A lone figure stands on a hillside holding a pair of iron shackles. On the young man’s command, more than 20,000 people lift their voices in a powerful roar of unity and passion, a cry for human dignity and justice for those unable to raise their voices: “FREEDOM!”
This is no Braveheart re-creation or a Civil War general stirring the troops before another bloody battle among brothers. These are not soldiers; they are concertgoers gathered at Creation Northwest in Washington’s Gorge Amphitheater, where grass-covered terraces overlook the main stage and the panorama of the Columbia River Gorge. World-class musicians regularly take this stage, but this is no rock star with a cause. It’s an ordinary teen guy with an extraordinary vision. And this so far is the greatest moment in the life of an abolitionist.
Meet Zach Hunter. He’s a lot like you: a 15-year-old high school freshman who lives in the suburbs of Atlanta with both parents, a younger brother and dog. He has trouble keeping his room clean, preferring instead to use the floor as his closet. And he butts heads with his parents about playing certain video games, even though he knows they have to preview them first. Zach loves listening to music, anything from the Brit-rock-inspired sounds of Leeland to the progressive rock of Switchfoot to classic Kansas. He’s soft-spoken, and friends describe him as humble and big-hearted.
So just what is it that lands an average guy like Zach on the main stages of the nation’s largest Christian music festivals? Zach is an abolitionist and the founder of Loose Change to Loosen Chains, a campaign he began to accomplish a big goal.
“My dream is that my generation would be remembered for being the generation that abolished slavery throughout the world and that took care of the poor and oppressed,” Zach says.
Slavery Is Real
You thought slavery went away after the Civil War? Unfortunately not. Although slavery is illegal in every nation around the world, the practice of buying, selling and exploiting humans is alive and well.
“There are about 27 million slaves in the world today. It’s actually a bigger problem in this period of time than it ever has been,” Zach says. “Actually, about 16,000 people are trafficked into America every year.”
Obviously, it’s difficult to obtain definite numbers. “Slave owners don’t exactly provide research,” Zach says. But estimates among anti-slavery groups and intergovernmental organizations range from 4 million to 27 million. Last summer, the International Labor Organization reported as a cautious minimum 12.3 million people enslaved worldwide, most of them women or children.
“Slave owners are cowards,” Zach says. “That’s why they take advantage of people like widows and orphans who don’t have anybody to protect them.”
Many slaves are tricked into bondage by borrowing money from a “lender,” who forces them into labor when they can’t repay their debt. Some children are sold into slavery by their own families. Other families are deceived, believing their children will be performing legitimate jobs in a larger city or village. Many young women or girls are coerced into prostitution or tricked by phony modeling jobs in faraway cities or countries.
“Some of the chocolate that we get here and a lot of silk products and rugs from Asian countries are made by slaves,” Zach says. “Slavery can be anything from making bricks in brickyards to working in an agricultural plantation to working in a restaurant or a brothel. Slavery has reared its ugly head in many forms.”
Zach’s shackles serve as a visual aid to audiences and a reminder to him of the bondage and oppression he is fighting. They were purchased in an international market by a friend. The crude iron rings are thin and linked by two bars, providing less than 1 foot between the shackles.
“They probably would have been used on a 5-year-old boy while he was sitting with his legs crossed on the floor all day long, rolling cigarettes called beedis,” Zach says. “If they don’t make enough in a day, their feet are beaten so they can’t walk. If you beat their hands or any other part of them, they can’t do the job well, so they beat their feet. Actually, I heard the story of a boy who beat his own feet so that when he didn’t make his quota, he couldn’t feel the master’s beatings.”
Taking Action
Zach was 12 when he decided to do something about slavery. Driving home from school, he asked his mom what she did at her new job with the International Justice Mission (IJM). She replied that the organization helped to free slaves and raise awareness about oppression around the world.
“I didn’t know that slavery was still going on,” Zach says. “It was Black History Month, and I was really upset about the legacy of slavery in my own country. I knew I would have worked as a conductor on the Underground Railroad if I had lived back then. This was my chance to make a difference. That’s when I decided to start Loose Change to Loosen Chains (LC2LC).”
Zach’s concept was simple: Encourage his peers to gather and give their loose change, which then went to IJM’s efforts to free slaves. Why loose change? Because there are literally tons of it between couch cushions, beneath car seats and in the backs of sock drawers. Zach points to an astounding estimate reported by Real Simple magazine.
“There is actually $10.5 billion of loose change just sitting out there in American households—$10.5 billion!” he says. The Hunter family found about $200 worth in their own home.
“Coins may only be a drop in the bucket, but one drop and another drop and another drop add up to a flood,” Zach says.
Zach began at church and school, and the initial campaign brought in almost $10,000. Rather than call it a successful one-time project, Zach continued his efforts, inspired that he could do even more to help slaves.
Three years later, momentum is still building. School or church groups can get yellow cups printed with the LC2LC logo. A curriculum is also available in both a Christian or secular format. Students fill their cups, then dump them into collection buckets. The largest collectors receive prizes. The money then goes to one of the partner organizations such as IJM or Free the Slaves. LC2LC has spread to Australia, the United Kingdom and Africa, and Zach is now the global student spokesperson for the Amazing Change campaign to coordinate with the film Amazing Grace [see “Amazing”].
