The Free Citizen Project is a tax-exempt charitable organization established to provide support for the education of disadvantaged people around the world, to help them develop their talents and to thereby become the free and productive citizens they were created to be.

How we Work

We partner with existing organizations and people worldwide, providing financial and volunteer support for distinct projects in which those organizations and people are engaged. We do this by connecting people with particular skills or resources, such as teachers, professionals and philanthropists, with the organizations and needs that can put those skills and resources to maximum effect. Our approach is simple and effective: God has provided everything that we need to make a difference - all the resources, and all the "bits and pieces" already exist or will be provided as we need them. Our task is to accept the invitation to make a difference - assemble everything, make the connections, and "oil the machine" so that our volunteers and philanthropic partners can help our partner organizations and people on the ground in each project area to help the people they serve to develop their talents and become free and productive citizens of their districts, towns, villages, cities, countries and of the world.

 Our History

The Free Citizen Project is inspired by the story of the Methodist Children's Care Center in Vryburg, South Africa. Vryburg is in a rural area of the northern Cape in South Africa, 400 km (240 miles) from Johannesburg. In 1975 the Reverend Harold Brooks and his wife started to take into their home children of poorly educated farmworkers from the farms in the Vryburg area, who were receiving no formal education. In 1980 they built a proper Children's Home. This allowed the children to receive an education that would have otherwise eluded them. At present the project is accommodating 200 children, and it counts among its graduates numerous professionals (teachers, doctors, lawyers and accountants) and countless others who have been able to develop their God-given talents because of the work of all of the people involved with the project.

Sytzke and Hilmar Kratz, the parents of Free Citizen Project founder Erwin Kratz, became involved with supporting the Children's Care Center in the early 1980s, along with others at the Methodist Church in Bryanston. Their legacy on this project is well summarized by the eulogy for Sytzke at her funeral in July 2025, delivered by the Reverend Peter Witbooi, which starts at the 28:40 mark of the video here: https://www.youtube.com/live/TM5CIZ1Cl1U?si=mk_DEPZ-JgRPvTij

Inspired by his parents' example, Erwin felt called to start the Free Citizen Project shortly after Sytzke's passing in July 2025.  

Contact erwin@freecitizenproject.org to get more information on the Free Citizen Project; to learn how you can become involved in one of our projects; or to propose a project for our support

More...

View Our I.R.S. Tax Exempt Organization Determination Letter