Why Persecuted Christians Sing Psalms in Pakistan

By:

Joan Huyser-Honig

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Eric Sarwar, a Presbyterian Church of Pakistan pastor and founder of Tehillim School of Church Music and Worship, often updates his Facebook status:

     Worked all night at studio.
     Music, sequencing, and vocals are tremendous.
     Took service at village church.
     Christian boy been murdered in police custody. Police fired shells on rally and arrested Christian protestors.
     Working on remaining tracks of “AWAKENING” youth album. Title song, Psalm 119, will be finished tonight.
     Preached on Psalm 100.

Sarwar is on a mission to help Pakistani Christians reclaim a heritage of singing Psalms in Punjabi, set to indigenous melodies and rhythms.

More than a century ago, missionaries expected that faith would spread from Christian institutions on down to the masses. Instead it was psalm singing that helped ignite mass conversions among persecuted people in the Punjab, the area of India that is now Pakistan. Protestants and Catholics still sing psalms of praise, penitence, and petition but have lost 80 percent of the psalm songs that their ancestors knew.

Sarwar believes that paying attention to worship renewal and music will reinvigorate Christianity in Pakistan. Psalm singing also creates bridges with moderate Muslims, which is vital as persecution spreads against Christians and other religious minorities.

Christian roots

Eric Sarwar says that most Christians in the world’s sixth most-populous country trace their roots to 19th century American and British missionaries. They set up schools, hospitals, and churches in British-controlled areas of the Punjab to evangelize higher-caste urban people.

When United Presbyterian Church (UPC) pastor Andrew Gordon began the Sialkot Mission in 1855, he learned Urdu because it had written grammars, dictionaries, and Bible translations. Few people spoke Urdu as their mother tongue, but they used it in courts, schools, and government business. Punjabi, then as now, was looked down on as the language of illiterate people.

In 1857 Gordon baptized his first two converts together—a high-caste Hindu and outcaste Chuhra.

Influential Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh families sent their children to the excellent mission schools and attended “inquirers’ classes.” Yet after 20 years, less than 200 adults had been baptized. Many converts were weavers from the low-caste Meg tribe. Others were Chuhras, also known as Churas, untouchables, or (today’s term) Dalits. They learned the gospel from Ditt, an illiterate man who scavenged dead animals and sold their hides from town to town.

Gordon and his peers finally took note of “illiterate believers…accompanied by the Spirit of God.” They resolved “to get down to the level” at which Christ labored and “give special attention to the poor…. Unless we bring the gospel to them very directly and particularly, they think it is intended only for their superiors,” he wrote in his memoir, Our India Mission, 1855-1885.

“Early missionaries converted and baptized masses of outcaste tribal peoples without any social status, education, homes, jobs, and even lands. Missionaries established villages for these new believers and gave them dignity and honor,” Sarwar says.

On wings of song

The UPC was an ethnically Scottish American denomination that sang only psalms in worship. Gordon asked I.D. Shahbaz, a scholar, poet, and Anglican pastor, to translate psalms into metric Urdu, so they could be sung to Western tunes.

Though educated city congregations sang the metric Urdu psalms, they were not a hit among rural Punjabis. But the psalms Shahbaz translated to poetic Punjabi and set to bhajan folk tunes were instantly popular.

“There are 150 psalms in the Bible, but according to topic and meaning, Dr. Shahbaz divided them into 405 parts. He worked with such a devotion and activeness, day in and day out, that he lost his sight,” Sarwar says. A helper then read the zaboors (psalms) to Shahbaz in Urdu, English, and Persian so he could translate them. A professional singer helped set them to Indian ragas (melodies) and talas (beats).

A missionary woman traveled to churches and schools to teach the songs. Preachers could gather marketplace crowds simply by singing Punjabi psalms. “Their very weirdness, wildness, plaintiveness and curious repetitions chain the attention and entrance the heart even of a foreigner,” UPC missionary Robert Stewart wrote in his memoir, Life and Work in India.

