Frequently Asked Questions

Freedom Challenge is a ministry of Operation Mobilization (OM). OM staffs and oversees the 40+ global projects that Freedom Challenge supports. Your gift to Freedom Challenge directly impacts vulnerable and marginalized women and children who benefit from these projects. 

Your gift goes to 40+ projects that create avenues of freedom for women and children. These projects span the globe and fall under our four pillars of Prevent, Develop, Rescue, and Restore (read more about each pillar below). You can learn more about the women and children impacted by your gift through the stories on our website and newsletter, through our donor gift receipts, and annual reports. 

Because of generosity of people like you, thousands of women and children have been set on a path to freedom. Your gift helps prevent the exploitation and oppression of women and children and helps free those who are enslaved. Your support reaches those in desperate need of hope and help, transforming lives and setting many on a path to freedom. Here are some of the ways your gift makes a difference: 

1. Prevent – Together we can help break cycles of poverty, exploitation, and oppression through education and anti-trafficking awareness training. Support girls like Amina*, who live in underprivileged communities in the Philippines and are vulnerable to drugs, prostitution, child labor and many other harmful influences. Amina always valued school, but with seven children in her family, money was scarce. She and her siblings regularly skipped meals, and higher education was completely out of the question. However, when Amina qualified for our scholar program, her future was transformed. Today, as a third-year university student, Amina is pursuing her dreams and paying it forward — she is reaching out to children in communities like hers, bringing faith and freedom to the next generation.  

2. Develop – You can support long-term solutions to help women over Fabiola* in Madagascar, who was abused physically, emotionally and verbally by her own family for years. Left with nothing to live for, she dropped out of school and attempted suicide three times. Then she encountered our skills training program, designed to help vulnerable women become self-sustainable. Freed from physical and spiritual oppression and supported by her mentors, Fabiola is now preparing for professional training to equip her for the future. 

3. Rescue – You can help support rescue efforts for the enslaved and bring them to a safe place for long-term care and healing. Free women like Nia*, who was lured by the promise of a well-paying job in Europe and instead found herself trafficked into prostitution in North Africa. Once trapped, it is almost impossible for women like Nia to be set free without outside intervention. However, a group in the country learned about Nia and were able to rescue her and provide a safe place for her to live. They then notified her embassy of the problem she was facing and provided counseling and Christian teaching to set her on a path to living freedom. 

4. Restore – You can help women rebuild their lives through physical and spiritual healing, trauma counseling and life-skills training. Transform women like Samira*, who was entangled in human trafficking before being employed in dignified work in Greece. Through her time working for the business, Samira received emotional support from the community around her, developed transferable skills, built her confidence, and worked through immigration paperwork. Samira’s ability to leave the country legally and safely is a testament to her restored freedom.  

*Name changed for safety reasons 

Since 2012, Freedom Challenge has granted more than $6 million. We evaluate the needs of each project annually and allocate when looking at the total funds granted, 56% has gone toward Prevention projects, 26% toward Development projects, and 18% go toward Rescue and Restoration projects.  

As part of Operation Mobilization, the Freedom Challenge is directly connected to the vulnerable and marginalized women and children impacted by your gift. Through prayer and participation in physical challenges, women experientially engage in the fight against human trafficking and expand their advocacy through fundraising. These funds are not sent to another organization but rather granted to vetted projects within the OM ecosystem, to which we have direct access and insight. We strengthen our connection to this work through periodic visits with and without donors as well as through Freedom Challenge mission trips, where we participate in this transformational work. 

Each project must submit an annual plan into OM’s project management system at the beginning of each year that details vision and people, activities, goals and financial information. Each project then files a corresponding report at the end of the calendar year. The projects we fund also submit quarterly impact stories and an annual report directly to the Freedom Challenge, detailing progress toward goals. We maintain a direct line of communication with people administering each project and periodically visit projects to monitor impact and effectiveness. 

The majority of your gift goes directly to benefit vulnerable and marginalized women and children around the world. 15% of your gift is allocated to OM’s Global Mission, which mobilizes Americans to live, work, and serve in least-reached places, cares for those already overseas, and helps expand our advocacy efforts to engage more women in the fight against human trafficking and relief from oppression. 3% is allocated to support OM’s work and leaders around the world.  

According to our 2024 independent audit, 7.9% ($2.7 million) of OM USA’s total income of $34 million, went to general and administrative costs as determined by general accounting practices.  

According to our 2024 independent audit, 7.9% ($2.7 million) of OM USA’s total income of $34 million, went to general and administrative costs as determined by general accounting practices.

Freedom Challenge’s operating costs are part of OM USA’s expense budget. Our program expenses are not deducted from gifts to Freedom Challenge or fundraising efforts. 

Tax receipts are usually generated 2-5 business days after a gift is received. Gifts received near the beginning of the month may take slightly longer to process as the OM office first closes the books from the previous month before entering new gifts. 

The timing of the Freedom Challenge’s grant cycle depends on our annual physical challenges. We do not hold onto these funds for prolonged periods; rather, once the challenge fundraising season is complete, we send the money to the projects in order to immediately impact vulnerable and marginalized women and children. 

Each challenge participant voluntarily covers her own event costs, including registration, travel, and accommodation. Her fundraising is a separate effort that goes directly to the projects. 

Our primary U.S.-based activities are education and engagement. We educate American women about this worldwide issue through our website, podcasts, and limited local partnerships with aligned organizations. As we engage American women through prayer, participation in regional challenges, and fundraising, we aim for this to be a catalyst for local involvement in similar areas standing against the global injustice of human trafficking. 

Our mandate is to help set the most vulnerable women and children on a path to freedom, and the funds we raise flow to OM projects overseas that are supporting this work. 

Our primary US-based activities are education and engagement. We educate American women about this worldwide issue through our website, podcasts and limited local partnerships with aligned organizations. As we engage American women through prayer, participation in regional challenges and fundraising, we hope this becomes a catalyst for local involvement in similar areas standing against the global injustice of human trafficking.