We arrived in Lahore on Tuesday and barely had our feet touched down and we were off to a nativity. It seems that the missions schools prepare for this special occasion all year round. Irfana's cousin was to play a wiseman in her old schools nativity, which seemingly has been putting it on for over 125 years. It was an impressive performance with a dazzling set and everyone fully costumed. A full choir accompanied the action and the lines were shouted with great precision and gusto.
The theme of the play was peace and this was particularly relevant at a time where Pakistan and her neighbours areexperiencing the opposite. Also impressive was the command of English and theirr accents! The singing could have been from any choir in the UK. It was also a good experience for the cast of mainly Muslims to experience a re-enacting of the Christmas story as close to first hand as is possible.
However I couldn't help thinking what a Pakistani nativity might look like with dolky drums and a Mary in a Shalwar Kameeze! It seems to me that this will be a challenge for the Christian schools in the future. To present Christianity and the Nativity not as an English tradition but a Pakistani one so that Christianity is not seen as a western religion.
At the end the principle of another Missions school spoke about how Jesus being born in a stable was not the expected place for a King. She challenged us all to do the unexpected in the culture and live differently in the face of all the negative influences around.
A challenge for me too in how I live out my faith in the secular culture of the UK. What kind of Christianity do people around perceive my faith to be and how differently to the culture do I live. I left challenged...
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