The number of Punjabi Christians soared from 3,823 in 1881 to 37,980 in 1901. The first Sialkot Convention, in 1904, launched a revival across the Indian sub-continent. “Two thousand copies of Psalms were published for the 1905 Sialkot Convention. They sold out quickly and have been reprinted more than any religious book in Indo-Pak,” Sarwar says.

Soon Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics, and other Christians included Punjabi zaboors in their hymnals. As psalm singing spread across denominations, classes, and borders, the number of Punjabi Christians leaped from 163,994 in 1911 to 315,031 in 1921. Christians from across Asia still attend the annual Sialkot Convention for prayer, preaching, training, and learning new music.

“Precious pearls of worship”

Eric Sarwar grew up singing 70 of those same psalm portions at home and church. When four strangers attacked him last summer, he took comfort in Psalm 18, “the most popular psalm in Pakistan. It represents God’s providence, safety, power, deliverance, and kindness. In our context of living below poverty line and facing discrimination and hard challenges every day, it gives hope and encouragement. Its musical tune and rhythm is simple, catchy, and on high notes with shouts of joy,” he says.

“Other psalms that help in every critical situation are psalms 4; 16 (Part 1); 20 (Part 1); 23; 31 (Part 4); 34 (Part 2); 40 (Part1); 46 (Part 1); 62 (Part 2); 119 (Parts 11, 20); 121; 139; and 141.

“Majority of people in village congregations are illiterate and speak only Punjabi. They love to sing psalms of praise, laments, penitence, petitions, and prayers. They memorize them by heart. Only two or three persons in my congregation can read, so Punjabi Zaboors is their Bible. It helps them in their daily life, especially when they face questions from Muslims on their work places,” he explains.

Few Pakistani Christians can read words, let alone decipher musical notation. They learn songs by hearing them. As the first generations of Christians died, psalm tunes faded from collective Christian memory. Sarwar says that worshipers began singing newer “theologically lightweight” songs and neglecting “precious pearls of worship.” Discovering a complete 1905 Zaboor psalter in Western notation inspired him to “preserve and transfer this great heritage and musical identity to coming generations.”

Renewing Worship in Pakistan

In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, at least 96 percent of people are Muslim. Only two or three percent are Christian, about half Roman Catholic and half Protestant or Orthodox. Most Pakistani Christians live in Punjab Province, where Eric Sarwar’s parents were born. His mother graduated from Gujranwala City Presbyterian Girls School. His father and wife, Shumaila, also come from families that value education and that migrated to the sprawling metropolis of Karachi.

Eric Sarwar and his family are fortunate given that two-thirds or more of Pakistani Christians cannot read and write. Still, like most fellow believers, they live hand to mouth, crowded into Christian slums.

Sarwar’s passion for education, music, and worship move him forward in faith, confident in what is not yet seen. His vision is to help the church in Pakistan “produce first-class literary material on worship and music” and establish a school of church music.

“In God’s hand”

“There is difference between rural and urban Christians, but overall, common Christians still live in miserable conditions. They have no voice, rights, and power—due to lack of education, leadership, awareness, and resources.

“My parents could hardly afford food and education for five children. I had keen interest in music but there was no way to buy any instrument,” Sarwar says. So he made do.

His maternal grandfather, “a converted Hindu from noble Indian family,” taught him classical ragas (melodies). Sarwar joined and later directed a Roman Catholic church choir and started a choir at the Pentecostal church where his father was an elder. He helped organize music and youth events.

He felt called to full-time ministry and worked in a garment factory, hotel, and school to finish college. Given his financial responsibilities as firstborn son, it was very hard to “leave the family in God’s hand” and go away to Gujranwala Theological Seminary. “It was a painful shock when my brother died one year after my graduation. We were not able to afford expensive treatment of his leukemia,” he says.

Sarwar planted a Presbyterian congregation in a squatters community outside Karachi. His congregation is too poor even to cover his commuting costs. He supports his family by teaching music in a Muslim girls school.

