin in Argentina, and Matt in Michigan are leaders with passion. You can learn more about them on our webpage.
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“There is real urgency. We need everyone everywhere to do what they can, how they can.”
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The Set Free Movement also has business partners, like Trevor at Imprint Coffee Roasting,[6] Tim and Anna Creech at Five Star Real Estate Leaders in Michigan,[7] and our friends at ReHouse Architectural Salvage.[8] Business is a powerful tool against injustice and these friends and others raise awareness and funds to fuel freedom.
Churches are in the fight. Donors are giving small and big. Prayer warriors are on their knees. Set Free has a saying, “Whatever you do, do it in the direction of freedom.” We need everyone everywhere to do what they can, how they can.
These leaders are embodying the kingdom of God. Centered on Jesus and empowered by the Spirit, they are creating real transformational change in their communities. They don’t view Scripture as only words to read, but words to live. Set Free leaders live and act and move in the direction of God’s freedom.
There is real urgency. People are literally dying for love and genuine care. Trafficking, gender-based violence, broken homes and families desperately need our help. Now. Immigrants, refugees, victims of natural disasters, the needs go on and on.
The good news is that we have power to do more than can be asked for or even imagined through Jesus, in community together (Ephesians 3:14-21). We are not powerless. We are children of God, a holy nation, a mighty army, and an unstoppable force.
Here is Lillian one last time:
Every thought, prayer, effort, and donation toward addressing human trafficking counts. It could be the only bridge a trafficking victim would walk on their path to freedom. And the key that opens their door from the cold dungeons of slavery into freedom.
Will you help create bridges? Will you be a key today that helps unlock a prison door?
Join us as we “kick at the darkness ’til it bleeds daylight!”[9]
Learn more about the Set Free Movement and how you can be involved: setfreemovement.com
Consider financially funding Zsusza and Lillian as they work to protect the vulnerable and offer hope and healing in Jesus’ name. You can give here: tinyurl.com/SFMFMC
[1] state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/hungary/#:~:text=Children%20in%20government%2Drun%20institutions%2C%20particularly%20girls%2C%20remain,children%20younger%20than%20three%20years%20of%20age
[2] pip.worldbank.org/country-profiles/KEN
[3] africa.unwomen.org/en/stories/news/2024/10/kenyas-national-toll-free-helpline-1195-a-lifeline-for-gender-based-violence-survivors#:~:text=The%20Scope%20of%20GBV%20in,over%201%2C400%20in%202019%E2%80%8B.
[4] freedomunited.org/news/kenya-emerges-as-trafficking-hub/
[6] imprintcoffeeroasting.com/coffees-for-freedom
[7] fivestarmichigan.com/agent/?agent_name=Creech&service_area=
[9] “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” by Bruce Cockburn from the “Stealing Fire” album
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Kevin Austin, D.Min., is the founder and director of the Set Free Movement. He is also a Free Methodist elder and the author of “Set Free: A Guide to Pursuing Liberation in an Age of Bondage.”
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