Don’t get the wrong idea, though. The money is not used to buy slaves in order to set them free.
“Buying people for any reason is wrong. People are not property,” Zach says. “Also, buying slaves is illegal. It is legal, however, to work with law enforcement to get them out. And a lot of the organizations that I support offer care facilities and places where slaves can start their lives over. Often they can’t go back to their families, because they’ve been disgraced by the work they were doing or because the family was involved in selling them.”
Justice
What makes a 15-year-old care so much about helping people around the world whom he has never met before?
“I’ve always had this really strong sense of justice. Justice is righting a wrong committed against somebody,” Zach says. “Even in preschool, I always got mad when somebody picked on someone else. I always wanted to step in and sort of defend them. And it seems like that has really come out in me more since I’ve started this campaign.”
Zach also believes that God has directed His followers to defend those who cannot defend themselves. “In Isaiah 1:17, God charges us to rescue the oppressed and the orphan and to plead for the widow,” Zach says. “It doesn’t really get much more straightforward than that. It’s a call to action from God.”
He also points to James 1:27’s definition of pure religion as looking after widows and orphans in their distress and likens getting to know God better by getting involved in things He cares about.
“If you have a friend who likes snowboarding, you go snowboarding with him because he’s your friend,” Zach says. “Well, God loves justice, so if you seek justice with Him, you’ll actually be sharing an experience with Him. You’ll have a deeper relationship with Him. ”
Unlikely Hero
A clear sense of purpose doesn’t mean LC2LC has been easy for Zach. Until three years ago—about the same time he began speaking publicly—he experienced panic attacks and struggled with anxiety. He hasn’t had a serious attack since doing LC2LC, but he admits that traveling, speaking and meeting many new people is draining.
Zach’s efforts have brought him a sort of fame that he’s not entirely comfortable with. His solution for autograph seekers is to sign his initials, then write FREEDOM in larger letters. Maybe it comes from the exposure of standing on a huge event’s main stage. Surely it has to do with the fact that those who hear him, from children to adults, are inspired by his efforts and sincerity.
“Zach’s not real shiny or glitzy. He’s just This is who I am, and this is what I have to offer,” says Steve Carter, youth pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., who brought Zach to speak, not only to Mars Hill’s youth group, but to the 10,000-member congregation. “He says deeply compelling things. It’s not like he’s trying to garner that attention. He’s just himself, and I was really blown away by that.”
“I’d rather just be the kid who started that campaign—you know, what’s his name?” Zach says. “It’d be cool to have Loose Change to Loosen Chains be the household name and to have slavery be no more.”
Zach understands that he can turn any recognition he receives into influence that can help slaves. But he still tries to downplay any attention he receives. Most of his fellow students at Providence Christian Academy, the school he began attending last year, don’t know about his efforts with LC2LC or the fact that he talks with the likes of Leeland Mooring of Leeland, Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Dan Haseltine of Jars of Clay about serving God through helping oppressed people.
“It doesn’t come up in regular conversation. Like ‘Guess what I did over the summer? I’m a public speaker,’ ” Zach says. “It’s not a really good way to make friends.”
A few close friends know, and Zach is recruiting a team of “the quieter kids” to launch LC2LC at his new school. He’s quick to let others know that he couldn’t do LC2LC alone.
“I’m not an incredibly organized person, and the only way I could actually get this thing off the ground was to pull in other people around me who are strong in other areas,” he says. “I’m a more creative person, but I’ve got some people who have their feet on the ground and are really organized. Everybody has his own abilities, so that makes the perfect community.”
Christian David Turner, 14, is a classmate of Zach’s who worked with Zach last summer.
“I loved helping Zach at Atlanta Fest,” Christian David says. “I handed out tickets for prizes and went around asking people for signatures on a petition. I felt excited to know that the little thing I was doing would be important in the long run.”
Power of Youth
Zach’s favorite scene in Amazing Grace portrays the young British statesman William Pitt telling his friend William Wilberforce that he’s planning on becoming Prime Minister. When Wilberforce replies that Pitt is too young to accomplish such a lofty feat, Pitt replies “We’re too young to know that certain things are impossible, so we will do them anyway.”
“We can make a difference in the lives of slaves. It doesn’t really matter how young we are. It doesn’t matter if we have physical, mental or emotional disabilities. It doesn’t matter the color of our skin or where we’re from,” Zach says. “Anybody can make a difference and be a voice for the voiceless.”
Whether it’s slavery or another important issue, Zach is living proof that teens can be world-changers.
“Just pick one cause that you’re really passionate about and do something for that cause. If everyone found one thing that they were passionate about, the world would be a much better place,” Zach says. “For me and a lot of my friends, our passion is freeing slaves. If that’s not your passion, there’s gotta be something else. God intends for you to use whatever you’re good at for the good of the world.” 
YOU CAN HELP
Join Zach’s efforts to help slaves at myspace.com/lc2lcor TheAmazingChange.com.
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Read more from Zach’s book and get tips on helping to free slaves. Get Be the Change from Breakaway. |
