Callum and Asher Freeman

At the time we started saving with Liberty Trust neither of us knew where we would be in ten years but we loved the vision of Liberty. Joining with a wider community of people to help each other towards the goal of financial freedom was a much more inspiring journey than striving on our own independently with mortgages.   Coming from a family with four of us children we were used to round table discussions and loved thrashing future plans around collectively, so when the loans came through we sat down with Mum and Dad to bounce around exciting ideas of how the funds could be used. Neither of us were married with families so there were different possibilities from what we imagined when we started contributing many years earlier. It quickly became clear that we wanted to do something with as much family involvement as possible, so the idea of putting both loans towards setting up a family trust was conceived. 

We can see now how valuing the biblical principles of togetherness and family over independence has been expressed both in joining Liberty, and in the direction we chose to take with the funds.   

We have now set up the trust and are excited to see how it can serve our family towards the goal of financial freedom in the future.

In practical terms having the Ark Resources loan has enabled the family to clear a bank loan, which of course had interest payable on it and now the family home is in the Trust, with the only debt to Ark Resources. We are helping to pay the loan off and thereby build up our equity and the rental income from the home is helping to pay off the Ark Resources loan as well. But there have been many other benefits too. There was some surplus after paying out the bank, so Mum and Dad have given a lot of that to another family member to reduce their bank loan on their home. In addition one of us is beginning a jewellery business and needs some capital to get it started, so the Ark Resources loan has helped the family in many ways.  We know too that Mum and Dad have given some of the surplus into Christian causes they feel passionate about, so Liberty has helped that too.

There is scripture in 1Timothy which can be quoted about how important it is for us to care for each other. Once this verse was used ‘on our Dad’ by an overzealous life insurance salesman who wanted Dad to take his product, but in its true meaning Apostle Paul really wanted us to care for each other as a true expression of Jesus Christ love. Liberty and Ark have not only helped us do this but are themselves an expression of this love and care by the way they helped us and encouraged us with this their very special ministry. The verse is:

But if any do not take care of their relatives, especially the members of their own family, they have denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever.  1 Timothy 5:8 GNB

Callum and Asher Freeman

His dirt removes my blindness,

His pain becomes my peace.

18 December 2013