We have received stunning photos from our field team from this ongoing rescue operation. We cannot yet share most of the photos with you due to pressing security concerns, but there are three photos I believe will give you a view, however oblique, into the lives of these 23 slaves and the unrelenting fight of our staff.

Here are a few words of narrative from our field team - they let us know, continually, how strengthened they are by your prayers, and how much they continue to need your prayers.
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Over the past few days, our God has answered desperate prayers – from around the world – on behalf of these seven families forced to work as slaves at _______ Rice Mill.  He has demonstrated his supernatural power in mighty ways.  Let’s continue to pray with confidence to the gracious God we serve, together.  Here are a few photos: Part One of an unfinished story of freedom.

Six minutes before IJM arrived with the local authorities for the rescue operation, all of the slaves disappeared from the rice mill compound. IJM staff were confronted upon arrival with the harrowing emptiness of the completely abandoned facility (Photo #1).

IJM’s surveillance team located the slavery victims and saw that they had been rounded up into the back of a truck, transported through pouring rain - women, men, and babies, all soaked and worn.

Photo #2 of the slaves’ cooking quarters shows the haste with which they were driven from the compound, as well as the conditions under which they were forced to live. The final photo shows the rice mill compound where these 23 slaves have been and could continue to be forced to live the rest of their lives, into future generations, if the law is not brought to bear on their behalf. This photo shows the compound completely abandoned upon arrival of IJM and the government authorities.

The slaves’ testimony to the forced and brutal nature of their work is enough to guarantee their legal release by the government, complete with protection, aftercare, and economic restitution. However, thus far the release has not been granted.

It has now been seven very long days since you began to join us in prayer for this operation. Please continue your fervent prayers for freedom.