“The congregation is in an area surrounded by three tribal groups, including Afghan refugees. They fear even to send children outside homes to take public transport to school,” he explains. After he and Shumaila attended a child ministry course in Malaysia, they founded training centers in four areas of Karachi to train and equip 100 Sunday school teachers and reach 1,000 children through vacation Bible school.

The Sunday school that Shumaila now runs at their village congregation is far more comprehensive than the typical Sunday school. It has three teachers and offers daily classes in Bible, math, English, and Urdu.

Music resources for children

“We had to produce music resources for Sunday schools because for a gap from birth to 18 years there were no materials. Children are facing a lot of questions. Everyone is. Muslims ask, ‘Why do you have three gods? Why did you change the Bible? Jesus was not crucified,’ ” Sarwar says.

The first CD they produced, with help from Heart Sounds International recorded nine Punjabi zaboors, accompanied by Indian flute, sitar, and hand drums, as well as violin and Western-style keyboard. Heart Sounds gave them a digital audio recorder so they could do more projects.

“The Psalms are divine and inspired, a book for all ages, the first worship and hymnbook in our native language. Being a Word of God, it gives us the presence of Lord Almighty and connects us to the believers of centuries,” Sarwar explains.

Next they did two CDs for children. The songs use folk tunes to teach the creation story, Ten Commandments, New Testament stories, Lord’s Prayer, and some psalms. Sarwar recently completed “Awakening,” a music CD “to mobilize and encourage youth from different churches after recent waves of persecution.” Its cover song is from Psalm 119.

“It’s very hard to get vocalists from our Christian community in Pakistan but we are committed to develop and promote Christian artists,” Sarwar says. That’s why he started Tehillim School of Church Music and Worship…launched an annual psalm singing contest…wrote Pakistan’s only two Urdu language books on Christian worship music…and kept pushing seminaries to include worship and music in the curriculum—all on his own time.

“Tehillim is the Hebrew name for the Book of Psalms,” he explains. The school began in 2003, two evening hours a week in rented rooms, with four instruments—a keyboard, tabla (pair of hand drums), a harmonium(hand-pumped portable organ), and a guitar—that Sarwar is still paying off. He invited his professional friends to volunteer as teachers. Dozens of students attended, eager to learn how to sing or get a chance with an instrument.

“After awhile, owner says find a new building. But work is so strong. People need,” Sarwar says. In 2007 aPresbyterian Church of Ireland youth project helped buy land. Two years later the school had pieced together funds to build a cement block shell.

Psalms create common bonds

Sarwar had hoped the annual psalm festival he started in 2003 would by now have spread beyond Karachi. “Lack of funds,” he explains. “But the Festival of Psalm Competition and Performing Arts in Worship has been a window to invite Muslim people. From all over the country, people come out.”

The competition helps him find Christian talent for future recordings and also builds trust across religions. Though the Taliban is against art and music, many Muslims love music. Sarwar explains that Muslims don’t sing psalms in public worship or private devotions but do enjoy attending concerts with psalms in quawalli, a Muslim praise-song style.

“Muslims accept the Psalms as a divine book. Professional Muslim singers have recorded nearly 200 parts of Dr. Shahbaz’s psalm parts. We invite them to the festival as presenters. Teaching music and singing psalms together helps break down barriers among Christians and Muslims,” he says.

Moderate Muslims are beginning to speak out as extremists attack Christians and other religious minorities. Often these minorities are accused of violating the blasphemy law. Worshipers sang psalms in May 2009, when Christians and Muslims met to pray for peace in Pakistan. During August 2009 attacks on Christians in Gojra, some Muslims provided shelter for Christian neighbors. Hundreds signed up to testify about the pre-planned violence and said they had warned police about it.

Learn More

Hear Eric Sarwar speak about psalms and persecution in Pakistan. Listen to an interview with Emmanuel Mumtaz, Tehillim School of Church Music board president, at the 2007 Calvin Symposium on Worship.

