Tikhtak

Life in Pakistan and homeward bound

In this final week of our time visiting family in Lahore we managed to get out of the city for a day and visit family in the country at Martinpur. It was great to see a green and dust free Punjab from the pollution of Lahore. Martinpur was the family home of Irfana’s Dad and it was great to see village life and learn a bit about the history of Martinpur. Martin was a Presbyterian missionary who came here in the late 19th century, where he set up a church and many people converted to Christianity. The legacy is that today it is an entirely Christian village and we experienced this first hand as Zaburs (psalms in Punjabi) echoed out over loud speakers, where normally you would hear prayers from the mosque. Another legacy was that many low caste members of the community  were able to get an education and many Doctors, Teachers and Politicians have come from this town. Irfana’s Dad is living proof of this

Over this last month I have tasted a little of what the people here are having to deal with 24/7 day to day. The credit crunch has really hit Pakistan badly and everyday has been characterised by hourly power cuts with no electricity for long spells in the day, and gas and petrol shortages. There is a lot of discontentment generally with the government and of course rising tension with India and with the conflict in Palestine. On a number of days Pakistai fighter jets have flown over the city as a kind of show of intent
Last week also saw five bomb blasts at theatres in Lahore, more as a warning to create fear. Thankfully there were no casualties. In spite of this backdrop we have had a very enjoyable stay and actually sitting in candlelit darkness with family and friends, chatting has created some special memories and some good conversations.

Yesterday we took Zara to Lawrence Gardens and she had a great time playing in the children’s playground. Like many things in Pakistan the park is a real family affair and many families from the old crowded part of Lahore come to Lawrence gardens on a Sunday to picnic and hang out. This meant Zara had lots of children to play with and adults too. I was really impressed with the way the playground was designed and many of the climbing frames, swings, roundabouts and slides were adult friendly too so everyone was playing together. To see a selection of all our pics in Pakistan go to my flicker

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we are flying back to the UK and my attention will be turning to our CMS World To Rights tour. We start on Tuesday in Guildford and the tour will go through until June.

Life in Lahore - A Mela, A Zoo and A Convent

 At Christmas and New Year in Pakistan the Christian Communities come together and organise Mela’s as way of celebrating together. This is similar to a church fete with stalls, competitions and a few fair ground type rides. Zara enjoyed playing on the swings and riding on a carousel. Not far away from us was a pirate boat ride, which rocked back and forth like you get at Alton Towers or somewhere like that. However on this one children and adults were standing, hanging off the sides and it looked like any went… What a ride! Then to my surprise my name was called out over the microphone and I was ushered to sit on the main stage in the VIP chairs. So much for being the inconspicuous Englishmen! Basically I was to present prizes for races children had done earlier. There was a bit of a scramble for places as three or four voices kept claiming “I was first, no I was first you were second.” Zara has continued to get to know her new bike which she had for Christmas and she loves to ride it around Irfana’s parent’s back courtyard. This week we had a trip to Lahore zoo with family. There had been a lot of work done on it since my last visit over a year ago and the animal enclosures were modern and spacious. We had a really good time negotiating the best route round, having a train ride and eating ice cream of course. Today we visited Irfana’s convent school where she both attended as a pupil and then Teacher. It was nice to see Irfana being reunited with teacher friends and Nuns who had taught her. Tomorrow we are travelling a few hours out of Lahore to Martinpur to visit family there. It really is now the back straight of our holiday as we return next Tuesday. Check out .

Life in Pakistan

  While our focus for being here is for a family wedding and to spend time with family, there are many other things going on around. Last week we experienced the sight of fighter jets flying over Lahore as a sign of protection in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Everybody stopped and looked up, so you knew it was not a normal sight. That tension continues to simmer but it is nothing compared to the day to day struggle people are having with constant load shedding (power cuts). In Lahore there are up to 14 hours of power cuts a day with it up to 18 hours in rural areas. It is incredibly disruptive because you get an hour of power and then one or two hours of no power, which also cuts the water supply as well. It seems this is caused by a limited water supply being allowed to flow from rivers in India yet a further source of tension. Having said this, that the candle lit atmosphere has been very Christmassy and is a great felling as everyone chats together in the dark waiting for the power to return.

It has been nice to spend another Christmas in Pakistan as the last one was at the same time as our wedding. Having been to a few nativities I was in the mood and although in the country Christmas day was more a holiday for the founding father of Pakistan, the Christians are focused on Christmas. In the morning we went to the Urdu service at the cathedral. There was a lot of security as ever but also a film crew stopped us and asked us what is the meaning of Christmas. I think Irfana of course gave the best response talking about very directly about Jesus and salvation. After the service we went to visit Irfana’s sister’s grave and her auntie’s grave who recently passed away. The graveyard was full of other Christians visiting their loved ones. It seems that this is a Christmas tradition, which focuses everyone’s attention clearly on the baby Jesus, born to die and rise again. The rest of the day we spent with family and ate a lot as usual.

Saturday was a special day for Irfana and myself as we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. As the whole country was also commemorating the anniversary of Benizir Bhutto’s death everything was closed and with various rallies going on we chilled at home. In the evening it was nice to invite family over for a meal.

Yesterday we attended the last function of Irfana’s cousins wedding. It started last Wednesday with a Mehndi. This is a sad affair for the bride as she leaves her family but a celebration for the groom’s side as she joins his. After a days rest we had the wedding celebration and then last night the Valima, where the boy’s family puts on a big celebration. Zara absolutely loved the whole affair, dressing up in Shelwar Kameez, with bangles and a dupata (scarf). She spent the whole time running around with all the other children and dancing to the music thumping out.

The Nativity in Lahore

  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...