Listen to an interview with Eric Sarwar and his wife, Shumaila, at Ballywillan Presbyterian church in Northern Ireland (scroll down to 19 April, 2009). The Presbyterian Church of Ireland adopted Tehillim School of Church Music and Worship and village education for girls as a youth project. If your church would like to do something like this, you can contact Eric Sarwar. He was attacked last summer. In response, First Islandmagee Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland suggested how to pray for Eric Sarwar and Pakistani Christians.

Watch Punjabi psalm singing videos produced by Heart Sounds International,Gospel Broadcasting Network, and Tehillim student Johnson Wilson. Here’s a brief primer on how Westerners can appreciate Indian classical music. Instruments often used in Punjabi music include the dholak (double-headed hand drum), harmonium (hand-pumped portable organ), and tabla (pair of hand drums). See Punjabi Psalm 22 notated in Western style.

Stay up on Pakistan news online:

• Centre for Legal Aid and Resettlement (CLAAS) works on behalf of persecuted Christians in Pakistan
• Christianity Today updates on Pakistan
• Daily Times: a new voice for a new Pakistan
• Dharkan, which connects Indo-Pakistani Christians in Canada
• Pakistan religious news from EIN News
• Sitting on Margins, an English-language blog

Listen to BBC interviews with and about Christians in Pakistan. Pray for Christian women living in poverty in Pakistan, See a documentary clip of a Christian slum in Islamabad, where wealthy bureaucrats paid to wall off the colony from the rest of the neighborhood. Connect with Indo-Pakistani Christians in Canada.

Two Pakistani seminaries, Christ the King Seminary (Roman Catholic) in Karachi and Gujranwala Theological Seminary (Protestant) in Punjab Province, hosted worship symposiums in February 2009. The latter recently added an 800-level course, “Public Worship, Biblical Patterns, Elements, Variety of Mode, Liturgy, Music.” Eric Sarwar describes the new events and course as “a big breakthrough after a struggle of almost eight to ten years to engage theological institutions.”

For fascinating insights into Christian history in Pakistan, check out these chapters in Google Books:

• Imperial Fault Lines: Christianity and Colonial Power in India, 1818-1940by Jeffrey Cox. See Chapter 5, “Village Christians/Songs of Deliverance.”
• Life and Work in India by Robert Stewart. Chapter 25 discusses Punjabi psalm singing.
• Our India Mission, 1855-1885 by Andrew Gordon. Chapters 31-33 tell how missionaries noticed where God was already at work.
• “The Christians in Pakistan: The Interaction of Law and Caste in Maintaining ‘Outsider Status,’ ” a chapter by Linda S. Walbridge inNationalism and Minority Identity in Islamic Societies by Maya Shatzmiller. Even though caste is considering a Hindu concept, it still affects the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Start a Discussion

Help people identify with fellow believers in Pakistan:

• What surprises you about Christian life or worship in Pakistan? What do you have in common with believers there?
• Which worship- or mission-related visions have you put off because you think you don’t have enough money or time? Where do you see God already at work?
• Why has psalm singing been so meaningful for oppressed people? What do the psalms offer to people who have more power? How do these insights apply to your congregation?

Share Your Wisdom

What is the best way you’ve found to talk about connecting with Christians from other cultures who share your interest in worship renewal?

• Did you come up with a method or process to identify untapped cultural resources for worship in your congregation, community, or denomination? What did you do with music or other worship practices that speak powerfully to some and leave others cold?
• Which resources—music, visuals, video, liturgical, online, conferences, whatever—have you found especially helpful in helping your congregation to pray for Christians who are persecuted for their faith…or to pray for better interfaith relationships?

Published:

December 18, 2009

Resource Type:

Feature Story

Category:

Teaching, Music

Task:

Find or start a discussion

Tags:

Global, Psalms, Middle East, Worshiping Communities

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